Get More Industry Attention for your Alpaca Ranch by Holding Contests

Everyone loves getting a prize…contests and prizes not only cement your alpaca ranch in the minds of participants, they also create a buzz for your ranch, leading more people to engage with you.

Therefore, it’s logical to hold a contest and offer prizes…announcing your contest through a press release, spreading the news through social media and your blog are not only ways to get the word out, but adds new content to your site and generates a buzz about your ranch.

Not only this, other websites and traditional publications can quite possibly find your press release (…or you send it to them) and publish information about your event in their publications.

When thinking about a contest, first consider the type of contest and award will best fit the audience you’re targeting. Once you do this, try and find out how you can reach out to and motivate these people.

If you’re a smaller farm, perhaps you can hold a contest and solicit names for your farm’s next yarn or next cria. Not only can this create awareness in your community, it can be a great tool for attracting those who are not yet alpaca ranchers.

Another idea is if you’re planning an open house or event at your ranch, offer a simple prize for the first 30 people to arrive. Again, not only will this build awareness about your event, it will motivate people to actually show up!

And not only can you announce your contest through a press release, you can prominently display the event on your homepage and blog. Post it on your Facebook page and ‘tweet’ about it on Twitter.

If you’re a larger farm with lots of customers (…or even just a couple), offer an excellence award to a farm you’re affiliated with.

You can promote this type of contest by reaching out to farms you work with and to the industry in general. Something like this provides a great opportunity to establish relationships with other alpaca ranchers. Use some of the other same distribution channels mentioned above – PR, social media, blogs, etc.

To build even further exposure, create a badge the winning farm can place on their website. Having a badge that says “2011 Alpaca Ranch of the Year” can go a long way toward boosting their credibility, giving you motivation to be competitive. Not only this, you can ask the winning farm to link to your site from the image which boosts your website’s standing in the search engines.

And once your contest is complete, follow-up with additional publicity announcing the winner and details of the contest. This creates more awareness and motivation to engage with your farm. Once you get a good level of exposure with your first few contests, the number of people future contests will draw will grow exponentially.

Learn more about innovative ways you can grow your alpaca ranch through online channels by consulting with experienced alpaca web marketing professionals today.