Many livestock ranchers advertise for their upcoming sales through print and local TV advertising. But, what about digital advertising opportunities? 

By leveraging paid online advertising platforms such as Facebook and Google, ranchers can showcase their stock and encourage catalog downloads in the weeks leading up to their auction.

This allows you to reach potential buyers where they are — online — as well as connect with potential new buyers who you may not have reached otherwise.

Ranch Uses Facebook to Boost Profits at Bull Sale

Online Tactics For Print And Digital Catalogs

First things first — are you stuck in the old days of offering a print-only catalog of your available livestock?

There’s likely still a time and place for that, but it’s high time to supplement your print catalog with a digital option. This can be as simple as a scanned PDF of your print catalog, a digital catalog using a tool like Issuu or — better yet — a website listing of your stock with images and details. (More on this later!)

If you do choose to stick with a print-only catalog, you can still promote it online and reach new potential buyers. By promoting the print catalog and your upcoming sale, people can connect with your livestock business to request the print catalog be sent to them.

Advertise the Catalog Online With Digital Ads and Email

Whether your livestock business is promoting a print or digital catalog, you can get the information in the hands of the right people through both Facebook ads and search engines — like Google or Bing.

On these platforms, you have the ability to target similar audiences to your previous customers and remarket to website browsers who have not yet requested a catalog.

Additionally, with Google or Bing Search ads, you can target keyword-specific searches, so your livestock catalog request page shows up at the top of the search results page for folks who are typing phrases like “cattle auction [in your location].”

While digital ads are a sure way to engage with a new audience, don’t forget about your current network. That’s where email marketing comes into play.

If your livestock business has already dove into the world of email marketing — or even if you simply have a list of past customers and industry contacts to connect with through your personal email — use this platform to let these connections know your livestock catalog is available, so they can start thinking about your stock before the big sale.

Ways To Use Email To Reach Your Livestock Customers

Gate Your Catalog (If It’s Digital)

If you choose to craft a digital livestock catalog, it’s important that it be gated, meaning someone must submit a form to download or view the content.

Sounds like a hassle? Maybe a small one — until you realize this form submission process allows would-be buyers to give you their contact information in exchange for the catalog. It also eliminates the extra work on your end of having to mail out a physical catalog to those who request it.

With this form submission process, you now have a list of contacts who are interested in your stock right now and probably next year, too. Add that to your Rolodex. 

Measure The Results

Anytime your business launches a digital marketing effort, it’s important you can identify and measure specific results. If not, how will you know if the campaigns were worth the money and time investment?

Before launching your livestock catalog request campaigns, confirm you can measure the following:

• Print catalog requests
• Digital catalog downloads on your website
• Or both!

You may also be interested in measuring phone calls to your ranch, new visitors to the website and more. To do this, create a Google Analytics account if you have not already. Here you can create trackable goals, such as certain pageviews or form submissions. 

Even if you keep things super simple, like sticking to print catalog requests and keeping track of them manually in a spreadsheet, you’re still measuring the results, and that’s what is important. 

By doing this, you’ll be able to identify how livestock catalog requests compared to previous years and how many to aim for next year in order to continue growing your livestock business. 

Livestock Sale Marketing Package

Your Audience Is Online, So Meet Them There

Ranchers of all ages are online these days — from the young buck taking over the family ranch to the wise cowboy who’s been at it for decades. 

​​While the rest of the livestock industry lags behind the times, you can jump ahead by investing in digital marketing practices that attract, educate, and convert your audience. A livestock catalog request campaign is the perfect place to start ahead of your next big sale.

If you’re ready to learn more about digital marketing for your livestock business, you’re in the right place.

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