I am currently reviewing my advertising dollars for next year. I have spent most of my money advertising on the The Knot for 2 years. I have currently canceled but not sure if I should start up again. In the beginning I received some calls, but last year I received three leads. Most of my leads are from referrals. I am asking if others have found TheKnot part of their advertising a success.
I personally have not used The Knot, but I have been approached by the company. For me, I have checked into pricing for advertising and the best deal I have found out there is Wed Alert. I would check into that website first.
In my area, Philadelphia, the top 2 ad sites are The Knot and Wedding Wire. The Knot by far gives you the greatest exposure. But from looking at my Google Analytics, the top referring sites for me are The Knot, Party Pop, Wedding Wire and Google search, in that order.
I think the answer lies with your location in this world. The audience is differeent in each city. I did not do so well on The Knot, but I heard other types of vendors did do well. They are expensive ($50+ a month). I also think a good SALES REP is important. Mine promised to communicate via newsletters, but only produced one in a year.
Leads are an important part to on-line success. The fact that TheKnot truly lets the consumer contact us directly, instead of making us PAY for a reply is the best part. But if you are only getting a few inquiries in a year, I am not sure if that is the right answer. Good luck in your decision.
I have a hard time with the price they want. I went with Get Married .com they now have a trifecta TV show ,Print and the Web ...It is some good exposure and they have a great leads list!
I'm on the Know now but won't renew and may cancel short of the year. The bulk of Knotties are DIY brides. The leads list is long but haven't gotten much feedback. No bookings to date. Mine have been from google and referrals.
I was recently approached by The Knot. They said I won The Best of Phoenix Weddings Award. Their cheapest advertising program is approximately $150 per month. We were considering it but now I am not so sure. We are a full service entertainment and event planning company. I am not looking for DJ leads. I am looking for band and event planning gigs. I appreciate all feedback.
I try to use a number of free sites, they do help position you in search engines. As well I have been having relative good luck with the sites that you pay only for the leads you accept; Desidio, Wedplan etc. Off and on I have used the Knot and other paid sites, but the results usually did not warent the costs, or sometimes they started off good then quit producing bookable leads. Brides are interesting these days, they seldom call you, they want to do everything with emails and text-messaging. I quess they live in a different world than we who have been here a while, So make sure your email address is where they can find it, and so they can easily find you website.
I have and still do, use every free wedding oriented website service on the internet, to include all the ones mentione on this page. The Knot is way too expensive here in Tampa, FL. Many cities have their own web page and some will let you advertise on it. That's local and it does work well. Another succesful method to go to every venue, bridal salon , wedding cake bakers, tuxedo stores and photographers as well as the larger D.J.'s. Your "SEO"s are very critical and so are your keywords. You MUST work on every technique I mentioned here so as to have a "shotgun effect" in reaching your engaged couples. It certainly has worked for me over the years, and I have 41 years experience. Even with the economy downturn like it is, I'm still averaging 8 - 10 weddings monthly. I used to do 10 - 13 monthly just 2 years ago. Many brides are trying to do everything themselves. For many, that's the way to go, if they're pretty intelligent and know how to find resources. My website does inform the brides "how to save money" by doing somethings themselves. They really appreciate it and it makes you appear as "the expert."
