Equestrian Marketing Myth #1

Images must be slick, shiny & skinny 🙄

Ladies, it’s time to embrace the unpolished. And here’s why.

Social feeds are starting to look same, same, same… And we all have a bullshit detector that works really well.

I know this because the moment I started shunning the posed, polished, professional content – in favour of real me, doing real thing and saying real things – my engagement went through the roof.

And I think the reason is this……. (N.B. I have absolutely no data to back this up but bear with me)

Over the last 15 years there’s been a huge advertising shift from mainstream media like magazines to social media.

And back in the day, with glossy magazines – the focus was very much on aspirational content. The photos always depicted impossibly beautiful people, clothes, houses or horses.

Which worked well for those mediums because getting lost in a ‘glossy’ was a lovely little moment of escapism.

It was that once monthly treat where you could flip open your favourite magazine and go down the rabbit hole of how the ‘other half’ live.

However, social media is very different.

People want to connect and feel seen. They want to engage with people and brands they can relate to.

Relatable content resonates on a personal level.

The entire purpose of social media marketing is to encourage interactions, shares, and discussions, which not only boosts your reach but also strengthens the relationship between your brand and followers.

So the next time you’re wondering what on earth to post next, why not try this on for size?

Pull on your bravest pants and post yourself instead of the kind of model you think people want to see.

Introduce yourself, talk about the what and why drove you to start your business… And do it from the heart.

No one wants to hear about someone that created a business because they saw a ‘gap in the market’ they want to hear about how a fear of showing your bum crack prompted you to design longer tops… Or how a cheese addiction & many drunken mishaps meant you designed an idiot proof picnic set.

Just be you – and tell your story, not the story you think people want to hear.

Hint: Be sure to show your face clearly.

There’s some kind of psychological wizardry that goes with showing faces…. if you don’t believe me, go back through your feed and checkout the difference in engagement on posts that clearly show someone’s face 😎

Will it work though?

I’ve done marketing pretty much my entire ‘grown up’ life…

I even clawed my way through a Bachelor of Business Marketing back in they day (which considering how much time I spent at the Uni Bar, was no mean feat 🤣).

And as I shimmied through my career, doing a lot of weird and wonderful jobs… I became pretty good at telling stories and selling things.

And even though I prided myself on being a bit more creative than most – I still stuck to the formula.

I did all the things you’re SUPPOSED to do.

And it wasn’t until I had my very own Britney Spears style meltdown in 2022 that I realised how powerful it is to be ‘real’

Overnight I stopped saying the things I was supposed to say and gave up getting models to wear my clothes…

I just said ‘fuck it’ and started doing thing the most human way possible – which was just to be me 🤷‍♀️

The brand had never done badly before but this approach was a game changer…

If you’re familiar with Sweet Iron Co, these days I just open the website 4 times a year for a few days each time….

I wear all the clothes myself and never edit my photos (except to insert the occasional enormous helmet).

I usually don’t wear makeup or remember to dye my hair… It’s as real as real get and the sales speak for themselves.

I think the reason it works so well is because we’re tired of being bombarded with ads that feel fake and overly perfect. People just want content that’s real, relatable, and down-to-earth.

Things to Consider

If you’re wondering what works – and how you can get ahead of the curve on social media marketing, then please consider this.

What’s out:

👉 Curated Instagram grids with a matchy, matchy aesthetic
👉 Perfect photos.
👉 Videos that look & feel like TV commercials

What’s in:

👉 Videos shot on a phone with minimal editing
👉 Brands being more humany and less businessy.
👉 Humour… And it’s well overdue 🤣

If this tickles your fancy…

Read my new article “How to post sales posts on social media without sounding salesy”

Or if you want something a little meatier – I’ve created an easy to follow DIY system for people that want to take the mess out of their social media marketing.

Here’s what you’ll get from me:

I promise NEVER to bleat bullshit about earning huge money and living ‘the life of your dreams’…I’ll just give you an easy to follow formula so you can do your social media marketing in less than 60 mins a week.

Each week you’ll receive an easy instructional that will save you hours of frustration, staring at the screen and wondering what to post…

Also.. it’s an approach that works. Really well.

Sound tempting? It’s just $12 a week (and you can even get started with a free trial)…

Find out more here.