How can you get the word out about your horse training clinic? Clinics can be a very profitable endeavor if you can make more than your travel and use-of-facility expenses. Perhaps you’re holding a clinic to get your name and methods out there, so you can gain more riding students and training clients. So, how can you raise excitement amongst riders so they’ll attend your clinic?
Before organizing a clinic, make sure you are able to communicate with and teach people. If you’re great with horses, but can’t teach people, this kind of makes the clinic null and void. People are coming to you because they want to learn and understand something better than they do now.
Some time tested methods you can use to market your horse training clinic include:
- Word of Mouth
- Professional Flyers
- Social Media
- Facebook Events
- Blog Posts
- Awesome Landing Pages
- Local Radio Shows and Podcasts
Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is really powerful when it comes to marketing yourself and your horse training clinic. When people tell their friends about you in person or share something of yours on social media, it sends a message of credibility. If the facility you’re using is a riding club or boarding/ training stable, make sure everyone who rides at, boards at or is a member of the facility knows about the upcoming clinic.
Professional Flyers in Local Feed Stores.
If you’ve been to many feed stores you know that they often have bulletin boards to let people know what’s going on in the local area. Tell local riders about your clinic with a professional flyer. List your contact information, website, and/or how they can register for the clinic. Make sure to list some bullet points of things you’ll be covering and doing. It might look something like this:
- Sacking Out
- First Saddling
- First Ride
Or,
- Beginning Dressage.
- Getting Your Horse on the Bit.
- The Half-Halt Explained.
Or the problems you’ll be addressing,
- Trailering Trouble.
- Pulling Back When Tied Up.
- Lacking Brakes.
Horse Training Clinics and Social Media
Create content with quotes, tips or ideals that you’ll be sharing at the clinic. Post things that inspire horse owners to find out more about your training methods and/or lesson program. Post regularly, especially leading up to the clinic. You should probably be posting at least 3 times per week and every day for one week leading up to the clinic.
During the clinic, make sure to have someone take pictures and videos to post to social media. This reminds people who didn’t attend about all the awesome things happening at your clinic. Who knows? Maybe they’ll attend next time.
Facebook Events
To tie in with the social media, create a Facebook Event for your clinic. It may be suggested to people in your area, and the attendees can share their enthusiasm by sharing your event with friends, helping to spread the word to even more people.
Blog Posts
Creating short (300-word) blog posts about topics relating to your business/ training program can be great for sending to an email list, sharing on social media and helping drive traffic and potential attendees to your website.
A Great Landing Page
Speaking of websites, do you have one? Having a professional website can be one of the best things you can do for your business, especially when marketing clinics. Create a flashy page entitled “clinics” where you have a few short paragraphs and a couple of testimonials about how helpful your clinics are. Include a photo sequence from a previous clinic. If possible, include a sharp, short video about your mission and horse training ideals.
List some dates towards the bottom of the page with links to the facilities/ locations they’ll be held at. Setting up a link that lets people pre-register not only makes things smoother but also adds to your overall professional vibe.
Local Radio Show or Podcast Spot
Getting a short spot on a local news radio show or podcast can also help spread the word about the upcoming clinic.
First, consider which radio shows your clinic attendees are listening to. Then, plan to discuss something of value to them. Call or email the producer with a pitch and attached sheet of talking points you’d like to cover. When you get scheduled to be on the show or podcast, mention this upcoming debut on your social media, reminding fans to tune in.
If you’re a well known clinician or just starting out, I hope that these tips help you get the word out about your training clinic. If you need a helping hand in the world of flyers, social media, email, blogs or awesome landing pages, contact Catherine for a free 30-minute consultation about your clinician business needs.
