Marketing
By Myra Basham
Is Technology An Issue? The Internet Can Still Work For You! The one thing that has certainly changed in getting your program in front of new people is the vast reach of the internet. If you live in an area where it’s more trouble than it’s worth to get a cell phone signal or internet service, that does not mean you have to miss all the ways that people utilize the internet for marketing. While you may not have your own web page or social media account, you only need to get your message into a print venue or online marketing service that can help you. As long as you have a phone number you can be reached, even if it is a land line, you’re in the game! Some types of online marketing are simply printed catalogs or publications, such as Trails Magazine, is also published online. Your ad or consignments then become available to a much wider audience without you needing to do a thing. If you are inquiring about an ad or contemplating putting consignments in a catalogued sale, ask if the materials will also be publicly available online. There are many avenues that are digital, online only marketing venues. These may come in the form of online auctions or sale pages, or as the ad on this page shows, a newer idea of utilizing an online catalog for Private Treaty Sales. You should scan through past issues of cattle publications such as ours, as well as your Longhorn sale catalogs, for ads offering consulting or
marketing services for the livestock industry. It is also worth a trip to your public library to use their internet to find contact numbers for different sources of online Longhorn marketplaces. There are many ways to get your materials to people who can turn them into digital media for you. Most sales and publications still accept your mailed in physical photos and handwritten or typed materials. If you are comfortable with a digital camera you can buy an extra memory card to send in. Each service offers different options, so always call and talk to someone in person. Just because they request everything to be emailed in their advertisements does not mean they won’t work with you if that is not a possibility for you. Make sure that any information you include in marketing materials includes a phone number and, if you feel comfortable, a mailing address. If a person is interested in your Longhorns but has been unsuccessful in reaching you by phone they can drop an inquiry in the mail to you. While the ways we market change continually, one thing remains constant – people have to know what’s available before they can consider buying. Be creative and avenues you thought weren’t feasible may just work for you after all!
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2 We thank these folks for kindly droppin’ in at the TLBAA office.
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1. David Looney, Alvarado, TX 2. Clarence and Ingrid Dekens, Ontario, Canada 3. Brendan Taylor, Krum, TX 4. Dick Weir. Grandview, TX 32 | March 2018
TEXAS LONGHORN TRAILS