I am curious as to what types of marketing has brought you the most leads from brides? Also, what has your experience been with particpating in bridal shows? Just want to get the best bang for my marketing dollar.
I am a wedding/event pianist. Most of my referrals come from Bridal Consultants, Event Planners, Hotel and Golf Club Planners/Caterers. I network in several associations and chambers, do my best to stay in the "radar." I have been a vendor in a few bridal shows, but found that most of my business came from the other vendors. So my practice now is to attend the Bridal Shows and make casual contact with the vendors, with the intent to contact them later and establish a relationship. I do advertise in Portland's BRAVO wedding/event guide, but most of my business comes from networking and establishing good relationships.
I am also curious as to what works well for others. Blessings, Linda
What works best for wedding planners? I am relatively new to planning but have done a few weddings. Wondering the best way to market now. Our local weekly paper has a thing for newer businesses where if you advertise 1/4 page ad twice they will then do an article about your business on the front page. Wondering if it's worth it since it's not really targeted towards brides and grooms. Thanks!
As a planner I have found the bridal shows are a waste of time for me. Most of the brides attending these shows have a lot of services already and are looking for ideas or to pick your brain.
One of the things that has helped me is direct mailing. I send out an invitation and address it in calligraphy ( I am a calligrapher for 20 years). I have found this even better response than print. Which is getting sooo expensive. There are a million wedding sites and I think the brides are getting so saturated with web info. So sometime when there is something in your hand that makes an impression, it has more of an effect.
Carolyn--I agree that bridal shows are a waste of time for me when marketing my planning services. My advertising is very targeted to reach the demographic I am trying to capture, so free website listings don't really do the trick either.
I've been a planner for almost a decade now and much of my business now is based on referral (i.e., one wedding I did 3 years ago, led to 2 more since they were friends with the first couple).
I do agree a direct mailing is the way to go if you're looking for an inexpensive way to reach your audience. There are many direct email programs you can use to create a very professional looking email that you can send to a distribution list.
You are right about Networking. I am an avid Networker. I go to as many industry events as I can and always follow up with those that I met to meet with them. Currently, I am running around to venues to look at them, whether I have been there or not, just to re-familiarize myself. With the economy in the current state, EVERYONE is trying to be creative to attract business and so many venues, are offering new packages etc. Networking is extremely important to keep your face in front of others in the industry. I also, try to keep in touch with a lot of the service providers, just a phone call to say hi, and see what is going on. It keeps you fresh in their minds so you get referred.
Yes, I can attest to the networking with other professionals as a very positive way to go. During my off times, a lend my services to other wedding professionals. That way, I get to see venues that I don't have a contact with and I get to see how those professionals work in an actual wedding settings. The professionals get a great assistant for the day, so it's a win-win for both of us. Most vendors welcome this assistance but there are other vendors out there that are not so willing to share their experiences.
Alpha, when you're assisting, are you assisting with other event/wedding planners or are you assisting in other genres (ex. photo/video, catering, etc.). If other genres, which genres have been most open to this concept?
I have assisted other planners (not many), but I get my best response for assistance from florist/decorators and photographers. It works really well for both parties.
I am a Professional Bridal Planner, I need some fresh new marketing ads. I have only done a couple of weddings my own and assisted with my sister n law's, she will be doing a vow renewal on her 5th anniversary 2010! And I will be planning that event. However I did resort to Craig's List although I got two leads one was very, very disappointing! She degraded me and told me I was a waste of her time because I had no hands on experience. How do clients know your full potential if they don't take a chance with you! I am shadowing events with a friend that has been in the business of catering and special events for over 12 years. I will be successful! But it pains me when I am contacted and am very honest and open about my experience and I get completely blown out of the water by a complete stranger who won't give me the time of day because I was honest about my experience. So anyone with fresh ideas please help! I do have a website that is in the process of being upgraded we are putting my gallary together and about me etc. Thanks for reading I look forward to replies!
Respectfully,
Robin Wells
Moments of a Lifetime Bridal and Events
I have a BFA in advertising and graphic design and have worked for large and small businesses across the board. (designing and marketing their corporate identities and then "branding" their personalities so that through products and marketing--ie: ads, etc. so that your market is consistently getting fed the right "message" that you are trying to produce) I am designing wedding invitations and stationary now, because I can be much more decorative and creative with my design and paper choices.
The best way to get interest right now is through Facebook & Twitter, and Blogging. Social networking sites have lead me to receive more leads than I ever had through traditional marketing methods. Although, it is smart to have an advertising and marketing strategy mix, advertising in newspapers is NOT the way to go anymore, you might as well be flushing money down the toilet, and I apologize for that metaphor, but it's true.
Newspapers in general, (and the local channel Television industry), are losing steady ad revenue. People are changing their marketing strategy by advertising on Facebook. You can market you ads to a narrowly defined category, or a more broad category. I have a friend who works for the visitor's bureau of Charlotte, NC and she told me last week that they are canceling their ads for the Charlotte Observer because they have more responses from their Facebook ads. Facebook has personal pages you can create AND Business Pages. People become "Fans" of your page.
If you want word of mouth networking and constant (now) updates on any industries, get on Twitter It's FREE!
Twitter is basically a social networking/advertising platform that asks a simple question: What are you doing? In this case you pick a "handle" name, mine is @mbattistella.
Anyone can follow you and you can follow anyone without having to "add" them as a friend. You can always block someone if you don't want them following your "tweets"
You want to write updates on and off throughout the day. It's a concept similar to text messaging, except when you type in your "text" on Twitter, everyone of your followers can see what you are up to, example:
"Just finished writing my new blog article: Trends in Wedding Invitations 2010/2011! (add link here)"
All of your followers can click on that link and it will direct them to your blog, you're updates need to be short and concise, I think you are only allowed to write 150 or 180 characters max.
If I saw something that someone had "Tweeted" that was "funny" "interesting" comment, article, or whatever, I would share it with the rest of my followers, (say I saw this "tweeted" from Robin) I would then "RE-TWEET" this statement.
In short: RT @MomentsOf_ALifetime Check out "Scholarship Bride" entry on her Blog! Very cool! (link here)
Finally, there is this thing called #FollowFriday on Twitter. Follow Friday is basically an opportunity to advertise the people you follow and get updates from that you think do a good job with their tweets. They have offered helpful articles, just interesting people to follow, etc.
It looks something like this: #FF:Wedding Vendors to follow: @mbattistella @emmalinebride @lindasmith @APEvents @Exquisite_Events
Other people will return the favor if you are good tweeter.
This is sort of a basic "How-To" Article for anyone that is thinking about joining social media. It's not as scary as it seems and it is absolutely fantastic new way of networking. Plus, you can see what people are doing for weddings in London, Australia, China, around the states...it's really cool :)
If you have any questions, just shoot me a message, I would be happy to help :)
