#023 17 Effective Marketing Tips for Wedding Pros

17 Essential Marketing Tips for Wedding Industry Professionals

In this episode, Keith and Melissa, seasoned photography business owners with over 25 years of experience in the wedding industry, share 17 invaluable marketing tips that significantly influenced their business's success.

They emphasize the importance of maintaining an audacious goal and overcoming past limitations. The tips cover a range of strategies, including defining your superpower, identifying your ideal client, optimizing SEO, and building industry relationships.

The episode also highlights practical advice for utilizing Google My Business, improving iPhone photography, and the significance of blogging. By implementing these tips consistently, listeners can enhance their visibility and client base, ultimately leading to greater business success.

00:00 Setting Audacious Goals for Your Business
00:31 Introduction to 17 Marketing Tips
00:42 Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
02:05 Cost-Effective Marketing Strategies
02:32 Identifying Your Superpower
03:13 Understanding Your Ideal Client
03:52 The Importance of Niching Down
04:44 Leveraging Google My Business
05:28 Boosting Your Website SEO
07:38 The Power of Blogging
09:29 Improving Your iPhone Photography
10:08 Networking and Vendor Collaboration
12:21 Building a Preferred Vendors List
13:01 Creating an Email List
14:06 Gathering Testimonials and Reviews
14:47 Showcasing Your Work
15:24 The Value of Volunteering
15:48 Outsourcing Tasks
16:27 Defining Your Audacious Outcome
16:44 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

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Transcript

So I want you as you're listening to these marketing tips to have that audacious goal in mind that you want to create for your business. I want you to dream. I want you to operate from a place where you believe that this is inevitable, not that whatever crap happened in the past is going to define what you currently are capable of for your business.

Welcome. We're Keith and Melissa, photography business owners for more than 25 years. And our mission is to help you find the success you want. And we know firsthand the role that mindset plays in figuring it all out. Now, today's episode. 

Welcome. In today's episode, I want to share with you 17 marketing tips that have greatly influenced the success of our business. But before we begin, I also want to bring up something that holds us back as small business owners.

Many of us believe that we can't do something or having the business we want is impossible or for someone else.

We look at our past track record or past year of us hustling and not making the money we want as some sort of proof that we aren't capable or can't make more. I know firsthand how this works and how it's held us back. For years I was only able to look to my past for what was possible for the future of our business.

I had no proof that I could have a multiple six figure photography business. And that's where I operated our business from. That's where we were stuck.

It wasn't until well, it's a few things, of course, but it started with having a big audacious goal that we wanted for our business. Having this future focus goal created the business that helped us pay down our debt, invest in our future, our kids 529s, and eventually was the catalyst for us being able to transition our businesses and move to France.

So I want you as you're listening to these marketing tips to have that audacious goal in mind that you want to create for your business. I want you to dream. I want you to operate from a place where you believe that this is inevitable, not that whatever crap happened in the past is going to define what you currently are capable of for your business.

Okay, so now that I got that out there, here we go. There are so many different types of marketing tips that can help your creative business. And here I want to begin with options that don't have any real costs associated with them, except maybe one has a membership fee. And of course, your time that you need to invest. These are tips for beginners, but I bet there's a couple of things on here that even more seasoned wedding professionals can benefit from.

Here are our 17 tips for marketing your wedding business. 

Number one, first, determine what is your superpower. Last episode, we discussed the importance of a website. Now we get to put it into action. Use your website to get your message out about who you are, what you do, and why you do it better than any other wedding pro that your clients might be considering.

This needs to be a priority in your marketing efforts because your superpower, why you stand out, is why a client is going to resonate with you. And why they will book you if you sound too vanilla or just like everyone else, they are just going to skip right past you showcase with your words in your visual.

What makes you uniquely?

 Number two. Who is your ICA? Also a repeat from last episode, but you have to know who you're marketing to. Who is your ideal client? Trying to market to every wedding client that needs what you offer is a really bad idea. You need to have a clear idea of who your client is and what problem you solve for them.

Determining who your ICA is takes a tiny bit of work, but once you know who you're talking to, the words will come easier because you know your clients so well and will be speaking directly to them. Combine that with your superpower and you will start standing out more and more.

I've attached the worksheets for this in the show notes below.

Number three. Niche down. What do I mean by this? For example, our niche is couples who want candid, moment driven photography that doesn't look like cookie cutter, Which means that we aren't going to appeal to couples that are looking for traditional posed wedding photography that looks like their parents wedding photos.

We need to let people know who we are for and who we aren't for. But picking a niche doesn't mean that you only work within that niche. I'll keep using our example. We are candid wedding photographers, but that doesn't mean we don't do studio photography or headshots or other types of photography. 

But our wedding clients aren't interested in what else we do. So, on our wedding website, we literally only showcase our wedding work. For our ICA, we want them to land on our wedding site and not be confused by anything. We want them to fall in love with our superpower and what we do differently than everyone else.

four, set up Google, my business or GMD for short, creating this on Google lets you add comprehensive information about your business. The most important reason to have GMB is to improve your visibility and increase the chances of you showing up on local search results, helping customers easily find your business on Google. This is especially great for local businesses and most people getting married in a certain place are looking for local wedding vendors. . So who doesn't need this?

Right. best benefits is that you can also ask your clients for reviews. And the more reviews you have, the more it helps your rankings as well. Organic growth is awesome.

Which naturally brings me to number five. Your website SEO. Or search engine optimization for your website. This in itself could be a whole course because it is so important and so critical to your website being found and found on one of the first few pages of a Google search is an easy way to boost client inquiries, 

which, again, is why these first few marketing tips are so important. Because the last thing in the world you want to do is invest time in improving your SEO only to lead potential clients to a website that sucks. All these pieces work together to help you stand out in a saturated market. There is a lot to cover with SEO, but the main thing I want to stress here is that you need to write your content on your site to be informative for a client looking for what you do.

So if I'm an event designer, I'll use Birch Events in New York City as my example. On the front page of their website, above the fold, they say that they are an event planner and they are designers, producers, and florists of unparalleled events. Then they go on to explain why you need to hire them.

Quote, the Birch Rule of Play. We exist to design events that time cannot touch. We work to reinforce and deepen the prestige of our clients. We establish the kind of trust that can only be earned by exceeding expectations every step of the way.

The birch mission to deliver what others can only dream. Using keywords for your niche is critical in your coffee, like event designer, New York city, event planner, designer, florists, et cetera. So if I'm looking for an event planner in New York city, and I type that into Google, they birch are showing up in the top five right now, that's just the tip of what SEO is for your business.

But I wanted to introduce the term because things like Google My Business, Help with SEO, the words you use in your descriptions, everywhere you put yourself out there has to align with what a person would search for if they wanted to find you for their wedding vendor.

And make sure you install Google Analytics and know your keywords. There's a lot more to discuss about this, but get started by installing GA Google Analytics so that you can start understanding who your audience is.

Which brings me to number six, an extension of the SEO topic, blog posts. I hear all the time people asking why they should blog, isn't blogging dead, but au contraire, it has never been more important to blog. Providing helpful content to potential clients is a way to rank higher with your SEO, But it also shows you to these clients as an authority in what you do, and you're helping them during a very hectic, confusing time while they're planning their wedding, giving them valuable information to help them make their decision, further enforcing your superpower and why they need to work with you. Imagine how grateful they'll be if you have a blog post that relates to a pain point that they're having as they're planning their wedding. And now, of course, with AI sites like Perplexity, your site, because of your blog post, can show up there as well.

Don't half ass it either. Write a handful of very thought through topics that you know any potential client needs the answers to. Another idea is to reach out to other wedding professionals that your potential clients might also be interested in and offer to do a guest post for their blog.

For example, as a photographer, I could offer to write a post for, say, an MC or a DJ with the blog post discussing how important it is when photographing a reception to have a lively dance floor, guests having a great time, lighting that makes every photo look amazing. Some sort of blog post that serves both me, because I'll include my photos of the reception, and the DJ, because my words would be reinforcing why you need to hire someone who keeps your guests having an unforgettable night.

And your wedding photos will be amazing because of the ambiance the DJ provides. It's a win win for both of us. And of course, the article will link back to your site, creating a backlink, which is also super important for SEO.

 Number seven, wedding creatives, please improve your iPhone photography. There is nothing that I scratched my head over more than when I see posts on socials from wedding pros, that they took with their phone that make what was a beautiful wedding look like crap. And I see it all the time with just a handful of tips. You can take gorgeous iPhone photos and videos that can while potential clients on your stories, reels, or Instagram posts. It is a disservice to your hard work to showcase bad photos and put your name on it.

Take a crash course and I promise posting better photos will add big benefits to your marketing efforts. Number eight is an offshoot of number seven. For each wedding you work, ask the planner for a list of the participating vendors. Now that you'll have better iPhone photos while you wait for the pro photos, or if you are the photographer, then make sure you post on socials and tag all the wedding vendors involved.

And don't be shy. If you post something, send these vendors a DM and ask for a reshare. The goal is to get more eyes on you. I know that not all wedding pros are at the wedding at the same time. There are parts of the day when some of us overlap, and there are others we never run across because of what our role is.

 So you don't always know who the other wedding pros are working the day of. So do yourself a favor and get the list of vendors with the social handles when possible.

Number nine. Okay. Thank you. Ask photographers for their photos. This is also related to number seven and number eight as well. The professional photos may take a few weeks or more to be ready. And not all photographers, for some reason are great about sharing images with fellow wedding industry pros.

Not sure why when it's so easy to do. So that means that if you aren't the photographer and want access to their images, then reach out to them directly. Again, if you have the vendor list and the planner, then you can reach out super easy. Many planners that we work with are really good about distributing our galleries to the other pros that worked with us on the wedding.

It is a courtesy in my opinion, and once you have your hand on that and you like what you see, then keep your website and socials fresh with this new content.

Number 10. Networking within the industry. There are several ways to do this, and going to networking events is just one of them.

But don't go with an agenda. Go with an open heart. Fostering relationships like this is one of the most important things we've done over the years. There are always open houses or industry events to pop into. Or invite people out for coffee or a glass of wine. Create your own community. I have found that wedding professionals can be some of the most generous humans in the world.

Whatever you do, don't hide. Get out there and get to know some people. And of course there are paid memberships like WIPA and others in different cities that offer community and a way to interact with other wedding professionals and learn while you're at it.

The bottom line is that it is super important to create relationships with vendors.

Number 11, create your own preferred vendors list that you give to your clients. You can feature this on your website with links to the vendors that you're recommending. And if you're new and haven't worked with many people yet, then feature vendors that you admire their work and actually want to work with.

And of course, let these vendors know, ask for something reciprocal if you feel comfortable, but at the very least, your SEO will benefit.

Another way to remind other vendors how great you are to work with is to leave them a Google review. Mention something specific, how beautiful the flowers were, how energized the dance floor was, just emphasize how easy and incredible it was to work with the vendor. Truth only, of course, but it will definitely be appreciated.

Number 12, create an email list. Have a lead magnet on your website. Something specific that can benefit potential clients when they land on your site. For example, 10 things you need to think of when planning your wedding.

As it relates to your specialty, or my favorite three wedding planners to work with in blank city, fill in the blank, or how to ask the right questions when booking your DJ or your music for your wedding, whatever is specific to your industry and helps your potential clients. This is a little bit different than the blog posts we mentioned a little bit earlier, 

because the purpose of this piece of content is to have someone subscribe to your email list. Yes, you might be thinking, what if they don't book me, but they book my competitor? That's fine too, because using you for their wedding is not the only time they might need your services.

There's a million other reasons they could need your services in the future. Literally every wedding niche out there falls into this category. Think of future parties, births, friends weddings, they may use your services for something else down the road. And of course, now you can start sending newsletters or other information to the people on your list.

Keeping them in your universe. Thanks. Number 13, don't forget to ask clients for testimonials and reviews, which you'll also need for your Google My Business account as well.

People like proof before they make a decision. It gives them permission to work with you because other people have jumping ahead.

Number 13. Don't forget to ask clients for testimonials and reviews, people like proof before they make a decision. 

It gives them a permission to work with you because other people have. And don't forget, testimonials and reviews can also come from fellow vendors. Number 14. Once you have built up a portfolio for different weddings, let's say you have worked at a particular venue a couple of times, create a small marketing piece that features your work at their venue. We created these magazine style handouts that only cost us maybe a couple of dollars each, but made such a huge impact at these venues, 

potential clients could flip through them. And of course the goal was for them to hopefully contact us. You could create a reel with a handful of images you took with your new iPhone skills that feature a particular product you offer or service that you offer.

Tell a story about what you do and present it in a variety of ways.

Number 15. Volunteering. This is good for the soul. Give because you want to give and expect nothing in return and you will be amazed at how the universe gives back to you. There is something about giving without expectation that changes things in a positive way. And this is different than just randomly doing things for free.

Have boundaries that work for you and give where you want to.

Number 16. Outsource some of this list so that it actually gets done. I know running a business and wearing a million hats, there isn't always time to write a blog post every week or keep up on the other 16 items listed here. There are writing services, Or you could hire someone you know that writes well and pay them by the hour or by the article.

This helped Keith and I build up a nice catalog of good, relevant content that helped our potential clients find the right venue or the florist or an event designer. Or someone to help with your socials or some other area in your business. To free up some time for you to do the CEO tasks, like creating more business and bringing in more clients.

Number 17, we'll finish by getting back to you defining that audacious outcome that you want. Try things you've never tried before. Take chances and get out of your comfort zone. I promise you, when you start thinking big and thinking different, Things start to happen in your business.

I sincerely hope that you found something useful in this list. When you put this all together and work on it consistently, it is just a matter of time when all these marketing efforts pay off. Remember water your seed every day. And eventually it becomes a large tree. Thank you. And we'll see you in our next episode where we'll talk about cashflow mastery. Bye bye.

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