The stylish equestrian consulting collaboration with Equitrends Magazine

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Equitrends is THE magazine for retailers, producers, and service providers in equestrian sports. With a focus on the German, Austrian and Swiss market, but with a reach going far beyond the Germanic countries in Europe, Equitrends is the ultimate business to business equestrian platform.

They not only provide a monthly magazine, but are also actively present at the bi-annual SPOGA horse trade fair in Köln with their SPOGA awards program recognising excellence in a variety of categories, but also have a strong collaboration with E-Horses working on providing social media and marketing support.

The stylish equestrian consulting teamed up with Equitrends initially on a style post for their April 2017 issue (read the April article here: equitrends_0417_Archiv country style), which is all about contemporary country style. They have since extended the collaboration to a regular column about winning with social media in the equestrian world. (read the May article here: equitrends_0517_Archiv social media schule )

The June issue will be out any day now, you can go to their website and order your trial edition for free right here.

Special thanks goes out to journalist and contributor for Equitrends magazine Jeannette Aretz.

Influencer Marketing: The importance of finding the right story teller

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Influencer marketing is THE most time and cost efficient way to get your brand seen and known fast with a large target audience. Combine this with the ever growing need for brands to tell a story and be able create a personal, emotional connection with the target audience… and you have a bit of a marketing paradox.

There is quite a big risk that your brand story might get lost in the viral storm created by the latest Instagram star, but it is the best way to get to the brand out there, right? So now what?

Here are a few tips and tricks to make sure your brand story isn’t lost the viral storm:

1. Choosing a person by follower/social reach alone is not always the best decision making criteria (the follower numbers are not always true…), rather look for a few smaller accounts, with very high engagement that really fit with your brand identity.

2. The influencer of choice should be able to co-creatively design original content with the brand, not just use a product for a selfie. This will ensure more personal involvement, engagement and endorsement of the brand and it’s story.

3. Do a quick intent check: Does the influencer of choice want to truly represent the brand or is it just an opportunity to boost their personal image/numbers/fame?

4. When choosing your influencer strategy, always ask yourself “What personal value does my target customer get from the created content other than a pretty image to look at?” i.e. Is the content a one-off cute pic or can it be used for a future local campaigns or online activity?

6. When choosing your favourite influencer, did you provide them with a briefing? Is your brand story clear enough for them to ensure they are telling the same story?

Need help getting your brand story across? Need help identifying the right partners for your brand?

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Post content inspired by Linkedin articles from Cornelius McGrath: 2017 The year to tell your story and Valerie Ox: This is why most influencer marketing campaigns fail – and how a bad strategy destroys authentic storytelling

Boosting your brand visibility with targeted social media collaborations

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You want a very select group of consumers to get to know your brand, but you’re not sure how to go about it?

Why not work with a select group of social media influencers who can not only showcase your brand to an extremely targeted audience, but also endorse your products with genuine support and product reviews for increased credibility.

A good example is thestylishequestrian.com: a platform that showcases the latest trends and provides daily inspiration for the ultimate street to stable lifestyle. Working with the stylish equestrian has brought small businesses new distribution opportunities and large brands the targeted visibility they require for growing their brand with the right audience.

The stylish equestrian provides tailored visibility packages that include visibility in the signature sets on multiple social media platforms, but also brand ambassador programs that include product reviews, Instagram endorsement to over 31K followers and the option to run give-away competitions.

Want to work with The stylish equestrian or need some advice on how best to increase your brand visibility?

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How to get more likes on Instagram – equestrian style…

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Data tells us that colorful pics, particularly those predominantly washed in blue, get the most likes on Instagram (blue, really?). But it takes more than a fast filter to attract, and engage, a dedicated following on instagram.

I’ve done some searching to find the magic formula… which unfortunately doesn’t exist. I did however come across some top tips from the fashion industry and have translated them into equestrian relevant instagramming tips and tricks.

1. Be you

If you want to build a real presence on Instagram, you must first and foremost “be you” or keep it real (read more on that here….), and although you should keep your followers engaged with a regular flow of relevant and curated content, there should not be an overdose of you. Most successful instagrammers and bloggers mix it up with a few personal posts and other original content. So maybe mix up the horse selfies or Eskadron sets with a spontaneous snap or an impression of your beautiful barn surroundings.

2. Find your groove

Finding your groove applies to how you pace your posting to the general ‘theme’ of your stream. Being consistent helps followers to get a sense of who you are and really get connected to your point of view. It took me over a year to find my groove, but paying close attention to what your followers want to see, is worth the time spent and the homework done. Find what they love and suits you best and stick with it. This takes time and there will always be a pic with a little less engagement, but keep going. Do you have great shots of you and your horse at competition, or are you best at artistic seat shots, and do your followers respond to these? Keep’m coming!

3. Connect

Want to gain engagement fast without compromising your account by using one of the many like-follow bots out there? Connect! Connect with accounts you love and the ones with followers that you think would be a great fit for your account. Find a creative way to collaborate (don’t just ask for a shoutout, there needs to be a benefit for both of you!) and be active on their accounts. On my own account (@the_stylish_equestrian currently at 28.4K followers) a major growth boost has come from my collaborations with larger accounts in the form of special edition blog posts. This not only got me noticed, but also landed me some great new Instagram friends.

Would you like an objective editing eye to have a look at your Instagram and help you find your groove?

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Tips on how to become an (equestrian) social media influencer

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Social media influencer marketing has become one of the most effective channels to reach modern day consumers. This tricky ones, that are increasingly hard to catch through conventional channels. Ironically, one of the oldest tricks in the book has become the key player in modern day marketing: word of mouth…. social media word of mouth that is: customers often prefer to research a brand on their own and only rely on feedback or recommendations from someone they trust. The impact of social media influencers on marketing campaigns is ever increasing as they are seen as experts in their particular field (i.e. Equestrian) and effective partners for sharing a particular brands’ message.

So, if you’ve been dreaming of becoming one of those respected social media influencers, how do you get there? Here’s a few top tips to get your started …

1.Be active, be selective and focus

If you’re starting out with any social media channel, it’s best to have some content already up and running before your start ‘pushing’ your presence (for example 6-9 posts on Instagram). Post regularly to keep your followers engaged and interested and be active on the peoples accounts to show your own interest and alert them to your online presence. Keep in mind as a golden rule: quality over quantity. Don’t post for the sake of posting, rather wait a bit and post quality content of which you are proud, fits with your personal branding and really represents what you stand for. Only then will you be an attractive partner to the brands that feel like you could be a great spokesperson for their brand. Focus on finding your voice, your niche and speciality and stick with.

2.Engage, interact and build meaningful relationships

Despite that fact that, or maybe because, social media is not live personal interaction, there is an increased need to create meaningful relationships. A great way to get loyal followers is to engage in conversations with other social media influencers, like peoples work, work on collaborations and follow others. Most importantly: be real and be you. Nothing beats authenticity and genuine interaction. Read more about this here.

3.Keep going!

What? Only 2 followers gained today? Don’t give up! Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Kylie Jenner’s social media empire. Give it some time to build up a credible quality presence across multiple channels.

Still a bit lost? Get in touch, we can help you with your social media presence and personal branding!

The stylish equestrian consulting

Equestrian business development

Tag: horse