Marketing Strategy / How I Actually Got More Clients
/As a former wedding professional, marketing was always last but most important. Last because I had no clue how it actually worked but most important because I needed it to work to get more clients.
I couldn’t wrap my head around how to get more clients.
I went the route that seemed to be the only way: putting money towards advertisements. I would throw money at any ads that would take it such as Wedding Wire, The Knot, Facebook ads, and bridal shows.
Throwing money at these ads felt like a band aid fix. If my business was gushing money, I would feel desperate and try to cover it with a band aid marketing tactic.
All my band aid fixes never worked or worked in a burst and died down. The cycle would continue every year; wedding season would end, and I would rush to get a band aid fix because that was all I knew.
Until I said there has got to be something else because there was.
I came across an article on Pinterest on a 30 day blog challenge. The challenge was to write a blog post every day for a month, and I added to it to stay consistent with social media.
At this point I had nothing to lose, and it was free.
I picked out a calendar and in 1 day at Starbucks I wrote out the next 2 months of blog posts. I went through Wedding Bee forums, old client intake forms or emails, and searched for local professionals I would love to work with. From there I would take any questions my clients asked me, what brides were asking online about my service,and local wedding vendors into a blog post.
Then the real work came in: actually executing all the blog posts. I did it because I couldn't go back to band aid's.
It was about 1 month later when I noticed how much traffic was pouring in. I was still baffled as to why or how it was coming in until I realized the only thing I had changed was my marketing strategy.
Here’s how you can make a strategy in your business:
1. Plan a goal for each month that’s a number and realistic. /
Example: get 2 wedding clients.
2. Plan out which 2 social media platforms you will focus on. /
If your goal is 2 wedding clients or if your services are visual (photographer), you'll want to choose photo focused social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook (for local purposes).
3. Blog twice a week consistently for the whole month. /
Post about local venues, wedding topics, etc. to create local SEO on your website.
4. Get comfortable with sales change your mind about how you view sales and go to 1 local networking event a month. /
My marketing strategy before was non- existent, a quick band aid fix, when the client inquiries weren’t coming in fast enough. Now I had a plan and a focus for my business. Most of my business was spent wondering how I was going to get the new client, but finally I felt in control of how.
Now with this new plan, knowing that it worked, I felt something that I hadn’t felt in awhile in my business; empowered. I knew how to get clients and it worked.
Shannon DePalma is a podcast host, a marketing strategist, and host of the Youtube series “Q+A Wedding Wednesday”. She built and sold a wedding business in three years. She lives with her husband and 2 cats, they split the year living in North and South Jersey. She loves the ocean, laughing, and going on adventures. You can find her at Shannon DePalma Coaching
