Our top tips for Marketing your wedding business
The wedding industry in Ireland was estimated to be worth €3.2 billion pre Covid. With on-going restrictions and so much uncertainty in regards to future planning, this figure will have dropped significantly. But weddings are still going ahead and are still a vital part of any hospitality industry- however small they may be. Smaller weddings are on the rise. The recent Weddings online survey stated that 44% of respondents are inviting 100 or less guests. So how can you make sure you are still getting a slice of the wedding business pie? Here are our top tips to market your wedding business.
- Know your competition.
One of the first things I always say to my clients is make sure that you know what your competition is offering. Your competition isn’t necessarily the hotel or country house down the road. It’s the same type of venue, with a comparable offering to your business. Find your unique selling point that your competition doesn’t offer or can’t offer and focus on this in all of your marketing activities. For example- you have a beautiful outside space for civil ceremonies (which are on the rise) which is something your competition doesn’t have. You have a separate drinks reception area that is private for your wedding guests. Or you may have a food award or wedding award that is unique to your business. Make sure to focus on all of your unique selling points when marketing your weddings business.
- Imagery
Professional wedding imagery is so important for any wedding destination. Stock imagery is a big no no in this day and age as people want to imagine what it looks like to get married in YOUR venue. Check with previous brides and grooms and see if they would mind sharing images with you- always credit the photographer too. The Station House Hotel in County Meath make great use of imagery in their wedding brochure. If you are a new wedding business or developing your business to cater for weddings then think about setting up your venue for a wedding and asking a photographer to come in to take some pictures.
- Testimonials
Let your previous couples do the selling for you! Even if they had a small intimate ceremony in the middle of the pandemic- its always great to see other couples opinions on their own experience. Create a “real wedding” blog once a month. Commission a wedding testimonial video (and maybe offer a freebie to the couple for taking part). We love this video from Lough Rea Hotel and Spa from a couple who got married there.
- Keep in contact
Whether the couple are still in the enquiry stage or have already booked, keep in contact with them. During this pandemic this has never been more important. Couples want to make sure that you care about the biggest day of their lives. Spend one day per week contacting all of your leads, ask them if they need any more information. Offer to do a zoom call with them, send them your latest wedding blogs or news etc. Look after the business you have on the books by emailing them regularly with updates. Pick up the phone and give them a call etc. We wrote about this in our previous blog on business continuity.
- Keep up with trends
Couples always want to have something different on their wedding day. Or their priorities change. Hotels have had to constantly pivot their offering during the Covid 19 pandemic and there is no end in sight. Make sure you are catering to all trends throughout the year- whether that be an outside area for ceremonies, smaller more intimate packages or a 2 or 3 day wedding event.
Even though there has been massive changes in the wedding industry in Ireland in the past 13 months, you still need to push your wedding offering out there. People will always want to get married, make sure your wedding business is out there for them.
For help with your wedding marketing plan contact Helen at Back Office Marketing on info@backofficems.ie
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