As a wedding professional, are you feeling bogged down with trying to keep up with Instagram, Instagram Reels, Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, Tik Tok & Pinterest!? With SO many marketing platforms, it is easy to get caught up in the posting game. Before you go ahead and spread yourself too thin trying to keep up with posting all the time, I want to help you understand which platform will help you get the most  BANG for your buck! (and by buck, we mean time because we all know time is money).

Determine Who Your Ideal Client Is

One of the most helpful marketing techniques that I can recommend before you spend time, money and energy on marketing your business is understanding who your ideal client is. To do this I recommend creating an Ideal brand persona. Brand expert Danielle Connor dives deeper in this here. But ultimately, you are creating an imaginary ideal client and understanding every aspect of them. For example, what brands they wear, how they talk, what they do for fun etc. Once you get a crystal clear understanding of who your ideal client is, this will help you understand which marketing platform your ideal clients are using and will give you the best ROI.

Pros & Cons of Different Digital Marketing Platforms

Now that you have a crystal clear understanding of who your ideal client is, it is time to direct your marketing efforts to the platforms that they are using. Below I will break down some pros and cons of the most popular marketing platforms and how they may or may not help you as a wedding professional.

Instagram

Pro

• As a wedding professional it is no secret that our clients love visuals & Instagram is great for this! 
• It provides a user-friendly way to search profiles, save and share inspiration which is great for vendors 
• It’s one of the top ways to relate to your ideal client on a more personal level & shows you are attainable
• You are able to use geotagging to help narrow down your searches to specific locations or areas
• More popular with younger client demographics. According to Statista, as of April 2022 61% of users on Instagram are between 18-34 years of age. 
• One of the most popular ways to showcase your portfolio
• Reels & carousel posts are good for engagement and showcasing your work to a larger audience
• Instagram stories are best when speaking to your current followers

Con

• The short life span of posts. The average Instagram post only is showcased to your audience for 21-48 hours. Keep in mind Reels can stay relevant longer if they gain traction and can continue to be showcased 14+ days after. While Instagram stories have a short shelf life of 24 hours
• Engagement is key. You can’t just post and ghost as it is a social platform. You must interact and engage with your audience to see a ROI
• A more casual platform where ideal clients and vendors may choose to communicate rather than via email
  

Facebook

Pro

• A great way to showcase your portfolio
• A great way to share reviews & ask past clients to leave reviews
• A great way to build a community via Facebook groups if you are an educator
• Facebook is primarily a social media platform and encourages users to be social with their community

 Con

• The average life span of a Facebook post is only 5 hrs
• More popular with more mature audiences. According to Hootsuite, 77% of Americans on Facebook are between the ages of 30-49 so you are reaching a more mature audience. This can be good for you if you are targeting more mature couples or bad if you are targeting younger couples 
• Facebook is less of a visual portfolio style platform than Instagram, thus making it harder to showcase your work collectively
  

Twitter

Pro

• An open space to speak your mind as a brand or wedding professional
• Twitter makes it easy to share via re-tweeting inspiration and other vendors’ tweets
• A great place for customer service. Allows you to have a 2-way conversation with your audience and, if done well, shows your business as responsive 

Con

• The very short lifespan of your posts. As Twitter is a fast-paced social media app, your post will only stay relevant in someone’s feed for 18-20 minutes, at which point it may get lost in the mass number of posts. Unless the post goes viral and gets a ton of engagement and retweets
• A very wide audience range. Your tweets could easily reach those not in your target audience
• Twitter allows users a short character count of only 280 characters per tweet, thus making it hard to get your message across
  

Tik Tok

Pro

• It is a great platform to express your creativity as a service provider

Con

• The lifespan of a post on Tiktok is typically only a few minutes, if your video doesn’t gain engagement within the first few minutes of being posted, it will often flop.
• According to Sprout Social, 25% of TikTok users are between the age of 10-19. Thus they may not be your ideal audience
• Time-consuming to make video content
• Tiktok is very trend-focused, which can lead to you wasting time producing content that is ‘on trend’ rather than on brand. Trending audios also have a short lifespan, so it is hard to batch content.
• Video first platform, so it has a short character count of only 300 characters, thus making it hard to get your message across
• It is hard to link Tiktok to your other brand platforms, such as your website or other social media channels
  

Pinterest 

Pro

• A post on Pinterest can keep working for you long-term, typically you will see traction a minimum of 4 months, but on average 6 months-1 year after your original post
• For those in the wedding and event industry, it is no secret that our clients love visuals & Pinterest is great for this 
• It provides a user-friendly way to search profiles and save and share inspiration which is great for vendors 
• One of the most popular ways to showcase your portfolio
• A great resource for your clients to use when wedding planning and can share their design with you

Con

• Not all markets or clients are on Pinterest, for example, the ultra-luxury market client is not on Pinterest
  

Blogging

Pro

• Your content will keep working for you for over 1 year after your original post
• Blogging is a great core pillar to your content marketing, thus making it easier to repurpose content
• One of the most popular ways to showcase your portfolio
• When paired with strategically researched keywords, your blog will help your SEO, and your business will be more discoverable on search engines
• It allows you to show up as an industry expert, which is very important in the dense market of wedding professionals
• It helps build vendor relationships by showcasing their work and linking to the vendor’s websites

Con

• It can be time consuming
• If not done properly, you may not receive the ROI you are hoping for
  

The biggest takeaway from this is to spend your time, money and efforts where your ideal clients are spending their time. There is no need to be posting across all the different platforms just to be seen if your ideal clients are not spending their time there. At Details By Dallas we always advise our clients to focus their efforts on fewer channels that they know their ideal client is active on. We believe in posting high-quality content that attracts your ideal client rather than a mass quantity of content that will attract anyone.

If you are a wedding professional who is looking for more clarity on which platform is best for you and your marketing goals, book a strategy call with Details By Dallas. In a 30-minute strategy call, we can discuss your goals and map out the best content plan to help you reach those goals. Reach out today to book your strategy call!