1. Grow Your Facebook Audience and Engagement
Now is the BEST time to begin growing your audience on Facebook. Paid Likes Campaigns are a great way to grow your audience quickly and are a somewhat inexpensive form of Facebook advertising. In recent paid likes campaigns we’ve run for clients, $50 can easily translate into 1,000 likes. The size of your Facebook audience is important because it increases the number of people who know your brand and will see your posts. It’s a great way to find new customers! While numbers are important, engagement on your Facebook page is even more vital. Ask your Facebook audience a question, share a funny story or post an inspirational graphic to boost your engagement. Posting consistent, quality, content is the best way to keep your audience engaged and interested for when you start to post about your sale.
2. Make a Sale Timeline
Whether your sale is a month away or six months away, creating a timeline now will save you headaches in the future. Map out when you are going to do certain tasks like get your photos taken and when your sale catalog needs to be sent to the printer and when it needs to be mailed out. You can also outline when to get on-farm tasks completed too. This will help you balance out your schedule and be prepared in case you get behind.
3. Create a Marketing Budget for Your Sale
I can’t tell you how often I ask clients for their budget, and they can’t give me an answer! Decide upfront how much you want to spend on marketing your sale and how much you are willing to spend. Base your budget off of the number of head in your sale and consider how much you could make (or lose) on each head with your final number. This helps break down the marketing dollars into a more manageable form. This budget will help you determine which tasks should be done in-house and which ones you can delegate to someone outside your business. For example, you may want to take care of the Facebook posting, but you’ll probably want to hire someone to design your catalog. Creating a budget with some wiggle room will also allow you to delegate any last minute tasks to someone outside your business if things get too busy or overwhelming for you and your team.
4. Build Your Email List
If you don’t have an email list of past buyers and bidders and potential customers, then it’s time to get started. An email list is almost as important as your mailing list. With an email list, you can send out reminders about your sale, photos of your sale catalog and more, straight to a potential buyer’s cell phone. According to our annual Livestock Marketing Survey Report, 75% of respondents said like like receiving email blasts about relevant sales and events. Using the right software, you can also track who opened your email and if people clicked on links to your website or sale catalog. This kind of information can be helpful in knowing the number of potential customers you may have and in driving people to your ranch or online sale.
Don’t know how to get an email list started? Start with your current mailing list and collect email addresses from those people. Then you can create a signup form on your website and a signup button on your Facebook page. Giveaways are also a great way to collect email addresses. Give away a new pair of work gloves or a few ranch caps and have your contestants provide their email addresses when entering the giveaway!
5. Update Your Website
It’s important to have the most up to date information on your website, but did you know that updating your website can help with search engine optimization too? If you haven’t edited your “About Me” page in three years or the photos of your family are so old, people may not recognize your children, consider adding some fresh content! Simple, regular text updates can help your ranking on Google and will show your visitors that it’s a great place to get updated information about your ranch and cattle for sale.
We know livestock producers have enough on their to do lists, but getting started on these tasks now, can help save time and money in the future!
Need help with Your Next Sale?
Don’t wait until the last minute to get help marketing your sale. Hire Ranch House Designs to design your next sale catalog or ad.