{"id":54,"date":"2012-04-16T09:47:08","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T16:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/?p=54"},"modified":"2012-06-11T09:41:59","modified_gmt":"2012-06-11T16:41:59","slug":"bettering-your-advertising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/?p=54","title":{"rendered":"Bettering your advertising"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Simple steps to add value to your cattle promotions<\/em><\/p>\n

By Codi Vallery-Mills<\/p>\n

The spring bull sale season is almost over and producers should begin to analyze the effectiveness of their sale’s marketing and promotion plans, if they haven\u2019t already. Rachel Cutrer is president of Ranch House Design, Inc.<\/a> in Wharton, Texas. Formed in 1999, Ranch House Designs has quickly become one of the industry\u2019s leading communications and graphic design firms. Cutrer\u2019s education in communications and marketing along with her cattle industry knowledge lends itself to being a rich resource for cattle producers. Here she shares advice about print marketing and how cattlemen can optimize their promotion budget.<\/p>\n

One of the first steps Cutrer says is to define the desired result of your advertising. Without direction she says you shouldn\u2019t expect your phone to start ringing. \u201cYou have to tell, and show, your prospective clients why they should do business with you,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

How do you do this? Cutrer suggests:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Using high quality, large photos that show off your cattle.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Writing short, concise captions that cut to the chase and tell readers exactly what they want to know. Also include short, additional text elsewhere in the advertisement that supports the purpose of the ad. This can include more information about the cattle selling, pedigrees, ranch history, etc.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Drive people to your web site where they can find a lot more information about your ranch.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Include a call to action to get a response from readers. Example: \u201cCall us to come see our sale bulls at the ranch\u201d or \u201cCall us for your copy of our sale catalog.\u201d Make it easy as possible for someone to do business with you.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Including several methods of contact. Cattlemen need to give options for others to contact them so phone numbers, email addresses, websites and regular mail addresses are recommended in ads. Cutrer does warn though, \u201cIf you don\u2019t check your email regularly then don\u2019t list the address. When potential clients use email as a method of contact, they typically expect a response within one business day. If you only check your email once a week, do not list your email address in your advertising. \u201c<\/p>\n

Once you have the information elements of your ad determined it is time to look at designs. Cutrer says this is the time when you can express your operations personality and preferences but she does have a few thoughts to keep in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always important to consider the advertising preferences of your target audience. If your advertisement is promoting a purebred commercial bull sale in western Nebraska, chances are your target audience wouldn\u2019t appreciate an overly trendy design with a grunge look. Conversely, if your target audience is youth livestock exhibitors, the flashier the better,\u201d says Cutrer.<\/p>\n

Is print media on its way out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the onslaught of online media options one has to wonder if print media will become null and void. According to Cutrer it\u2019s not likely as she says the power of the traditional printed magazine or newspaper advertising can never be underestimated.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many livestock producers, especially those with more maturity, there is no bigger highlight than receiving their favorite agricultural publications, at the first of each month, delivered straight to their mailbox. These are the producers who often drop everything to spend hours perusing and studying their favorite printed publications, word for word,\u201d says Cutrer.<\/p>\n

And print media offers the opportunity for your ad to reach a very targeted audience. Agricultural trade publications often times have a vast circulation with proven mailing addresses. By selecting the printed publication that most closely aligns with your target clientele, your name is specifically exposed to thousands of readers directly interested in your product, she says.<\/p>\n

She says today\u2019s cattle industry is on a modern track, but a mix of traditional print media and online media is the right solution to adequate marketing, not one or the other.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Cutrer reminds producers that they need to plan ahead and contact publications early with their promotional needs and ideas. \u201cThere is no such thing as \u2018planning too early\u2019 when it comes to contacting designers, photographers, or magazines to place your project on their production schedules,\u201d says Cutrer.\u00a0 \u201cYou can\u2019t book an advertisement page with a magazine two days prior to deadline and expect them to create a masterpiece with only a few hours before going to press. Advance planning is even more imperative when taking photos. Often, rain and snowstorms delay the best laid plans of agriculturalists.\u201d She says planning ahead allows you time to get great quality photos and adequate time for the graphic designer building your ad to create something that truly represents your farm or ranch.<\/p>\n


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Simple steps to add value to your cattle promotions By Codi Vallery-Mills The spring bull sale season is almost over and producers should begin to analyze the effectiveness of their sale’s marketing and promotion plans, if they haven\u2019t already. Rachel Cutrer is president of Ranch House Design, Inc. in Wharton, Texas. Formed in 1999, Ranch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-httpsdprairiewriter-compage_id58"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63,"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sdprairiewriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}