How to Capture More Bridal Leads That Visit Your Website

By Leave a Comment

e-mail symbol

Question: How can I collect bride leads for my email list?

“Hi Stephanie,

I’m so excited about the AES [Automatic Expert System] and have so many ideas.  Since I design cakes for all occasions, I want to be able to collect leads so I can promote special promotions, new cake flavors/products, etc. Clients often can also forward to family and friends of these promotions.   Of course, I want to collect leads from brides.   Could you share some insight on how I could approach?

Thank you!

Sweet Regards,”

Veronica

Answer:

Hi, Veronica.

It would be really helpful for you to brainstorm ideas for capturing leads and following up with them.  I’m sure you’d be much better at this than me, since you know your business and market best.  :)

In order to capture the name and email of people who visit your website you need:

1.  An email marketing service like Aweber that lets you send personalized mass emails and  create forms for collecting these leads.

2. A compelling offer or cool free giveaway people get when signing up for your email list. This might be a free informational report, coupons, video tutorials, checklists, etc.

3. A webform displayed on your website to make your clear offer in a way that gets
attention and inspires action.

4. Website traffic.  Don’t forget that people need to SEE your offer in order to sign up for it!

Here are some suggestions for getting high quality leads on your email list:

  •  Invite them to sign up for your email list for a chance to win a “cake of the month.” (You could do the same as a reward for liking your Facebook page.)
  • Invite them to sign up for your text message list to get exclusive coupons and discounts.  This works great for the restaurant industry to make and keep loyal customers.
  • Use a wedding specific free giveaway and transition your customers to updates of your blog posts via blog broadcast, including special deals and promotions.
  • Get your followers involved, once you have a good number of them, by asking for their suggestions on cakes to make for your “cake of the month” or even let them name a new flavor.

The key is to make sure whatever you offer is really valuable and desirable to your customers.

Ask your current/past customers for ideas about what you can give away to potential customers that would be really cool.  They’ll be your best resource!

What do you think about collecting more leads this way?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Bridal Marketing, Home Page Tagged With: , , , , ,

4 Unconventional and Super Effective Tactics to Get a Bride to Respond Now

By 5 Comments

Bride On Cell Phone

Now that you know what NOT to do when you respond to that lead, let’s get to the good stuff!

Here are four strategies that leave her begging for more.  (Watch our free video series to learn how to follow up automatically!)

1. Respond instantly with video.

Fast response is critical.  The best time to respond is within 5 minutes.  (Kellogg’s School of Management.)

Waiting even one measly hour means you are 21x less likely to reach the bride.

I don’t expect you to stay glued to your computer or smart phone all day long.  I mean, we live in a real world full of driveways that need shoveling, families that need feeding, toenails that need clipping.  (Maybe that’s just my world.)

But don’t make the common mistake of sending this boring autoreply: “Thanks!  We’ll respond within 24 hours.” It doesn’t do anything for you.

Send her a link to your super cool welcome video in that autoreply and you will instantly stand out from the competition.

In your video, say hello.  Show off your personality.  Above all, invite her to take an action.

Rev up her interest.  Arouse her curiosity. Get her to take another action and she’ll be primed to respond.

2. Set a date and seal it with a kiss.

Instead of mentioning what the bride can do, “if she wants,” the way most wedding vendors do, tell her exactly what to do and when to do it.  Nicely, of course.

Guide her to the desired action by asking a direct question.  Why a question?  Because questions require an ANSWER.  In other words, she’ll be compelled to respond.

Finally, end with an enthusiastic greeting indicating that you expect to get a response.

Here’s how:

  • Determine the very next action you want her to take.  For most wedding vendors, this is a phone call because once you get her on the phone, setting the meeting is easy.
  • Ask a specific question setting a date for that action, like this: Are you available for a quick phone chat at 4pm tomorrow?
  • Ask your question at the very end of your email in a paragraph all on its own so that it stands out.
  • Seal the deal with a “kiss,” like this: Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!

Asking a question to set a specific date for a chat makes a HUGE difference in the response you get.  Try it and see.

3. Be so different it makes her laugh.  Or at least snicker.

Check out how your competition is responding and do something completely different.

The first sentence or two of your email usually shows up in the “preview” before the bride even opens her email.  Take advantage of this fact and make it intriguing.

Think outside the box.  What can you write that will make her want to read more?

Some ideas:

Jane, I’m about to share advice from real brides that may shock you because it goes against everything you’ve been told about planning a wedding…

What will June 17, 2013 (her wedding date) be like?

Warning: don’t read this email unless you have a bathroom nearby!

Okay, I got a little crazy with that last one, but that’s kind of the point. You need to be different enough to get attention, then arouse enough curiosity to make her want to read more.  Now.

4. Give her a deadline.

Prepare to be shocked by this fact:

People are lazy.

Okay, maybe that isn’t so shocking, especially if you have children.  Or a husband.

It’s a quirk of humanity that we tend to conserve our actions unless absolutely necessary.  In other words, we don’t take action until we HAVE to.

Yet tell us that we’re about to lose something and we’ll hop to faster than a bunny rabbit in a frying pan.

Include a deadline or a limited time offer in your reply to give the bride an incentive to respond fast.

This might be:

  • Contact us by Friday for a special deal.
  • All couples who meet with us by March 31st get a free bonus.
  • We have another couple inquiring about your date, so call me tonight to confirm our availability.  (Only if this is true.)

When you let the bride know that you won’t be around forever, it gets her off her butt and into action.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to strategies to warm up those leads and get a response so you can book more weddings!

Want to Learn More Disastrous Mistakes to Avoid?

Watch this video to learn the 10 Fatal Follow Up Myths That Are Killing Your Wedding Business!

*For the sake of brevity I have chosen to use the words “bride” and “she” in this blog post.  I’m not suggesting that only brides or heterosexual couples plan a wedding.  Really.  I just happen to like ladies and ticking off really uptight people.

Photo Credit

​

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Bridal Marketing, Home Page Tagged With: , , , ,

6 Embarrassing Reasons the Bride Blew You Off

By 3 Comments

Bride Dismayed

How do you get brides to respond?

Here’s the all too frequent scenario:

  •     Bride (or groom) emails you asking for your “prices and packages.”
  •     You respond promptly with your best professional response and…
  •     NOTHIN’.

(Insert cricket sounds here.)

What the heck is going on?  They emailed YOU for information, which means they must be interested.  Right?  What black hole opened and swallowed up the email response you truly deserve?

Untwist those knickers; we’ve put together a free video series revealing what to do to get a fast response and book more weddings.

First, here are a few likely reasons why she DIDN’T respond.

1. Your response was too slow.

The Kellogg’s School of Management study tells us that the best time to respond to a lead is within 5 minutes.

Why?  Because she’s still sitting at her computer.  (Or hovering over her iPhone.)

If you wait even one hour to respond, you are 21x LESS LIKELY to reach her.  Sorry to crush your fast response time reputation, Speedy.

2. Your response put her to sleep.

Your response went something like this:

Congratulations on your engagement!

We at Acme Weddings specialize in providing high quality, professional [whatever you do] for the best prices.  We’ve been featured in Blah Blah magazine…

Call us for your free, no obligation consultation…

*Snore.*  What?  What was that?  No, I did NOT fall asleep at the keyboard!

The average bride contacts 3-10 vendors when searching for a service.  If your response looks anything like this, she barely even noticed it in stack of emails in her inbox.

3. You didn’t tell her how to respond.

Now wait a second!  I specifically told her to call me and schedule a meeting…

Oh, did you?

If you’re like 99% of the wedding vendors out there, you response went something like this:

If you’d like to meet with me to discuss your wedding, please call me at 555-GET-LOST.

That’s what you “told” her to do, isn’t it?

Unless you give her a specific time, date and ask a direct QUESTION that requires an answer, you’re not likely to get a response out of a busy bride.

4. You scared her away.

This is really the #1 reason why she doesn’t respond.  I know you don’t find yourself very scary (except when you look in the mirror after a long night of binge drinking) but there are lots of things you do that scare her off.

Things such as:

  • Sending her a price list.  Ouch!  Can you say sticker shock?
  • Giving her too many choices.  When faced with too many choices (click here, visit this, call this number, meet with that…) the bride will choose to make NONE.  I’m not making this stuff up; it’s Psychology 101.
  • Asking her too many questions.  If you hit her with a list of 20 questions, she doesn’t have the time or brain space to respond.  She’s a bride planning a wedding, for Ringo’s sake!
  • Your hideous grammar, spelling and lack of proper sentence structure sent her screaming.  If you can’t compose a well-written response in English, you should not be the one responding.

The bride is a sensitive, emotional creature in the wild, easily scared off by wedding pros with good intentions, like you.

5. She’s a little busy right now.

That bride really meant to respond to you, your email was super cool and everything, but really, she’s just been so busy since the engagement…

Her head is swimming and her calendar is booked up.  She just hasn’t gotten around to responding yet.

And she probably WON’T anytime soon because you messed up #3 and didn’t ask her a question that actually requires an answer, and you didn’t give her a deadline the bumps you up her priority list.  Ah ha!

6. You didn’t have permission to email her.

Now, in my original scenario you obviously DO have permission to email her, but hang with me here.

I added #6 because whenever I talk about this topic, invariably someone says, “They never respond to my emails!”

And I ask, “Where did the lead come from?”

The answer: “A bridal lead list I paid good money for!”

If she didn’t contact you, she didn’t give you specific permission to email her, no matter what the list broker told you.  Hence, her lack of response.

You might want to notice what DIDN’T make this list of reasons why she didn’t respond.

It’s not because:

  • The ONLY thing she cares about price.
  • She wasn’t really interested in the first place.
  • She went with someone else.  (Well, it might be that, but probably not if you responded within 24 hours.)

Now that we’ve covered what NOT to do, I’ll reveal what you SHOULD be doing instead to get a super fast, enthusiastic response that leads to the exact action you want…coming soon in my next article!

Until then…

Want to Learn More Disastrous Mistakes to Avoid?

Watch this video to learn the 10 Fatal Follow Up Myths That Are Killing Your Wedding Business!

*For the sake of brevity I have chosen to use the words “bride” and “she” in this blog post.  I’m not suggesting that only brides or heterosexual couples plan a wedding.  Really.  I just happen to like ladies and ticking off really uptight people. 

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Bridal Marketing, Email, Home Page Tagged With: , , , ,

How to Get Your Brides to Brag About Your Business All Over Town

By Leave a Comment

bride jolly

Question: How do I keep in touch with brides who’ve booked me two years in advance and get them to send me referrals?

“Hi Steph!

I have a question that I’m sure I cannot ask on any other blog. I’ve wooed a bride and she’s finally booked her wedding with me at a good price and I’ve received her deposit. The only problem is her date is two years away.

How do I continue to keep her engaged in my work and stay in the forefront of her mind?

I know she has lots of friends who may be considering having photographic worthy events but if I don’t reconnect with her for two years, how does she think about my work?  Sure, I update my blog but I can’t force people to go there. What to do?”

Pamela

Answer:

Love this question, Pamela!  It shows that you’re really thinking about how you can maximize your current client base for future business.

It’s also really good for brides/grooms when you keep in contact with them, since they feel cared for through the entire planning process.  Most wedding vendors take the deposit and disappear, unfortunately.

Here’s how we’ve successfully kept in touch:

1.   Get new clients on your email list.

Since you’re blogging regularly, there’s no need to create an ezine.  Just send a monthly “blog broadcast” containing highlights from you latest blog posts.  You can set this up automatically from email marketing services such as Aweber.

2.   Create a follow up email sequence for new clients filled with tips and ideas.  This way you’ll stay top of mind during the planning process, and you can also send them referral incentives and reminders along the way.

3.    Call them every 3-6 months.

My couples were shocked that I would do this, but they really appreciated it.  I’d just call up, say hello, ask how the plans were going, etc.  It let them know that I actually cared and wanted to help, made them that much more confident that I was going to do a great job at the wedding…and as a bonus, it resulted in referrals to their engaged friends.

If you have a specific referral incentive program (highly encouraged!) you might mention it them or say that you’ll email them details.  Just don’t make that the #1 reason for your call.

Keeping in touch by email and phone is a winning strategy for happy clients and more referrals!

How do you keep in touch with your current clients?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Bridal Marketing, Home Page Tagged With: , , , , ,

6 Strategies For Creating Effortless Content for Your Wedding Blog, Videos, Emails and Tweets

By Leave a Comment

Question: How do I come up with new information for my blog, email newsletter/ezine, free Bride Bribe, videos, etc?

Hi, guys!

Here’s my question, though.  And it really doesn’t just apply to Bride Bribes.  How do you come up with different information for the Free Offer, blog posts, and ALSO an ezine/newsletter?  I am totally overwhelmed.  Not to mention that I want to do videos.  I don’t want to do a crossover with the ezine and the blog, because I feel that this should be “special” information.

Please help.  I’m on overload.  Also, I know a lot of people write new articles for their ezine each month (or however often they release), but I would prefer to have it be just a few – no more than 12 and they run in a particular order for every client – number 1 is the same for all clients, regardless of when they sign up.  At least until I have got my footing and am less overwhelmed.  What are your thoughts on this?

I really appreciate everything you two do.  You have been so wonderfully helpful and it has made a HUGE difference for me.  Thank you!

Kiki

Answer:

Hi, Kiki!

I’m glad you asked this question.

You can cover the same topic 100 different ways.  Once you start brainstorming, you’ll never run out of ideas.

6 Effortless Content Strategies

1. Write down 100 topics your brides/grooms are interested in.  Put pen to paper and just GO.  You’ll be surprised at how easily it will flow!

 2. Get inspired by other wedding blogs.  Check out the Top 100 Wedding Blogs and put them in your reader.  (Watch this video “What to Tweet in 5 Minutes or Less” for instructions.)

 3. Re-blog other peoples’ great content.  Don’t copy their words, but write 100-200 new words about the topic, then link to the article.  Quick, easy blog post!

 4. Do short video interviews with other wedding vendors.

 5. Blog about whatever weddings you’re working on: share an idea, do your own “real wedding” post, etc.

 6. Blog about other wedding vendors and venues you love.

I like to keep a list of article ideas so that I’m never “stuck.”  As soon as you have an idea, write it down.  You’ll soon find ideas everywhere!

Ditch the Ezine

There are two ways to send mass emails: either through an autoresponder series (also called “drip” or “follow up,” depending on the service you use) or broadcast emails (like a monthly e-zine or newsletter.)

I’m a fan of using an autoresponder follow up because it saves time and works very effectively.

Autoresponder Pros

Write the emails once and use them FOREVER.  Less work is good!
Once you have a proven sequence of emails or a “conversation,” you can predictably lead the prospect down the road to booking you.

The biggest disadvantage of using an email autoresponder is that you aren’t able to add links, images or examples from your latest work each month.

A monthly newsletter is a lot of work to format and it’s time you have to invest every month FOREVER.

A more efficient alternative to a monthly e-zine is to send a “blog broadcast” email that can be automatically scheduled and sent.  

Aweber offers this blog broadcast feature, as do other email marketing services.  This lets you send a formatted email containing links to your latest blog posts once a month without having to set it up and schedule it.

Whenever you can do LESS work and still get results, I’m all for it!

Do you use an email newsletter or follow up series to market to brides and grooms?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Email, Home Page, Social Media Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,

Is This the Death of Direct Mail?

By 2 Comments

Not too long ago, a wedding vendor sent us an email claiming…

Direct mail is DEAD.

Certainly direct mailings lack the marketing sex appeal of social media darlings like Pinterest and slick mobile-friendly technology. I mean, who uses snail mail anymore? We even nicknamed it after a SLUG, for goodness sake; it’s icky, slimy and slow.

Ah, that’s just the point! When you use direct mail as a part of your bridal marketing campaign, you are going where your competitors AREN’T.

Direct Mail Rises From the Dead

Snail mailboxes are so empty these days that your marketing piece will jump right out in the bride and groom’s mailbox. While your competitors are blasting out unsolicited emails…most of which end up in the spam folder if they even arrive at all…you’ll have the soon-to-be-weds attention all to yourself.

Don’t believe me? Check out these stats:

  • Over 70% percent of direct mail pieces are read. (Source Ballantine)
  • Only 11% of emails even get opened, and even fewer get a response. (Multiple sources)
  • Only 17% of Facebook posts even get viewed by fans. (Source All Facebook)
  • It takes 5 – 12 exposures to your business before the bride / groom hires you.

Direct mail belongs in your bridal marketing tool box. When done properly, it’s inexpensive, targeted and highly effective.

In fact, my brain is on fire right now, simply percolating with ways to combine direct mail into a multi-channel marketing and follow up system for wedding vendors that will make your business a lead generating machine! (But I digress and mix metaphors. All I can hear now is, My brain is on fire, with passionate love…)

Follow these tips to create a direct mail campaign that books weddings, courtesy of Matthew Toren over at Blogtrepreur to turbo charge your direct mail marketing.

What do you think about direct mail? Does it work for you?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Advertising, Bridal Marketing, Email, Home Page, Wedding Business, Wedding Business Income Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Issue Behind Brides Ignoring and Unsubscribing From Your Emails

By Leave a Comment

The instant sale is a mythical thing. While it does happen now and again, most brides require hearing from you multiple times before they begin to seriously think about using your business. Once they’ve signed up to receive emails from you things get tricky as it is often then that brides ignore your emails.

The most important thing you have to incorporate in your email marketing is exciting information that continually builds a brides interest and motivates her to take action. According to the Litmus infographic posted by Corey Eridon there are quite a few reasons why a bride will lose interest and unsubscribe from your marketing emails. The main two things that trigger a bride to unsubscribe are when you send too many emails back to back, and when the information you send is repetitive and boring. Remember brides today are dealing with information overload. You only have a short time to grab her attention and hold it in an email, so make it exciting, fun, and packed with helpful information that she might not get anywhere else. What do you think? Do have you trouble with a high unsubscribe rate?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Attracting Ideal Clients, Bridal Marketing, Email, Personal Development Tagged With: , , , , , ,

More Ways to Get Your Emails Delivered

By Leave a Comment

There are a certain amount of emails that you send that are not delivered. Often this is because someone gave you a fake email address, or used an email account that they only use for spam messages. However, there are ways for you to get the rest of your emails delivered, as well as keeping your email list clean of these “fake” emails.

It may be the easiest option to automatically add every new bride who opts in to your main email list. However if you want to continue marketing to your full list and get good results it is better to have a middle step. This is to create a list for new sign ups. Once you’ve seen that your emails are delivered you can go back at the end of the week and add it to the rest of your list.

Your wheels in your mind should be turning about now. Your email list isn’t just a bucket that everyone gets dumped it. It is a list that you have to treat more like a garden. You plant the seeds and get them growing into seedlings before you plant them outdoors. This is how you get strong plants, and build a strong email list. Take an active role in weeding through your bridal leads and email list. There is no point in emailing someone on an ongoing basis if they have never replied to you in the first place. Make sure to read the article by Cynthia Clark to get more technical ideas on how to get your emails delivered and read. What do you think?

Photo Credit

If you'd like to get more free information and strategies like this, join our Wedding Business Tips email list here.

Filed Under: Attracting Ideal Clients, Bridal Marketing, Email, Leads & Traffic Tagged With: , , , , , ,
«Older Posts