For starters, if you have never considered advertising through Social media, let me tell you, it is a must in this day and age. Facebook has become the fastest growing online advertising system in history. People are looking at their Facebook accounts while standing in line or waiting in airports. The novelty of looking at funny photos or videos or keeping up with the latest cooking tips and local information makes it the single most looked at thing by people online. This opens an opportunity for businesses taking advertising to another level! The tool has become a household name and is now time for you to take it seriously. I know it can be challenging, "when do I do it, how often and what should I post"? "What does it cost and how does it work?" Those are often the questions we are asked by clients. We tell people to do a mix of things, both fun posts and sales posts. This recipe is successful in getting your page noticed and keeping up with posts that will actually be seen. 

Facebook has it's frustrating elements in that they control the game. They decide who to show your posts to and how many people will see them. The bottom line is you will likely have to set aside a Facebook budget for advertising and general posting because unfortunately, nothing is for free anymore. 

Do you wonder what makes an effective Facebook post and is it worth it? 
Well, we have gotten some of our largest clients off of Facebook and it IS worth it! It just comes with a learning curve that can be challenging and time consuming. The most effective posts are those that generate "engagement". Those that get people talking and sharing.  

Facebook can often times be a set of trial and error, see what works and what doesn't. The great thing about Facebook is, you can see results, you can see raw numbers and real time statistics of your posts reach and click through rates on any ads placed. Facebook advertising isn't rocket science, however, it does require you follow some rules or else your posts won't pass their stringent rules. 

If you are not sure where to start or what to do and need a plan, we are now offering Facebook mentoring sessions. We can set aside some time to go over your goals, look at the design of your Facebook page and make suggestions on how to improve things. We can also do some training on how to make posts, what kind of posts are most effective and how to place a Facebook ad. 

Contact us to sign up for a mentoring session. 

As of April 15, 2015, Facebook made some major changes to their algorithms which control how your business Facebook page posts are viewed to your fanbase. 

Why the change?
Facebook says they are only doing what their users asked for, showing less business posts in their news feeds.
According to people they surveyed, they said there are some consistent traits that make organic posts feel too promotional:

1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads

How the change effects your Facebook Business page
Beginning in January 2015, people will see less of this type of promotional content in their News Feeds.  All of this means that Pages that post promotional creative should expect their organic distribution to fall significantly over time.

What do you need to do to keep your Business Facebook page posts seen?

1. Shorter posts 100-250 characters
   
2. Post photos and videos get more engagement than text only posts
3. Ask your fans questions
4. Tell fans things
5. Pay to boost your posts

How to play the game
In order to beat Facebook at its own game, you have to be clever and have posts that engage people and not try to sell in your posts. 
If you want to sell, you still can, you just have to pay for it in a boosted post. 

We hope this helps you learn more about Facebook's important changes. Please let us know if you need any help with your Business Facebook page or have any questions. 


Melissa & Kasha

So you want to advertise your business on Facebook, beware, there are lots of pitfalls. Facebook has proven to be a great marketing tool for equine businesses and the world's other industries. We use it ourselves and have found a lot about it along the way. 

When you make posts you need to be aware that your posts won't reach your fan base by just making a post. You have to pay to boost a post in order for it to reach 100% of your fan base. Facebook holds the keys to your reach and no longer reaches 100% of your fan base (i.e. all the people who "Like" your page) for free. You can boost each post for a small fee and sometimes even reach beyond your fan base by increasing your $$'s you attribute to each post's campaign budget. 

If your post has an image in it, only 60 percent of that image can have text across it. Picture a square grid, with pieces blocked off in a table. If your text runs across more than 60% of that image, Facebook will reject your post and will not let it be boosted, this is frustrating but the way it is. 

So if you are looking for help with tips for a successful Facebook campaign, give us a jingle. We can help with planning, tools, consulting, contests and apps that will increase your Like's. 

We get questions on facebook often. Our clients want to know how to get more likes on their business facebook page and how to market their facebook page. I compare using facebook for your business to making great Chili. It takes a lot of good ingredients with consistency throughout a slow period of time.

Spices (your post content) can make all the difference. You may even have to learn some secret ingredients like Kasha and I have in our Chili recipe to learn how Facebook can work better for your business.

Facebook is a valuable tool to market ANY business, and the most common mistake we see companies make is they make facebook all about them, and sell, sell, sell on their pages. Facebook is truly unique because the people using it are on it to have fun, stay in contact with their friends and find out information. We tell clients that facebook is not about you, it is about them. 

Traps - 

• The more someone comments on your posts, the more effective it becomes, people are not going to comment on posts if all you are doing is trying to sell to them.
  
• Facebook has an mysterious algorithm to making your "reach" higher. We can help you with the right recipe to increase your reach.
• We have seen some clients post things that are not professional on their business facebook, always keep it professional and leave your personal preferences out of the posts.

Tricks - 

• You have to engage the users to make facebook work for you. This can be done by posting posts that are more informational based, and not so "salesy". Make your post a comment or a question instead of look how great our products are.
  
• Tell a story rather than pitch 
• Increase your reach and that will increase your likes
• Advertise!

We manage several facebook campaigns for our clients, we know what works and what doesn't, contact us if you are interested in having a consultation regarding your facebook. 

There's often nothing more exciting than all the bells and whistles that accompany what can be achieved on the internet today.  We conduct business digitally, we can get an education on-line, we pay bills online, make reservations, we socialize and can even date on-line.  The digital world offers the ability to take a prospective customer directly from an ad or a video to your website where they can then purchase your product, and this can be achieved often within minutes of viewing an ad.  However, digital has its limitations, especially in the equestrian market.  

When I made the move from the heavy wifi and wired areas of Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas, one of the main requirements we handed our Realtor was to find us a Horse Property or Horse-friendly property that offered cable-DSL service.  This proved to not be that trivial of a request... ag friendly properties are not, necessarily, truly "wired".  We did finally find a property in a horse-friendly subdivision, but we had to do all the equestrian improvements (partially because I'm particular as to how my horses, and animals in general, are housed) - it was not as easy as I had thought it would be,  and some digital compromises had to be made - even in a Tech-friendly place like Austin.  In the end, I got lucky because Time Warner had JUST put in a line to the neighborhood.

So, when I heard recently that Newsweek magazine was going completely digital and would not be doing traditional printing I thought "wow, that's a major cost-saving measure" and didn't think too much more about it at the time.  As a family, though we're not  readers or subscribers of Newsweek, we do a great deal of reading, shopping and interacting on-line.  In our family of 4, we have 4 laptops, I have my main work desktop, 2 "old-school" Kindles, 1 Kindle Fire, 1 Galaxy Tablet, 2 Smartphones (1 Android & 1 Blackberry) and 2 Ipod Touches - that's alot of technology!  But, that being said, it's only as good as the service it receives.  If we're in a storm (even a light one!) or its windy and internet goes down, we're sunk - all that technology is worthless.  If we're not in town where there's a wifi hotspot or 3G/4G cellular coverage it's just one more thing making my purse heavier than it needs to be.   

Why is this relevant?  If you think about it, horse-owners really fall into two categories:  (A) those that board their horses and live in town or (B) those that keep their horses at home.  Since the average metropolitan area doesn't allow livestock in city limits, boarding stables and horse-properties are out of city limits.  Typically, those areas are notorious for poor internet and cellular coverage.  In my own neighborhood-which literally starts where the City Limits sign is, depending on whose plan your on, you may or may not receive a cellular signal.  Furthermore, only because I have made a complete pest of myself with our local internet provider, demand their "turbo service", and because of the nature of  our business, invest in the best technology, do I have the semi-robust internet connection I have.  Consider again the average horse-owner...unless they also happen to be major technology buffs, with many you're lucky if they even do the required updates their computers and smartphones require (my husband is one of these non-update types), they're not likely to have a "great connection" all the time.  Many are on strictly cellular (SLOW!!!) or dial-up (SLOWER!!!).  And, how long do you think a laptop or tablet will last in a barn environment?  Have you ever dropped your cell phone in the water trough, or dropped it in the sand while schooling your horse only to have it stepped on?  I have.... it's an inconvenient and expensive accident.  Computers and horses are just not a good day-to-day mix.  So, how is this relevant to my Newsweek example?  In addition to Newsweek going completely digital, there are numerous other Equestrian Publications that are either Digital only or have merged from Digital/Traditional to Digital only.  I recognize that this is simply a cost-saving measure, however it's a short term and unwise solution for horse-people.   Where, for Newsweek, most of their demographic exists in a mostly "wired" environment but for Equestrian Publications, many of their readers are not.

Though I think having an online presence on both digital  publications and websites is critical, it's equally important to maintain an active presence in traditional media, as well.   When at major equestrian events like World Shows in Fort Worth, TX or at Equesrian Expos like Pomona or Sacramento, CA -  typically the attendees are on bleachers and in stands reading not from their Kindle's, Nooks, Ipads or Smartphones, but from ACTUAL newspapers and magazines. Even in those metropolitan areas - wifi connections in facilities such as those are sketchy.  I was "camping" in the horse trailer with my younger daughter who is the owner of the Kindle Fire.  We were at a local equesttrian trail riding spot and she was frustrated because she couldn't "log on" and download something.... most parks and trail heads don't offer wifi and cellular is not very good there either!  Even for horse-owners who embrace technology and are in fast-paced jobs - they just plain get tire of being "wired".  Of these types,  many have horses to "un-wind" and get back to nature with.  The last thing they're going to want to do while relaxing in a campsite or cabin after a trail ride is go pull an Ipad out of the trailer - which will likely have a ton of emails from work - but they're likely to go pull out a magazine that covers their favorite subject: horses.

Moreover, local feed and tack stores as well as many stables continue to carry the regional magazines and like them - why?  Because their practical.  Their customers continue to utilize traditional media for news and information.   How frequently do you sit down on a tack trunk or in a dusty tackroom and pulled out your expensive Ipad or Laptop?  It's the same reason I don't wear a white silk blouse to go throw the horses a scoop of grain - in 10 seconds flat someone "boogers" on me! I recently heard of 2 regional equestrian magazine that went completely digital: one in New Mexico and one in Louisiana - both are sorely missed by their traditional reading public-and some of their advertisers have pulled out.  I realize for the magazines it was a cost-saving or profit motivated tactic.  But, in my opinion, it's foolheardy because they aren't really looking at the lifestyles of their customers (or their advertiser's customers).    Our most successful clients allocate their marketing resources accross all channels: traditional print, some (though limited) targeted direct mail, on-line (their own websites and advertising on others), digital publications (or traditional that also offer digital), email and social media.

Though digital marketing offers alot of bells and whistles and is a vital part of your complete marketing mix, your traditional print advertising continues to have an important place and inpact in the Equestrian Market, as well.  Managing your marketing, it's a balancing act for sure.  

Let us know if we can help you more directly reach your customers!

Google search engine results are not controlled by any company. There is nothing you or your competitor to you can do log in and change their Google rankings. No one can change their ranking on their own. 

Want to know the scoop on the latest website technology?
Some designers are still designing sites the "old school" way creating hand coded custom HTML sites and boast that template driven sites are cookie cutter and not unique. Silver Buckle Services creates anything but ordinary custom template driven sites.  What's the difference between these two types of sites and why are custom template sites better than old school custom coded html sites?

First, custom template sites are built for ease of use to update. We create a custom template theme for your website and the fonts on each page, the colors, the background the styles and sizes are all pre-set. This enables you to easily update your website, without having to think about the formatting of the text. All the text appears the same (although you can change the color and size if you like). 

Custom HTML sites are hand coded by a developer and they have some perks, like being able to layer images behind text and being able to more fully control the display of content. The drawbacks are, you probably won't know how to update it and it won't come with a web based tool for you to access from anywhere to update it. Most old school websites require a HTML editor such as Front page, or Dream Weaver or another web editing software. Custom template driven sites don't require any software to update. They use web based tools and enable you to drag and drop your content into the page to make updating a snap.

It used to be that you didn't have a choice and there was no such thing as template sites. Things have changed in a big way and they are so flexible and powerful that it makes the old school sites look archaic. The template driven sites we provide not only are easy to update, they are mobile friendly and work on Iphones, Ipads, Template computers and Ipods. Custom html sites, not so much! Try navigating an old school site, vs a new template site on your phone and you will see and feel the difference.

Here is an old school custom coded HTML site. There isn't anything wrong with this website, it just happens to be built in the old system, and old way of doing things. It still works and we update it for the client.
http://www.thesecondchanceranch.com

Here is a new custom template driven site. This website, the client updates on their own. They use a CMS content management system to make the changes through the web and post. 
http://www.sargentequest.com

Let Silver Buckle Services help you start the 2013 Breeding Season off right with a professional image that commands attention.  

And, don't forget we work with a variety of equestrian publications throughout the nation and would be happy to help you put together an effective an affordable marketing plan!

Contact us to get started.

First you might be wondering what is an effective website and how did it get that way? After I share with you our tips, I will highlight some websites we built and share how they became effective.

Lets go into a bit of background first! We have helped hundreds of clients in the horse industry with their websites. Luckily for our clients, our background is in web technology, usability and site architecture as well as rich content development. We take each project and think of the user's perspective, what do they want to do on your site, what do they need to know and how do you get them that information quickly and efficiently. We build on that foundation of usability and tie stunning eye catching graphics and themes and build them into the framework of the website. The end product is not only pretty, but functional.

Check our our list of website effectiveness tips below. Let us know what worked for you and what hasn't and we would be glad to add your ideas to our blog.

1. Get a pretty website! 
Websites are like horses, they call cost the same to feed, you might as well have a pretty horse, unless you have horses like our client, Sargent Equestrian Center, they are the big clydesdale boys and cost a lot to feed!  But seriously, websites all cost basically the same every month whether they are pretty or not and even if they aren't effective, you are still paying for them, so I say, have a pretty and effect website! 

Having a nice looking website really helps to sell your business and frame your content to deliver the message you want to portray to your visitors. 

2. Keep your website information Current
We recommend updating your website at least once a month. Keeping your website updated tells your visitors the latest information about your business and lets new visitors know that you are serious about your business and take the time to keep it current. It also helps with the search engine rankings because Google and Yahoo look at that as part of their formula for ranking and rank those sites higher if they are updated more frequently. An easy way to do this it get a do it yourself website and make the updates yourself.

3. Use other tools to market your website
Our philosophy is...... just having a website up on the interent isn't enough to market your business! You have to work hard at marketing it. It won't be enough to just stick up a website and hope that users come to it. We suggest using other tools to market your website. For instance, Constant Contact is an excellent product which we customize templates for our clients. 

This tool allows you to send out attractive HTML based e-newsletter blasts to a set of names on a email list and allows you to have multiple lists so you can manage various looks for your business marketing email campaigns with different content to reach a variety of customers. 

It saves trees and is highly effective at bringing traffic into websites. 

4. Use Social Networking sites 
We also suggest using Facebook to reach your followers and share information, sales, new service offerings and even just listing the spring foals for sale. Facebook is one of the most powerful networking tools on the planet. If you don't already have a business Facebook account, contact us and we can help you get one set up as well as help you design your timeline graphics for the Facebook page. Check out our business Facebook page to see an example. Facebook is free and easy to use. 

Effective Websites:
Equine Legal Solutions
I promised to share with you some of our client's websites that have been effective.
First we have Equine Legal Solutions, which is owned by Rachel Kosmal McCart, an established equine attorney based out of Beavercreek, Oregon. She has been a longtime client since 2003. Her website is www.equinelegalsolutions.com. Rachel is very diligent in updating her website and writes informative equine legal articles each month that deliver new information to her viewers. She sends out email newsletter blasts to point readers to the new articles that she posts, which directs the traffic back to her website. She also uses contests and surveys to direct traffic to her website and of course uses Facebook to post informative tips and information. Her blog provides detailed information about the newest equine legal issues facing her industry. Her clients keep coming back to her website to learn something. It isn't just a contract sales website, it is a central clearing house of information about the equine industry and legal issues which it often faces.