If you’re on a rodeo committee, then you know how much rodeo advertising means to the event. It’s everything, really. If people don’t know the details of your event, or can’t find them, they won’t come. I totally understand that sometimes, we have to hire the cousin’s, best friend’s, daughter to handle the social media for your rodeo. I get it! Trust me, I was that person for my hometown rodeo. And that’s when I realized that we could do better. We needed to do more than just post on social media. People attend your rodeo for the experience of it, so why not create an experience for them before they get there? Give them a little taste of what’s to come. In this post, I’m excited to give you a little snapshot at some genius marketing strategies, you can implement today. I will start with the easy ones, then work our way to the more complex ones.
Update Your Rodeo Website
Skill Level = Medium
Before you come at me, I understand this may seem pretty obvious, but you would be shocked at how many folks let their website go by the wayside before an event. I also understand that sometimes, having the resources to update it might not be there. Take, for instance, Lost Dutchman Days Rodeo, up until about 4 years ago, we had a website we couldn’t even edit because of how old it was. Our committee bit the bullet and paid to have a new one built. Although the one we have isn’t perfect, it works and it’s easy enough that almost anyone on our committee could edit it if they had to. This is one of the services we hope to provide at a fairly low cost to help rodeos of all sizes manage their websites.
Update Your Social Media
Skill Level = Easy
This one could be a bit trickier depending on what kind of committee you have. But, it’s the same as your website, sometimes dates are published on descriptions or your annual year should be changed, emails could change. It’s great to just keep tabs on the information that is out on the internet. Just think, one wrong email could result in a lost sponsorship! I will have a checklist coming soon to help you manage the changes you can help stay on top of your rodeo’s advertising.
Do a Marketing Strategy Audit
Skill Level = Medium
This task may seem daunting but it’s easier than you might think! I have even included a downloadable worksheet for you to use as you do it. Doing an audit of your rodeo advertising is key to knowing what to expand on and what to cut back on. Essentially what you’re doing is writing down everything you’re currently doing for advertising, what you’re spending on it, and what the return is bringing you. Check it out below!
Get in Front of People
Skill Level = Medium
The only reason I marked this tip as “medium” is because some folks have a hard time talking in front of people and most times, rodeo committee volunteers don’t have a lot of time. This is where it is crucial to use the resources you do have available to you! A few options to get in front of people with minimal work are reaching out to your local chamber of commerce, networking groups, feed stores, community centers, really anywhere that you could encourage people to talk about your event on behalf of your committee. Make sure to have your marketing material ready to go!
Create a Rodeo “One-Pager”
Skill Level = Easy
This is one of my favorite tips! While it isn’t directly correlated to marketing, it will make your life SO much easier. There will be a download for this bad boy as well, down the road, but not quite yet. Essentially, this one-pager is everything, anyone could want to know about your rodeo on a single page. Below is a framework of how I like to structure mine, but you’re welcome to structure yours in whatever way feels good to you. Have questions? Don’t hesitate to reach, helping rodeo committees is what we do!
Rodeo One-Pager Structure
- Specific name of rodeo (people sometimes get it wrong)
- Rodeo dates
- Schedule (Include ancillary events as well)
- Ticket information (Where to find them, prices)
- Gate & event times (Yes, separately from the schedule)
- New things happening this year that folks need to know
- FAQs
- Important contact information
I hope you enjoyed this article on Tips and Tricks for Rodeo Advertising, you can expect a ton more coming out on this topic, but this should give you enough to chew on for now. Thanks for tuning in!