help with my niche

mr.spids

Hey
I have my own animal feed business and I was planing on expanding. I sell all types of food from small bird food to horsefeed, dog food etc at very low prices I mainly do deliverys but pick up is available too,we are located in Galway but travel frequently all over. I was just wondering how I would advertise my business all across Ireland via Internet,newpapers etc any help is greatly apprietated Thank you

NathanKingerlee

Maybe you need a special countrywide promotion to initially get your name out there? Didn't Pedigree or Kiticat recently team up with an animal charity? They got good publicity from that.

You could use the resession angle of 'animals are suffering as well as people' and come across as the good guys out to help all animals by offering good value, cheap, foods.

blue4ever

1,300 people a month do an internet search for the phrase "animal feed" - so the web would be a good place to start!

random.stranger

Maybe you could do a special promotion through the Bargain Alerts section of this site (you would have to check the forum rules, to check if it's alright for business owners to do this).

Also, when you have contributed more posts, you will be able to add your business details to your signature. It would be a nice way to promote your business by subscribing to the Animal & Pet Issues forum & becoming a regular contributor.

Culchie

If you are all over the place, then Vehicle Graphics is the way to go.

24/7 coverage every day of the week....can't beat it.

CringerII

mr.spids wrote: »

Hey
I have my own animal feed business and I was planing on expanding. I sell all types of food from small bird food to horsefeed, dog food etc at very low prices I mainly do deliverys but pick up is available too,we are located in Galway but travel frequently all over. I was just wondering how I would advertise my business all across Ireland via Internet,newpapers etc any help is greatly apprietated Thank you

Congrats on your venture and on the surface it looks like a nice niche you have there.

Have you tried any direct mailing to stud farms? It might be interesting for you to know what type of horse feed stud farmers buy, where they buy it and what price they buy it for. Do they get it delivered or do they have to collect it?

Pick up any farming related papers and check out who is advertising in it. What are they charging and what is their USP? Is yours better? If not what can you do to make yours a better USP?

Just like the organic free range eggs - the ones with omega 3 - they cost more to buy than ordinary eggs. Perhaps you can carve an ultra niche within your niche

If you're hardcore you could do a video series on how your feed is produced - is it from Ireland? Just like how some beers advertise their process - from the barley fields to the bottle, perhaps an advertising op like that may work depending on your budget and market position.

As suggested also - brand your vans - put website and phone number on it.
There's plenty of things out there for you to try. Remember, you're not doing anything new here, the product may be different but the marketing process is going to be similar to many other products out there.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Mods, same thread posted in another section from same poster. Probably best to merge.

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055851176

Equanimity

Hi there

If this is a very new business venture then you most likely don't have a huge marketing budget.
If you do one small thing like an ad or two, you're more unlikely to get any business from it.

Think very carefully about your target audience. If it's the domestic market (pet owners at home) then where are these people. As this audience covers a very large audience, think about how you can reach them. What one thing will they all have in common? Well I would imagine they will all attend a vet once in a while. So I would put some effort into strong sales targeting vets in whatever regions you want to reach. Get them to sell for you! Whether you visit the vets & tell them what you are offering or send a direct mail piece followed by a call. This is cheap enough to do.
If there's something special about your animal food then it's really important that you make this your core message when selling or advertising.
What makes your food different from others? Home delivery is great but you know how people treat their pets (like their children!) so something like it's healthy, no additives, organic etc. will make it even more appealing - especially for the vets. You may need to offer a kick back to the vets or some incentive!

If you are targeting the farming community then you need to be very specific. It's a tough area to get. Perhaps try http://www.pedigreecattle.ie/
That's the guys who appeared on Dragon's Den & as a result they have gained a huge amount of media attention so the farming community nationwide seem to know about them. They may let you advertise on the site or if not then perhaps if you issue a press release they will include it for free in their news section. Also Farmers Journal is very popular.

Anyhow there's a few tips. I hope they help & good luck with it !

Equanimity

Alex Swan

Do you sell Wagg Dog food or any of the wagg range?