10 Marketing Strategies You Should Be Using In 2016

By Stephanie Padovani

It’s the New Year and way past time to get your butt in gear with your marketing. If you want to book more events, and more weddings in particular, these strategies need to be on your radar.

#1 - Retargeting Ads

Ever notice that you visit a website and all of the sudden you’re seeing ads for it in your Facebook newsfeed, on Google search pages, even on other websites?

That’s called retargeting. Retargeting ads use cookies to track website visitors and specifically target them with ads across various networks.

These ads perform better than traditional banner or pay per click ads because your targets are already familiar with your business. That translates to high quality leads at cheaper costs.

You can run retargeting campaigns through Facebook Ads, AdRoll or Google AdWords by simply copying and pasting a snippet of code onto your website. 

#2 - Promoted Pins

64% of brides use Pinterest to plan the wedding, according to the BRIDES 2014 American Wedding Study. But with Pinterest’s rise in popularity, it’s become more difficult to get pins in front of your followers.

Pinterest Promoted Pins offers an advantage over AdWords or Facebook Ads because they’re cheaper. You only pay per click, which multiplies your potential for additional free promotion through repinning.

#3 - Instagram

If there’s one thing brides and grooms can’t get enough of when it comes to planning the wedding, it’s photos. That’s what’s made Pinterest, and now Instagram, the perfect place to market your wedding business.

You have less competition on Instagram and it’s possible to get your posts in front of your followers without paying, which increasingly isn’t the case on Facebook or Pinterest. Add relevant local hashtags to attract leads. 

#4 - Free Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategy for marketing your business with great content (Real Wedding blog posts, free reports, how to videos) that earns natural backlinks and shares on social media.

Give couples a peek behind the scenes with a blog post about a new venue you’ve visited, Instagram photos of your gorgeous uplighting, or a quick teaser Vine video of a packed dance floor.

Provide some simple props like chalkboard signs announcing, “X Days to the Wedding” at your meeting with clients to stage an irresistible selfie opportunity. Make sure you tag couples and wedding professionals involved in these photos to maximize the sharing.

#5 - Blogging

Blogging is an easy way to create content, an activity that’s vital for good SEO and healthy website traffic. The big mistake most wedding professionals make is lack of an effective blogging strategy.

Post articles, photos and videos on topics interesting to your ideal clients at least once per week. Promote them on social media, remembering to tag couples and other wedding pros involved, and email them the link to maximize sharing.

#6 - Email Marketing

Email is still one of the most direct ways to get your business in front of targeted couples. The key is that you must have permission to email them; uploading email addresses from a bridal show only makes you a spammer.

Instead, create a valuable free report and entice website visitors to leave their email address to receive it. Deliver your freebie and follow it with a series of informational emails that position you as an expert and move them towards a booking.

#7 - Referral Incentives

Word of mouth referrals are the best leads you can get because they’re highly trusted, they get shared virally and are often free. Unfortunately, they’re also hard to generate predictably.

The solution is a referral incentive program. Rewarding your clients with gifts and recognition creates high quality referrals at low cost.

#8 - Triple Threat Marketing: Networking, Website, Social Media

Marketing that combines networking, your website and social media packs a wallop when it comes to generating leads. Our favorite triple threat is something we call the Oprah Strategy.

Call up a few of your most desirable referral partners (venues, photographers, planners). Tell them that you’re writing a series of articles on the best wedding professionals in your market, and you’d love to interview them. You’ll credit and link to them in the article, publish it on your website and promote it on social media.

Collect the best tips and turn it into a blog post. Send your interview subject a link to your article along with pre-written posts to encourage promotion.

When you create content that makes people look good, like interviewing them as a featured expert, they’ll share it with their entire network, exposing your business to a whole new audience of potential clients.

#9 - Position Yourself as the Local Expert

Presell clients and get them desperate to book you by positioning yourself as the must-hire expert.

One way to do this is with Quora or Yahoo Answers.  These websites are forums where people can ask questions and get answers from trusted sources. When you provide valuable answers, it creates relevant links that drive traffic to your website and position yourself as an expert at the same time.

Achieve expert status on the local level with a prominent, high ranking blog (see #5 above) or by writing guest posts on wedding blogs and the websites of other wedding professionals.

#10 - Text Messages

Simply put, Millennial couples no longer answer the phone or check their voicemail. Reaching them by email is difficult at best.

Text messaging to the rescue! 98% of text messages are read, compared to only 11-24% of emails.

The simplest way to get more leads with text messaging is to get permission to text via the contact form on your website. You’ll get a lightning fast response.

Ready to take your entertainment business to the next level? Jump on these hot opportunities to grow your exposure and gets leads.

Stephanie Padovani is a blogger, writer and wedding business coach.  She and her husband, Jeff are the dynamic husband-wife duo behind Book More Brides, the #1 membership site for transformational marketing strategies for the wedding industry. Visit BookMoreBrides.com to learn how to book up to 70% more weddings with this proven email response.