With the increased popularity of Instagram Threads, now is a great time to discuss some of the biggest marketing mistakes I see as a digital marketer for wedding professionals. 

Now, I am not saying threads is a mistake by any means. But I am saying be strategic and careful where you invest your time. As a wedding professional, I understand how valuable your time is, so I don’t want you wasting it.

Seven Marketing Mistakes To Avoid

1. Not taking advantage of testimonials

Testimonials can be gold in your business. Be sure to take the time to collect these regularly by incorporating a questionnaire into your workflow through your CRM. By doing so, it then becomes a part of your regular process, and you do not need to worry about collecting them. It is also important to understand the legality of how you can use these testimonials. Check out our interview with Jaime Bell, a small business lawyer who explains how you can and cannot legally use testimonials. Not sure what to do with your testimonials after you’ve collected them? Learn more about how to incorporate testimonials in your marketing here!  

2. Not knowing your target audience

One of the biggest problems I see working with wedding professionals is not truly understanding who they are selling to. Sometimes, our businesses are in a place where we will take anyone willing to buy our services. This is understandable for those who are new to the industry. However, after your first year, you should invest some time in defining your ideal client and target audience. Know who you are speaking to, their spending habits, associated brands and most importantly, buyer type. Sam Jacobson of Ideaction Consulting dives deeper into the psychology of why people buy and defines them into four different categories. I highly recommend you check out his podcast, where he breaks this down further. 

3. Worrying about what others are doing

In order to be truly successful, one must create a strategic plan and stick to the plan. Sure, there is wiggle room for vere off now and then. However, worrying too much about what others are doing hinders your creativity and success. Spend less time focusing on your competition and more time on building your community. Because when you surround yourself with talented people, magic will happen.

4. Not being authentic to you & your values

The differentiating factor between your competitors & your business is YOU. Your couples are buying from you. When it comes to wedding planning packages or photography packages, they are all more or less the same. There is honestly such a slight difference in the services offered that the chance your client picked you over your competition is not because of a difference in your package (let’s be honest, we are not reinventing the wedding planning wheel) but because they connected with YOU. So, be authentic to who you are and don’t lose sight of your values because that is what attracts couples to you. 

5. Getting too caught up in the algorithms & trends

Can we say Instagram threads is a trend yet? Just like Club House grew in popularity during the pandemic, every trend must come to an end (or at least a fizzle out). Don’t waste time trying to beat the social media algorithm to ‘go viral’ when you only need a few engaged couples to engage with your content. 

I’ve said it time and time again, if dancing on video is not a part of your brand and values, DO NOT DO IT! Just because your competition is doing something one way does not mean you have to either. Dancing on reels and TikTok will likely not book you more weddings and will just waste your already valuable time.

Spend more time on strategy and learning how to market on your platform correctly, and you will surely get the ROI you are looking for. 

6. Spreading your efforts too thin

You may not want to hear this, but…you can’t put 100% effort into every marketing channel. If you’re human, you just can’t, and I don’t recommend it anyway. I suggest picking 1-3 & kicking ass at those instead of being mediocre on all. Be realistic with the time you have to devote to these marketing channels, and don’t over-commit yourself. When picking which marketing channels to invest your time on, it is important to get a clear understanding of your goals and where your ideal client spends their time. For example, if you market to couples in their late 30s or early 40s, they most likely are not on TikTok like Gen Y and millennials. Learn more about which marketing channel is best for you here!

7. Waiting too late to outsource.

The number one problem I see when it comes to marketing mistakes with wedding professionals is outsourcing when you are too busy. Yes, we all get to a place in our business where we reach burnout and wave the SOS white flag, asking for help. As a digital marketer for wedding professionals, I want to help you BEFORE you get to this place. Our goal is to help remove things from your to-do list so that you do not burn out. 

Before you begin outsourcing, it is essential to understand when it is time to outsource for your business. Once you know this, you can begin preparing your business to outsource. The outsourcing process often takes several months from when you decide it’s time to hire to when your contractor is working for you in a smooth & efficient manner. 

Let’s break it down here:

1.) 1 month to decide it is time to hire & search for a contractor/ agency

2.) 1-2 months to interview and commit to a contractor. Many contractors and agencies book several months in advance, so this time frame may even be bumped by a month or two.

3.) 1-3 months for the contractor to begin working on your tasks and be confident & efficient in what they do. In the first few months, more communication is often involved to help the contractor understand your business, brand voice and systems. 

So… that is ~6 months from when you decide to outsource to when you can be hands-free in those tasks. Therefore, DO NOT wait until it’s too late to outsource. 

Raise your hands if you are guilty of any of the seven marking mistakes above. Now, my goal of this was not to make you feel guilty by any means but to raise awareness of areas of improvement in your business. As a wedding planner with over nine years of experience and eight years of experience in digital marketing, I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. I want to ensure that your wedding business is working as efficiently as possible so that you are booking dream clients and not reaching burnout. Learn more about how we can help you with your digital marketing and take some of those never-ending, always-pushed-to-the-side digital marketing tasks off your to-do list.