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2 Ways to Make Sure That Brides Respond to Your Ads

Wedding Professionals:

{Special Note: Due to popular demand, I'm now featuring this November 2009 blog post again. BridalTweet has a lot of new members (7,900+) and I didn't want those new members to miss out on this advice.}

“What motivates a person to click on an ad is really not a separate question from what motivates a person to click on anything,” said Clay Shirky, media whiz. “They think they’ll be happier after the click than before.”

I see this happen all too often. A wedding vendor will spend a ton of money on an advertisement in an expensive magazine, on a popular website, or even in an email. The next thing you know, the vendor is shocked by the incredibly low response rate that he or she received. The vendor invested time and money on something that just didn’t work.

So, what went wrong? Is advertising a big waste of resources?

Definitely not. Often times (but not always) the problem is the advertisement itself and NOT where the ad was placed. Here are two best practices that I’ve learned along the way to help increase the effectiveness of the ad itself. These two tips will help increase your advertisement’s response rate and ultimately, they will help you attract more brides.

1. What’s in it for the bride? For any advertisement to drive a high response rate, it must effectively communicate what is in it for the bride. In other words, it must communicate how the bride will benefit from your services. This message needs to be simple, clear and obvious when a bride first glances at your ad. You only have a few seconds to grab a bride’s attention, so this main message must “pop.” Look at your most recent advertisement. Does the main benefit that you deliver “pop?”

2. What do you want the bride to do? I can’t tell you enough how important it is to clearly communicate this in your advertisement. In every ad, you must tell brides what you want them to do. Do you want the bride to call you, email you, visit your website, fill out a survey, etc.? Pick one (yes, only one!) thing that you want the bride to do and make that extremely clear in your advertisement. In marketing, we call this message the “call-to-action.” For example, if you want to create an online advertisement that will encourage brides to visit your website, then add language in your online advertisement that says “Learn More” or “Click Here.” This can be very effective whether your ad is an email or even a tiny banner. You may also want to place this language inside a larger, colorful button that will really grab the bride’s attention. If your ad is a full webpage or email, then be sure to repeat this “call-to-action” or message towards both the beginning and end of the advertisement. In your most recent advertisement, did you make it your “call-to-action” as clear and obvious as possible?

Can you think of any other best practices that have helped you increase your advertisement’s response rate? If so, please comment below.

About This Blog: Christine Dyer is the Creator and Founder of BridalTweet. Christine has an MBA in marketing and shares over ten years of marketing expertise with the wedding community. In this weekly blog, you'll find advice on an array of wedding business topics such as how to market to brides, social networking, wedding PR, wedding sales, vendor networking, branding, pricing and much more. Please pass this news along to your own professional wedding network. To receive this advice in your email inbox each week,
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Comment by Annette Aaron on November 10, 2009 at 7:52am: What do you do when the bride only emails you - there is no chance for a face to face communication.

Comment by My Tanning Girl (100 % Mobile) on November 10, 2009 at 8:27am: This is great information! Thank you for sharing

Comment by Elizabeth Thomas on November 10, 2009 at 10:42am: When I advertised on The Knot, they offered a fantastic webinar. Things I really remember from it:

1 - unless you're uber famous brides do NOT CARE ABOUT YOU, so get your face off things.

2 - brides want to SEE THEMSELVES in your ad, so if you're a DJ, show a dancing couple. If you're an officiant, show you officiating a wedding, if you do limos, etc, etc, etc.

3 - it's all about them. Make sure everything you say about yourself is ultimately about THEM. Why will they gain from who you are?

I dramatically altered our website homepage text after that webinar! Of course it's an endless process and as I redo our website, there are thousands of elements to consider! :)

Elizabeth
www.TheFirstDance.com - Marriage Prep meetings Wedding Planning

Comment by Danielle Richards on November 10, 2009 at 11:48am: Thanks for sharing, Christine!
Danielle
www.daniellerichards.com

Comment by Astrid Mueller on November 10, 2009 at 12:29pm: Great article, Christine, and thanks for opening this conversation!

Taken from the book "the ultimate marketing plan" by Dan S. Kennedy, Dan says that "the customer has to be led up five steps to a buying or action decision" (p. 23)
1. Awareness of need an/or desire
2. Picking "the thing" that fulfills the need/desire
3. Picking the source for the thing
4. Accepting the source's price/value argument
5. Finding the reasons to act now.

translated to advertising for brides, I think we could translate it to our example like this:
1. bride needs something solved for her wedding - either she already knows, or ad makes her aware of her need (> for example she wants to personalize it)
2. bride knows on her own what can help her - or the ad makes her aware of what can help (for example a personalized illustration, commissioned just for her wedding)
3. bride picks the source for the thing > i.e. the company in the ad looks like they're perfect!
4. bride accepts the price/value argument (for example it seems exclusive/spendy but worth exploring because she loves the product)
5. she finds a reason to act now (for example limited time offer, visit the website before date xy)

Lots to think about, but makes sense, right? love the book. recommendable.
Astrid - ChampagnePromises

Comment by I Want A Poem - Amy on November 10, 2009 at 12:35pm: Great advice everyone. Thank you!

Comment by Dinendra Haria on November 10, 2009 at 11:44pm: Thanks for sharing, Christine!

Comment by MissNowMrs (Elisabeth) on November 11, 2009 at 4:38am: We just made changes to an email ad (last month) and the open rate went through the roof! This article confirms that we did the right thing! Thank you for the very helpful tips!