Any digital marketing manager who works in the wedding industry will tell you that wedding marketing depends on emotions more than technicalities. Brides, grooms, and families search for wedding vendors online more often than other sources like magazines and word of mouth.
The right strategies can help drive potential customers to your website and fill your inbox and voicemail with inquiries. It is more about just having a beautiful website; your digital marketing has to be on point.
Wedding Venue Marketing
The first step for marketing a wedding venue or vendor is understanding the current trends. Close to 40% of couples become engaged from November to February, so most inquiries to wedding venues take place from January to March.
About 76% of weddings take place in the summer and fall. This information does not mean that your marketing should stop at certain times of the year, though; if the business is slow in a given month, you can think about offering incentives. While old-fashioned weddings will never go out of style, you have to stay on top of current trends as well.
Bizandmark writes that farm and DIY weddings have been trending for years, and couples like other untraditional venues like museums and libraries. Other modern developments include brides concealing GoPro cameras in their bridal bouquets, renting wedding gowns, and getting matching robes for bridesmaids. Much of this is shared on social media, and venues can leverage this into their digital marketing.
A Digital Marketing Strategy
To get started with your digital marketing plan, you first need to establish goals. Do you want to book a certain amount of weddings per year? Do you want to be seen as more of a DIY venue? Be as specific as possible.
The target market for wedding venues is engaged couples, but determine the region you are marketing to for local SEO and think about reaching out to others who might want to use the venue for anniversaries and other events. While the bride is often the primary decision-maker, it can also be the groom, a wedding planner, or family members.
When creating or freshening up a website, Merge recommends focusing on making the venue stand out. Think about the types of weddings best suited for, such as receptions only, outdoors, large, or small.
You will need to include the most up-to-date information about the packages offered, along with pricing. Details are also important; you may want to promote themed weddings, pet-friendly weddings, or a fantastic new chef you hired.
Photos and videos are crucial for wedding venue marketing because of the strong emotional connection that potential customers have. They want their events to be memorable because it is likely the most important day of their lives so far. If your website features a fantastic video of a couple walking down the aisle shot at the perfect angle, that will resonate with them.
SEO and Social Media Marketing
To get your wedding industry business found on Google searches, you can add it to wedding venue directories like Wedding Wire. These sites have their own databases and rank high on search engines. A digital marketing agency can help with this and explain how to incorporate keywords and backlinks into your website content.
The goal is not to do a hard sell; focus on providing clear, consistent, reliable, and engaging information and easy ways for potential customers to get more information.
If you’re still wondering how to get more bookings, Bridebook stresses the importance of social media marketing and suggests using Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Post consistently, share content from vendors and use a lot of visuals.
Depending on your goals, you don't necessarily have to post every day. Spread out a few posts each week, make them heavy on the visuals, and incorporate plenty of hashtags for easy sharing.