Looking For Referrals In The Wedding Industry

Marketing for your wedding & event business is constantly evolving, which means those of us in this industry have to learn a lot of new strategies, tactics, and terminology, all the time. One of those words you've probably heard is ‘co-marketing,’ or 'co-branding,' which is different.

Regardless, of what you’ve heard, co-marketing is just a form of relationship marketing, that can be used in many ways.

Co-Marketing vs. Co-Branding

Companies have been co-branding for years. Nike partnered up with Apple to create the ultimate work-out and music experience. Hershey's partnered with Betty Crocker to create the chocolateiest brownie ever. These two companies combined their products together to create an even more valuable product.
Co-marketing is slightly different -- it's the opportunity for two brands to work together on promotional efforts with a co-branded offer. In a co-marketing partnership, both companies promote a piece of content or a product, and share results of that promotion with each other.

Why would you want to do this type of marketing? First of all, your marketing efforts are doubled! Think about all the benefits you get from promoting a piece of content or a new product or event. Now think about all the benefits you would get if two companies promoted it through all the levels of connections that everyone has. (Wedding Marketers reach outside the box!)  The bonus is through co-marketing, you're able to reach a brand new audience, one you may not have been able to connect and engage with on your own.
Take this example into consideration. You're a ‘Wedding Jewelry Company’ in Los Angeles.  You’ve created beautiful videos that showcase your beautiful pieces and you promote them to brides online in the hopes they'll start following you on social media, subscribe to your blog, that type of thing.

You know of a company, also in Los Angeles, that is a ‘wedding coordinator,’ wouldn’t it be interesting if you made a video together, talking about designing weddings, and potentially showing bridal jewelry on brides that the coordinator was working with?  You both get together and create a video, talking about ‘your love of weddings,’ and how the bride would benefit from both of you.  Both companies promote this video to their channels, both of which have different audiences. After, you notice a bump in your social reach because a whole new audience has gained access to your brand from these videos and their promotion from your co-marketing partner ... and that partner sees the same success.  Isn’t that wonderful ?
Let’s take it a step further…. how about an event that showcases you, the wedding industry professional to the wedding planners?

The Bridal & Event Professionals Academy (BEPA) & Networking Mixer  allows you to meet quality wedding planners in a setting that encourages face-to-face interaction with individuals who can book and refer your service to high-end weddings!

• The BEPA  is being held in prestigious locations across the country. Reserve your table-top display today and start building relationships with the nations best wedding planners. Each event starts with an complimentary afternoon of training for local wedding planners and ends with a mixer where everyone has fun.
• 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm - The Bridal & Event Professionals Academy Training - Featuring Chris Evans as well as other wedding industry speakers to train wedding planners in the latest sales techniques.
• 3:30 to 4:30 pm - Round Table Discussions. Participants have their choice of joining 10 Wedding Industry leaders for intense Q and A and training. Each participant gets to pick 4 tables to visit during the hour.
• 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm - The BEPA Networking Mixer - Wedding Planners will have an opportunity to relax and enjoy appetizers and drinks as they meet with a select group of local wedding professionals who want to form a referral relationship with them. This is your opportunity to build relationships with local wedding planners.

This type of 'co-marketing,' gives you more benefit since your participation includes admission to the training sessions!    Statistics show that 'wedding planners,' are always looking for 'quality partners, are you one that they can work with?  32% of high-end weddings hire a full-time coordinator, wouldn't this be an incredible way to 'show what you have to offer?'   Let's talk....click on the info below.

Locations of the BEPA Event: (click on location)

• Los Angeles: September 23, 2013 -Dorothy Chandler Pavillion
  Palo Alto/San Francisco: September 25, 2013 -Crowne Plaza Palo Alto
• Boston: October 14, 2013 -Conners Center
• Phildelphia- October 16, 2013 -TBD
• Atlanta: October 21, 2013 -Andrews Event Center
• Orlando: October 23,2013 -Lakeside Resort
• Houston: October 26, 2013 -Norris Center Houston
• Fort Worth: November 4, 2013 -Norris Center Fort Worth
• Denver: November 8, 2013 -TBD
• Fort Lauderdale: November 13, 2013 -Westin Fort Lauderdale

Evans Sales Solutions, is the connection between the wedding business -- to grow that business!   We offer wedding business training & education, networking and more!  For more information, please go to:  'BEPA-Academy' or 'Evans Sales Solutions' for more information!

Are you leading or just managing your bridal company?

Leadership is about taking risks and overcoming obstacles. When Chris Evans, top speaker in the wedding circuit, left the wedding industry as a major bridal show producer, he decided to use his skills and teach wedding merchants ‘how to sell’ through workshops, seminars and more. However, there were a lot of obstacles in his way. This included a massive brick-and-mortar system of getting the word out to those in the wedding industry via direct mail and advertising costs. But he left his safe job and founded ‘Evans Sales Solutions, LLC,’ and stepped into the training and speaking circuit, changing the way many in this industry look at ‘sales and marketing.’

What is the key to assessing big decisions and overcoming obstacles that he used? He didn’t want to waste his ‘God-given talent’ of teaching and then regret not doing it. He would have regretted not joining the ‘speaking circuit,’ where he has met and trained thousands in the wedding industry to grow their businesses.

He had a clear vision of what he wanted to do, he knew the obstacles involved, set out to overcome them, knowing the whole time that there was a high failure risk. He didn’t want to be 80 years old and regret what he could have done for this industry. His theme every morning? ‘It’s a Bright New Day Filled with Possibilities!’

Will you look back with regret at what could have been in your wedding organization? Maybe you’ve owned your bridal business for a long time or been in an executive position for a few years, but are you leading or managing?

Leadership is about making the hard choices and living with the outcomes, good or bad. Managing is more about ‘not doing the hard things-keeping all running smoothly’ thus making sure employees, vendors and customers are all happy.

Sometimes though, the path to a greater success requires you to ‘rock the boat,’ to the point of tipping it over.

The first step is to: Know where you are going in this industry. Too many bridal companies start with a ‘passionate idea,’ and then ‘just survive the ride.’ They are not plotting their growth plan; they are doing what they’ve always done, hoping that it’s enough to get by for another day. If you are a leader, you won’t go for that.

Second step: Make a list of how you are going to make it happen! List the easy steps, and list the obstacles. By listing the obstacles, you can then go around them, through them, over them or simply get rid of them. Most obstacles are going to fall into the category of people, products or the structure you have in place. Ask yourself: Is this the right management team to get you where you want your company to be? Is your product on the ‘edge’ of what 18-36 year old brides are looking for? Is your company structured to handle the challenges that lie ahead (yes, they are there) on your path to growth?
This is where leadership comes in. Do you have the DISCIPLINE (consistency plus perseverance) or SELF CONTROL (the ability in the heat of the moment to take a specific action in the right direction) and COURAGE (Strength of purpose, to do your best and not swerve from your path) to grow your business?

None of these changes are easy. But that’s the difference between a leader and a manager. A leader says, ‘we are going a different direction and that means things are going to have to change.’ Your other option is to leave things alone and play it safe. But get ready, Chris won’t be standing next to you at 80, when you declare, ‘I could have done so much more!!’

Evans Sales Solutions/ Bridal Marketing Concierge, leaders in the wedding industry with support products, business training, sales & marketing techniques to grow your business. As a solutions-based and results-driven concierge we create opportunities to grow your bridal business sales and increase your profitability. Reach us by calling: 805-322-4446 or go to: www.BridalMarketingConcierge.com

SMART Rules In Marketing Your Wedding Business

Do you know the steps to marketing your wedding business?  What do you need to put in the box? It's actually simple:  S.M.A.R.T.

What's in your Marketing Box?

S:  Be Specific. Don't be vague in what you are trying to get across to the brides.

M:  Create something that is Measurable.  Determine what the success factor is for that goal.

A:  Are you able to Attain the goal you set up.  Is it something you can accomplish?

R:  When setting up your bridal marketing goals, are they Realistic?

T:  Do you have a Time Frame in which to create and make this goal work?

To guide your wedding business marketing efforts, you need to understand how to take 'your passion' in this industry and make it a business that plays to the needs of a bride.   There are several ways to build your company through an 'Internet Marketing Strategy' such as:

• Your website.  Is your website creating desire?
• SEO:  Search Engine Optimization.  Is your company always striving to be at the top of the search engine?
• E-newsletters, Blogs:  Does your company create items that make you a star in this industry?
• Social media: Do you stay on top of your social media, putting your company as the connection providing help to the brides creating a dream wedding?
• Your Database.  Are you able to collect and add to your database of couples looking to use your company?  Increase your brand circle, by reaching out to those reached out for you!

Tips to help you: 

1) In the book 'How to Double Your Wedding Business in 12 Months,' Author Chris Evans, shows you how to break down your goals and set up realistic steps using sales techniques that will support you as you go forward.   

2) ESSText is a marketing technique used to capture your next client by using a 'text program,'  through your SMART phone.

3) WedVu.com is a site that creates marketing videos to help take your marketing up a notch!  Each customized video can be placed on your website or used in your social marketing.

Marketing support with these items you can purchase through Amazon or at: http://www.EvansSalesSolutions.com 

OK, overwhelmed and need someone to do this for you?   Evans Sales Solutions can help you!  The Bridal Marketing Concierge team works to best suit our wedding business clients by providing them a range of full service marketing techniques and the 'training' needed to put your staff at the top for sales and service.  As a solutions-based and results-driven bridal marketing concierge in this fast paced environment, we help to grow your sales and increase your profitability.  Call 805-322-4446 or email: info@EvansSalesSolutions.com

Wedding Watch News -supporting the wedding industry

Wedding Social Marketing Blue Print Surprisingly Simple?

Creating a social marketing blue print for your company can be incredibly hard for the #wedding business owner who is working constantly 'keeping the doors open,' and doesn't have the time to be on the computer and grow their business.  It's important to stay on top of the daily changes and updates in social marketing, so that your company is found easier.   Here are a few quick things to note when you are working on your blue print: 

1) Write click-worthy titles and descriptions for the bride to be

When it comes to writing titles for search engines, the first thing you have to know is this…you only have 65 characters to write your headline.  You could write the greatest headline, but if it’s over 65 characters, it will get cut off.   Try to create something that you know will interest the clients you want to come knocking at your door.

• Front-load your titles with keywords – Since most people only scan the first 2 words in a title, try to a keyword in the front as much as possible.
• Meet the expectations of the reader – Your title should click to a page that meets the expectations of the user.
• Emotionally writing – Try to make your title an emotional call to the brides.   Use adverbs that will pull them in: Emotional words are; killer, FREE, amazingly, surprising, uncommonly, tempting, astoundingly  (make up your own?)

2) Keywords 

When you want to attract attention when it comes to ranking above the fold is with Google+

• Google looks for the word you typed in, but sometimes also looks for synonyms or related terms. Any words appearing in boldface type in your search results are terms Google associates with your search terms. For example, if you search for [kittens] you might see the word cats in boldface in your results.
• Adding pictures, creating a blog with keywords, add friends-- all support your going higher on the search engine.

3) Meta Tags 

These ideas are from Google.  The quality of your snippet (a small piece of brief extract: 'snippets of information') is important.  Using identical or similar descriptions on every page of a site isn't very helpful when individual pages appear in the web results— the short text preview Google displays for each web result — can have a direct impact on the chances of your site being clicked (i.e. the amount of traffic Google sends your way).  Google wants snippets to accurately represent the web result. They (Google) will frequently prefer to display meta descriptions of pages (when available) because it gives users a clear idea of the URL's content.

• The meta description doesn't just have to be in sentence format; it's also a great place to include structured data about the page. Google limits meta descriptions to 160 characters or less.
• For some sites, like news media sources, generating an accurate and unique description for each page is easy: since each article is hand-written, it takes minimal effort to also add a one-sentence description.
• Finally, make sure your descriptions are... descriptive.  Front load keywords that are relevant to the article. If you like formulas, ask “Who? What? Why? When? Where? How?” That’s a formula journalists use to report. It works equally well writing descriptions.

Remember, that you are in business!  While it may have started from your 'passion' and that should still be part of the business, you must continually take the steps to bring your company up to speed on social marketing.   Bridal Business Marketing Concierge is one who can help with that day-to-day social marketing.  Learn more about our internet marketing solutions 

Recent blog posts about bridal business marketing strategy:   (From Evans Sales Solutions)

• Where Do Your Leads Come From?
• Day by Day-Steps to Growing Your Business
• The Formalwear Business works hard to grow their business
• Is it really SPAM or does it cost you wedding business?
• What makes a good salesperson?
• Five Ways to Grow Your Business

Contact us: 

805-322-4446

Evans Sales Solutions, LLC

www.EvansSalesSolutions.com

The Top 3 Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
Don’t catch yourself falling into these three traps when it comes to Facebook!

Social media can create a boost to your business and brand—if you do it right. If you do it wrong, it could backfire. Here are three social marketing pitfalls you should avoid at all costs.

1. All about me, not about you. The biggest question on a customer’s mind is “What’s in it for me?” Are you answering this question when you throw out facebook posts? Social marketing should be exactly how it sounds—social. It’s about connecting with people. If you’re posting all about your business and what you do on a daily basis without answering your customer’s biggest question, you are failing at the most critical point of social marketing.

2. Leaving comments unanswered. You don’t want to be that guy – the one who is constantly talking about themselves without listening to what anyone else has to say. If you have a social marketing presence, you are most-likely getting comments and questions. If you are going to keep the interest of those you are marketing to, you must address every comment, especially if it is a negative one. A negative comment can wreak havoc for your business, so be sure to address it right away and always come up with a positive spin.

3. Not mapping out your strategy. Social marketing can bring a return on your time investment, but only if you have a plan. A social marketing plan can keep your business in front of the people you need the most. It can help each post build on one another instead of being scattered and unrelated. It can help you truly address your constituency’s needs and wants.

Have you set goals for your social marketing? Do you have the next month of promotions planned out? Need help with translating how a social marketing plan can bring more brides to your business?

Click here to check out Success with Facebook CD and start making social media work for your business.

And you can always find us online at www.evanssalessolutions.com.

Happy Facebooking from the Evans Sales Solutions team!

• Chris Evans - CEO, Motivation, Sales & Techniques Training - The face of the company, (Grand  PooPah when Becky lets me be)
• Rebekah Evans - Marketing and Sales, PR and Social Media Manager and (The real boss)
• James Mitchell - Internet Expert, Web & database Design, Internet Manager (Jbmwebdesigners.com)
• Vanessa Carroll - Copywriter and marketing Content Manager
• Marc Alex - Graphic designer and Literature Manager