If you’re experiencing a slowdown in inquiries, you are not alone. As you can read in this blog post, 2024 has been a slow year of inquiries for various reasons. But, there are still things you can do now to help increase future inquiries when we hit a busier season. Today, I’m sharing five practical steps wedding vendors can take to attract more clients and keep their businesses thriving.

Before We Dive In: Understanding Long-Term Vs. Short Term Marketing

Marketing is much more than a series of quick wins; it’s a long-term investment that gradually builds your brand’s reputation, recognition, and trustworthiness. I know that in slow seasons the last thing you want to hear is that it is going to take some time – but understanding the difference between short-term and long-term impacts of marketing can help you get more strategic.

Long-Term Marketing

Marketing is like planting a garden. You start with seeds (your initial marketing efforts) and, with consistent care and attention (ongoing campaigns and branding activities), those seeds grow into a flourishing garden (a strong, recognizable brand).

This includes things like SEO, building social media accounts, establishing trust and credibility, PR and Press, and building brand recognition.

Short-Term Marketing

Short-term marketing efforts are designed to drive immediate actions. They often focus on generating quick sales or inquiries. This can include promotions, limited-time offers, and Ad campaigns (Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) that are often tied to a limited-time promotion. Those with an email list can also utilize targeted email campaigns.

However, the success of short-term marketing efforts relies on the effectiveness of your long-term strategies. Offering limited-time promotions only works when the audience is well aware of your business, your brand, and your product. This is where long-term marketing comes in!

1. Update Your Website

Your website gives potential clients the first impression of your business. And, with an average user spending under 2 minutes on it, it needs to convert and engage quickly.

• Refresh: A modern, visually appealing design can make a big difference. Look at your competitor’s websites – does your stand out in a good (or bad) way?
• Optimize For SEO: Ensure your website is optimized for search engines so that couples can find you easily. And yes, this means those in the higher-priced market! 73% of luxury wedding couples and 71% of ultra-luxury wedding couples in 2023 found at least one of their wedding vendors from an Internet search. [Think Splendid]
• Showcase Your Best Work: Selecting your images is a very strategic process – it’s not just pictures that you love – but what your audience wants to see. You also need to consider how images look next to each other. Three images of detail shots next to each other will be too busy for a viewer to focus on. Instead, add in images with visual white space.
• Make Navigating Easy: There is nothing more frustrating than a hard-to-navigate website. Remove drop-down bars from your navigation menu and streamline the number of pages you ask a visitor to view. The average user will only view 3 pages, so having 20 will just cause decision fatigue, and most will never be viewed.
• Updating Your Content Regularly: Keep your blog and portfolio current to show that you’re active and in demand.

2. Revamp Your Marketing and Messaging

Stand out from the competition by honing in your marketing strategy and messaging. This is especially important if you are a seasoned wedding vendor. Chances are, your ideal clients have changed from 5+ years ago!

• Niching Down Your Audience: Focus on a specific type of wedding or client to become the go-to expert in that niche.
• Refresh Your Brand: When was the last time your brand got a re-fresh? If the answer is 5+ years, it’s time to take a look at it. Even just adjusting the colors or adding additional brand elements like patterns and submarks can make a big difference.
• Creating Compelling Copy: Ensure your website and marketing materials clearly communicate your unique selling proposition (USP) and value. Your copy is the most important part of your website! Couples will not be able to tell the difference between images – but they certainly can tell the difference between words.
• Use Testimonials: If you have a separate page for testimonials, and no one ever visits it, remove it. Add those testimonials throughout your website to build trust and credibility.

3. Enhance Your Social Media Presence

You know that Instagram and social media are powerful platforms to reach new clients – and fellow vendors!

• Posting Consistently: Keep your audience engaged with regular posts showcasing your work, behind-the-scenes content, and tips for couples. Remember: your Instagram isn’t for you; it’s for your couples.
• Video Content Is Always Kind: Reels continue to be popular and highly engaged with. Make sure to get at least 30 seconds of behind-the-scenes video at each wedding, which you can later turn into 10-15-second Reels.
• Utilizing Paid Ads: Looking for a quick boost? Use targeted ads to reach your ideal clients and drive traffic to your website. Our biggest tip: never boost a post. Instead, go through Meta Ads to target the right audience directly. Boosting posts often leads to very low ROI – while strategically setting the audience and parameters in Meta Ads gets you a much better ROI.

4. Leverage Reviews and Social Proof

Couples want to trust their wedding vendors! You are an incredibly expensive product, after all. You wouldn’t go buying a BMW without looking at reviews first, would you?

• Make It Easy To Review You: You have to ask for testimonials AND make it easy! Have a page on your website ready to send. On the website page, include up to 3 places you want reviews. (And a link to them!)
• Don’t Forget Google: While places like The Knot and Wedding Wire are great, make sure a majority of your reviews are also on Google! This is incredible for SEO and is something you don’t have to worry about going away anytime soon.
• Displaying Badges and Awards: This is where a great PR and Press Strategy comes into play! Couples are attracted to brands with awards and press features. Looking to get started? Check out OFD Collective!

Are You looking for more tips on getting great reviews? Read our blog: How To Include Client Reviews In Your Marketing]

5. Network, Network, Network

Building relationships within the wedding industry leads to more referrals. One of the first things vendors tell me when we work together is they want to be on Venue Lists & Planners Lists. And the only way to do that is to network!

• Attend Local Wedding Industry Events: See if you have a chapter of ILEA, WIPA, NACE, or another local wedding industry group.
• Attend Conferences: Make it a goal to attend at least one wedding industry conference each year. Whether it’s a big one like Wedding MBA, Catersource/The Special Event or Engage, or a more boutique one like Be Sage or Hybrid – they can all lead to great networking opportunities. And incredible education!
• Styled Shoots: Work with other vendors to create styled shoots that showcase your skills and can be featured on social media.

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