4 Basic Rules of Social Media for Wedding Professionals


Wedding Professionals:

Why should I care about social media? I've heard that question time and again since I created this wedding community in April of 2009. While some wedding professionals have started to truly leverage social media, others are still skeptical. I continue to wholeheartedly stand behind social media because I've personally experienced its benefits. I could list those benefits out for you but instead there is really one main benefit that I don’t think has gotten enough attention yet.


It’s the human element of social media. After all, it is referred to as 'social'. Social media humanizes and brings a personal touch to brands and businesses. This enables you to build trust with your audience. And it enables your personality and expertise to stand out. This is great news for everyone, but what should you do about it?

Do: Remember that social media is about people and relationships. It is not about the number of followers or friends that you have. Once you lose sight of that and get caught up in the numbers, you will start to miss out on the powerful connections that can help grow your business.

Do: Remember that your social media efforts are an extension of your other branding efforts. So, how do you want to be perceived? Think about the image that you have worked so hard to create through your website, business cards, and personal interactions. That same image needs to be conveyed across all of your social media profiles, blog posts, avatars, chats, photos, videos, online interactions, etc.

Do: Remain professional. It sounds obvious but I constantly see professional blog posts and emails with typos. All sentences should be clear and correct. The simple act of proofreading your communications will help to build trust with prospective brides and vendors. Responding quickly to messages and thanking others for their acknowledgements also falls under being professional. Treat your social network with as much respect as you would your customers.

Do: Focus on your tone. Do you want people to think you are funny, nice, reliable, intelligent, positive – whatever your fabulous qualities are, be conscious of how that is coming across in all of your social media exchanges.

Never before has there been a marketing channel like social media because of its ability to add a human element to businesses. What tips can you recommend to help other wedding professionals add that personal touch to their social media efforts?


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,
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Views: 624

Comment by Carla Lowery on November 16, 2010 at 12:00pm
Wonderfully written article. I always love reading your marketing advice and I am a big fan of your marketing advice, especially since my specialty is marketing with a focus on sales and promotion and web development at the local university I attend in Michigan. I have also decided to continue my education for my masters in marketing and graphic art because of the inspiration of your articles.
Comment by Dessy Group on November 16, 2010 at 12:57pm
Great advice Christine. I think social media is essential in any business. It gives you the opportunity to truly listen to your customers. The days of one way marketing are over. It's the time to have conversations, respond to critiques, enjoy the praises and provide excellent customer service through social media. It provides great opportunities for both businesses and customers.
Comment by Paul Grant on November 16, 2010 at 2:43pm
I sincerely regret that although I do use social media, I have found it to be totally non-productive in every sense and have not received a single business contact via this means. I am also aware that there are very few fellow Toastmasters using this method, therefore less competition, and of those few I am not aware that they are doing any better than I am. Perhaps it is the nature of our work (product) which may not lend itself to this particular style of communication? I would welcome any comment, even criticism, and ask you all to look at my web-site to see just what it is that I am doing wrong.

Many thanks.

Paul
Comment by Garry Walls Photography on November 16, 2010 at 3:19pm
Hi Christine and thanks for the great advice. I have been a wedding photographer in New Zealand for 40 years and only 2 months ago started social networking my business. Last week I had 429 people look at my photography page, obviously that is 429 people that didn't know about my business a week ago. Social networking has huge marketing potential if you are prepared to spend some time each day just "being social" and interacting with your "potential clients" in a friendly and honest way.
Comment by Rev. Marian Hale on November 16, 2010 at 5:00pm
Very helpful article, Christine -- thank you! Recently, I've been using Facebook and Twitter in a new way. When I do any wedding, if I meet other vendors who do wonderful work, I mention them on my profile page, and begin their mention with the "@" sign -- so that their pages will be easy to find for anyone on my site. Not only does this create great relationships for me with these other vendors, but it also gets my page to pop up on theirs -- always a good thing for wider coverage. Thanks again, Marian
Comment by bellememoiresgh on November 17, 2010 at 6:43am
Hi Christine , thank you so much for your messages. They are an inspiration to me and i have learned so much from your Bridal Tweet.
I am a new wedding consultant and i just got my first client and i am very confident i am going to do great thanks to you.
Please don't stop blogging and thank you so much.
Comment by Merry Sherman on November 17, 2010 at 7:25am
The main thing is to remember that this is not the place to sell. You want your "friends", etc. know who you are and what you do. On business sites I.E. Linked In you want to share business information, but on Facebook you want to give information on your business only once in maybe 8 - 10 posts or your "friends" will stop following you. Also remember to have your blog pinged to sites like Facebook and Twitter. I have been doing this for over 2 years and have increased my business 250% plus. I have received orders to deliver here in Livingston Co., Michigan from all over the US and even one from Iraq. Good luck.
Comment by Stephanie Benedetto Padovani on November 17, 2010 at 11:29am
Great guidelines. Whatever we're doing, as long as we focus on helping other people and creating real relationships, it will guide us true. Promoting our services relentlessly with social media is not only boring, it's ineffective.

Thanks for bringing us back to the essentials, Christine!
Comment by Merry Sherman on November 17, 2010 at 12:10pm
You got one thing wrong it can be effective. One it is googled and helps put your google ratting higher and if you let people on your social media sites know what you do and on FB make a business page you post to daily or 2X daily the info get out to your friends and theirs. I tell my "friends" on FB & Twitter that I am baking a wedding cake, met with a bride today and she said yes, have put pics of me creating a 3D cake all day showing it how it is coming. I just do not say "I am offering Christmas Cakes today at $00 off, etc. I get most of my business calls from people who find me on line and I raised my google search to page one mostly by putting my profiles on social media sites and business sites.
Comment by Ron Ruth, Kansas City Wedding DJ on November 19, 2010 at 7:27pm
Great advice, Christine. I've been placing greater focus on my Facebook page than ever and am a sponge for helpful info. To think, not long ago, I didn't believe that I would ever need a FP page at all.

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