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Top 5 Wedding Marketing Trends of the Past Decade

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Wedding Professionals:

Over the past decade, technology and trends have transformed how we market to brides. Throughout this time, our wedding industry has evolved – reshaping marketing strategies, communications and business processes. Here are five marketing trends that have affected all of us and in my opinion, they have made us more successful.

Marketing budgets shift online. Today's bride visits a number of websites before making her wedding purchase decisions. It's no coincidence that U.S. Internet advertising revenue grew from $8.2 billion in 2000 to $22.7 billion last year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. This has forced wedding professionals to move the majority of their marketing efforts online. That’s not so bad when you think about how much cheaper and more measurable online advertising is versus traditional print media.
Search engine marketing dominates. Nearly 9 out of 10 people use search engines to find local businesses, according to WebVisible. No other form of advertising has grown as dramatically as search in the past 10 years. Advertising on search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing gives us the ability to deliver hyper-targeted results to brides who are actively seeking information about our products and services. This year, search spending is projected to reach $12.3 billion, representing 49% of all online ad spending, according to research firm eMarketer.
Social media explodes. This trend includes the emergence of large social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as private online communities like BridalTweet. Ten years ago, there were far fewer ways to reach brides and have a dialogue with them. Social media has not only revolutionized marketing but it has democratized it – enabling small businesses (like ourselves) to have the same voice as big brands (like The Knot).
Online video takes off. Video production and delivery technologies have become much more advanced, making online video a low-cost and high-quality platform for wedding marketers. More and more, wedding professionals are using online video to showcase their work as well as to provide how-to planning advice to brides. Online video is also used by many wedding businesses to increase their website’s search engine rankings.
“Green” proliferates. As the environment became a critical topic this past decade, many wedding businesses responded by redefining their services as well as their marketing. Wedding professionals now offer green favors, stationery, lighting options – you name it. We’re all being much more eco-conscious and a very large segment of brides are loving it.

How has your wedding marketing changed over the last ten years? Please help our wedding forum by sharing your comments and insights below.

About This Blog: Christine Dyer is the Creator and Founder of BridalTweet. Christine has an MBA in marketing and shares over ten years of marketing expertise with the wedding community. In this weekly blog, you'll find advice on an array of wedding business topics such as how to market to brides, social networking, wedding PR, wedding sales, vendor networking, branding, pricing and much more. Please pass this news along to your own professional wedding network. To receive this advice in your email inbox each week, Sign Up for a Free BridalTweet Membership.

Comment by My Wedding Favors on August 2, 2010 at 11:49am: The Do-It-Yourself bride has emerged from the current economic climate, challenging us as online wedding favor vendors to provide lower-cost options like favor kits in an effort to give budget-conscious DIY brides clear value and choice at a more attractive price. Since the economy isn't likely to turn around in the near future, those of us who provide flowers/centerpieces, wedding favors, invitations, etc. need to find creative ways to accommodate the growing number of DIY brides and keep our bottom lines growing.

Comment by Gemma Morgan on August 2, 2010 at 5:32pm: Thanks for posting Christine, I have just launched a new wedding business and am pleased to read this article. It's reassuring that I am actually doing all of these things, and haven't missed anything big. Have just found bridal tweet, looks like a great find! Thanks.

Comment by Annie Byrne on August 3, 2010 at 6:23am: Great info. Done all of them except the Video. Still scared of that!! But it will have to be done.

Comment by BG Productions on August 3, 2010 at 9:30am: I agree with the DYI and Indy brides. We are seeing a lot of that. And they are doing so many cool things themselves. We are also seeing a lot of Friday and Sunday weddings as well as smaller guests lists. The clients we usually have aren't as traditional and they want a lot of fun and personal style to their BIG day. As a business your list is right on. The one thing we have to worry about as a photographers and videographers like we are is the explosion of folks who think because they have an SLR camera and a love for photography that they are professionals. And now that video cameras are also becoming easier to use they think the same thing. But we just keep continuing to offer the personal touch and love and appreciate our clients so much. In this worked you can't take them for granted.

Comment by DiscountTiarasUK.com on August 4, 2010 at 8:22am: Really great post, having launched Discount Tiaras UK in recent months , my big push has been on SEO and Social networks in order to reach customers and increase exposure. Blogs are great for getting ranked with google.

Totally agree with Gemma Morgan- Bridal Tweet is a great find :o)