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Tips for Better Advertising:
How to Write Effective Ads for Your Horses

Question:

I am having a hard time writing descriptions to advertise each of the horses that I have for sale. I sound like a broken record: everything is "wonderful," "beautiful," "lovely," and so on. What is a better way to write my ads?

Answer:

This is a very common problem, especially when you have limited space such as when you are writing a classified ad. But there is a way to keep from sounding like a game show contestant talking about his "beautiful wife and three wonderful children." Breaking out a thesaurus to come up with more words for "beautiful" isn't the way to do it, so I'll give you a few hints:

1. Keep your thinking and your writing fresh by only writing descriptions for one or two horses at a time.
2. Use specifics instead of making general statements. Rather than using conclusive words like "wonderful," describe the specific qualities that make it wonderful.
3. Consider your customer: Who would want this kind of horse? What qualities does this horse have that appeal to a person who would be likely to buy it?
4. Provide objective details instead of subjective opinions. "Wonderful" is an opinion. Even "good movement" is an opinion. Provide the objective details that are the basis of your opinion. For example, do you think the horse has good movement because his movement is uphill, rhythmic, pure, or correct? Does he have balance, clean flying changes, and so on?
5. Think about why each horse is unique. Every horse is different, and every horse has some special quality that is particularly noteworthy. It might be his personality, the expression in his eye, or a rare combination of bloodlines. Focus on each horse's uniqueness and your description will naturally be distinctive.

When you think subjectively about specific details and consider which qualities appeal to your customers, you will have no shortage of things to include in your descriptions.

Good luck with your writing and all of your marketing!

Have you got a question about equine marketing that you would like answered? Submit your question by email to: Ingrid@equinnovation.com

Copyright 2005. This article first appeared in The Equine Business Edge, Equinnovation's complimentary newsletter (click to subscribe).

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