Can I pick your glorious brains?

Starzaan

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Hello my moragulous beauties!

I was just wondering if I could pick your horsey brains?

I am planning the social media activity for some sponsored riders for work over Badminton. I was just wondering what kind of content you would like to see from professional riders on social media?

Personally I enjoy "behind the scenes" the most - seeing things such as how pack the lorry, how they set up their stables etc. at the competition, warm ups, walking the course etc.

If anyone has any thoughts or ideas I would be SOOOOOO grateful and will waft my morags at you if you come see me at Badminton!
 

ihatework

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Personally, I love the honest bits to the job. Most social media are so manufactured that it gives quite a false impression.

One thing I liked recently was Tina Cooks discussion about Star witness and the management of kissing spines

So if you can get anyone to talk openly about the real challenges of getting their horses to badminton then I’d read it. However that presents challenges in itself
 

Starzaan

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Also like the behind the scenes stuff - esp if third parties such as vets, physios etc involved. It's good to know the team that get the horses fit enough to compete at this level
Ooh I like that idea!
 

Starzaan

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Personally, I love the honest bits to the job. Most social media are so manufactured that it gives quite a false impression.

One thing I liked recently was Tina Cooks discussion about Star witness and the management of kissing spines

So if you can get anyone to talk openly about the real challenges of getting their horses to badminton then I’d read it. However that presents challenges in itself

This is what I am aiming for. We want our sponsored riders to be accessible, and we want them to help encourage and inspire followers - be it by giving them something to dream about, or making them seem more "real" by encouraging them to talk about the challenges as well as the positives.
 

ihatework

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This is what I am aiming for. We want our sponsored riders to be accessible, and we want them to help encourage and inspire followers - be it by giving them something to dream about, or making them seem more "real" by encouraging them to talk about the challenges as well as the positives.

It is a balancing act though, most will be understandably guarded about what they say!
 

Mucking out - still

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Echo everyone else here. I really enjoyed Harry Meade's interviews at Burgley (I think it was) about the horse's preparation etc - seeing him being weighed each day and how that correlated to management, for example. Would also like something about rider fitness - what do they REALLY do?!! This sounds great, Starzaan :D
 

Denbob

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Agree with behind the scenes stuff! I like the little snippets of training exercises as well. Rider fitness is a good suggestion, how riders with multiple horses adapt exercises and time off for each horse and their management in the days leading up to a big event is always interesting as well!
 

Starzaan

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While we're at it, what kind of things would you like to see from brands on social media? Behind the scenes? Factories, warehouses, meet the team, or just product and how to use it etc.?

Would be great to get some ideas :)
 

DabDab

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I love a good factory vid :p

Me too, but I'm more than a bit of a nerd in that area :oops:. Factory snippets of key product USPs are always popular though - like a how a cool piece of design is created or how a high quality standard is achieved.

Riders wise it is interesting to hear how a horse feels to them and how it varies/develops through training
 

pixie27

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Ditto behind the scenes snippets for riders - I really like it when you get a feel for the rider’s personality too.

Brand stuff - useful content always goes down well. Guides for new owners on the rugs you’ll need for your horse, fitting guides, material benefits (not features - so many of them talk about what the product is rather than why it’s good for horse/owner), different neck cuts - any content that’s quick to read but very useful and can be displayed in a video or infographic.

Production line coverage would be interesting! And I love meet the team pieces, makes the much bigger brands seem far more personal.
 

Crazy_cat_lady

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That sounds a very interesting job!

Like others have said I like seeing the horses allowed to be horses, maybe some photos of some of the xc jumps, always looks impressive with a person next to them to show the sheer scale of them, I prefer amusing anecdotes too eg not serious the whole time.

I follow various sports people on social media including footballers/ some eventers/ some team GB athletes

Lissa Green is one of my favourites, you can tell her love for her horses and her posts come across as "from the heart" I'm not sure if it's her writing them but I think it is, her spelling and grammar are very good too, sorry if im a bore but I like posts with mostly correct spelling and also those written by the person themselves if that makes sense rather than someone writing it for them it just feels more personal. Lissa posts scream genuine enthusiasm rather than say William Fox Pitt who comes across as more corporate/ having a PR person- I follow him also but almost always read all of a Lissa post rather than one of his I tend to just look at the pictures

I like the behind the scenes photos as well eg the footballers training with their team mates etc.
 

Crazy_cat_lady

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Brands it depends on your authority to authorise such stuff but I do like an opportunity to win something. Especially saddlepads as I'm on a self imposed ban on buying them but winning one wouldn't count ;) not that I've ever won! Not too keen on the share our photo for as other people's fb gets slammed maybe a funny photo competition?

I like seeing photos of new collections as I can window shop and dream! I tend to follow the brands who's products I like only however no point in me following say bling bonanza as I dont do bling. You also need to be careful not to spam people but I'm sure you know that already. Maybe if they have a stall a bit about their day to day at a big event?

Like I say spamming is annoying I had 4 notifications the other day to invites for horse related stuff someone was setting up none of which are relevant to me and by a rival yard so I'm sure my yo would have loved me sharing it!! It was also more than 1 date for the same event rather than just target everyone on your friends list select people who fit the criteria just spamming people makes them annoyed, yes fine on the company's page as I can choose whether or not to follow it but stop inviting me to your return to riding events when I clearly have my own horse! It also suggests a lack of thought or taking time to look into who may be interested.
 

Keith_Beef

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HOLLYFIELD-II_LRBHT_NP18_72619.jpg


Somewhat unconventional dress...
 

Starzaan

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Thank you all so much for your feedback.

And if anyone is at Badminton please come and say hi. I’ll be wafting around for most of the week. Nice change to being on the road!
 
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