It’s officially Fall and “engagement season” is just a few months away. This means it’s time to make sure your wedding planning business is highly visible to new brides and conveys the message that you are the right wedding planner to hire. (In case you’re new, “engagement season” is the period of time in which most couples get engaged. In the US, it starts with Thanksgiving and ends with Valentine’s Day.)
Here are 3 ways to prepare for the season:
1) Create an online marketing plan specifically to reach newly engaged brides
- Start a Pinterest board that is full of pins just for new brides.
- Plan FaceBook Page posts with tips about starting to plan a wedding. Avoid posting sales pitches like, “Just got engaged? Call me!” They don’t work!
- Write blog posts that address their needs. For example, tell them the first five things they need to do after getting engaged.
- Make sure your website has been updated to include photographs and testimonials from your latest weddings.
- Look into advertising on wedding websites or, if you already have ads, determine if they are working well for you or if you want to change your ad or invest in advertising on a different site.
2) Create an offline marketing plan specifically to reach newly engaged brides
- Explore the opportunities for exhibiting in bridal shows and decide if any would be the appropriate place for you to meet the new bride you target.
- Find out if your place of worship would allow you to give a wedding planning workshop geared at helping newly engaged couples.
- Get out and remind your family members and friends about your wedding planning business.
- Do some networking with wedding vendors before the season starts so you are at the top of their minds when they meet a bride who needs a wedding planner.
3) Review the services and packages you currently offer
- Has one of your services or packages more popular that others? If so, highlight the benefits of that service in your marketing efforts.
- Add services that brides have asked for or needed but you haven’t offered in the past.
- Eliminate services that were time consuming and didn’t yield a profit.
- Check your rates! Be sure you are charging enough to be successful.
Take the time now to plan for “engagement season” so you have everything in place when most new brides are eager to find help.
What are some ways you are planning to prepare for “engagement season?”
