6 Online Marketing Tools to Help Even a Novice Succeed

By Kelly Rice

Owning and operating your own wedding business may be a common dream, but few people consider the logistics of marketing their business once they set up shop.

In the wedding business, marketing is all about making a connection with couples that translates into a professional relationship.  For wedding planners and other professionals that can mean walking a fine line between friendly one-on-one marketing strategies while still coming across as a true professional.

Not sure where to start?  These apps and tools will help organize, focus and improve every aspect of your marketing approach.

Content is Still the King

There are plenty of neat and clever ways to create a buzz about your company but at the end of the day, content still reigns supreme.

Creating, posting and updating relevant, high-quality content not only frames your company as one that understands the industry inside and out, it also makes you a local hub of knowledge – someone brides and grooms can turn to in person as well as online.

In short, it makes you more accessible.  So when creating your content, stick to the three rules of making a post shareable.

•    Keep It Short – Want people to share your post?  Cut the fat.  Long reads simply aren’t as shareable as short, punchy posts.  When short isn’t possible, make an impression early on.

•    Be Positive – Post about nightmare honeymoons, wedding day disasters and meddlesome in-laws have their place, but keep a positive approach to the article and it’s more likely to get passed around.

•    Value Quality – The quality of your content shows your readers and website visitors what you’re willing to invest when it comes to service and impressions.  Invest in high-quality, well planned and stylish content and it will ensure your message – and your image – remain untarnished.

With these principles in mind, there are a number of tools that can help keep you inspired, organized and on task when it comes to content creation and your overall marketing plan.

Evernote – Evernote is essentially a catch-all app that lets you mark, track and organize anything you find absolutely anywhere.

Found a great website?  Add it to a dedicated Evernote collection.  Spotted the perfect fabric in a flea market?  Snap a photo and upload it to your designs collection.

Simply put – it pulls everything together so you’re free to find inspiration everywhere.

Ubersuggest –Turn that inspiration into high quality blog content by using Ubersuggest, a simple online app that takes your keywords and shows you related Google searches.  It’s a great way to get ideas when working with a topic.

WordPress – If you want a blog that’s easy to use, update and edit without needing to look everything up or take a class in how to work with it, opt for WordPress.

It’s simple to use from Day 1 and, as your skills grow, you can get more involved and complex without needing to change formats.

Infogr.am – Infographics are incredibly shareable and they’re also a great way to anchor longer articles with something that people can share easily and that draws potential readers to your website.

Creating them can be tricky, especially at first, but Infrogr.am makes it easier by taking your spreadsheets or other data and transforming it into a stylish graphic.

Poll Daddy – Using polls at the end of articles and posts gives readers and visitors a chance to interact with each other and with you, creating a buzz through conversation. It also gives you feedback on who’s visiting, where they’re coming from and other details.

Poll Daddy isn’t free, but they offer different tiers to fit what you want and what you need.

Topsy – Stay on top of who’s talking about what on which social media platform by checking in daily with Topsy.

Type in related keywords and see where the conversations are happening.  Topsy pulls in data from Twitter as well as anyone who links to an article, blog or journal article through a tweet.

Marketing today changes more often and more quickly than ever before, so you’ll need to stay on top of which tools, apps and websites are your best bet for reaching customers.  So as you develop your skill with these tools, be sure to stay ahead of the curve by following a few simple rules.

•    Pay Attention to What’s Trending – When you run your own business, your time is essentially booked solid from the moment you wake up until the moment you fall back into bed.  But make the time to keep on top of what’s trending and where – knowing what people are talking about lets you plan posts and articles that will be more relevant and knowing which outlet to use ensures your social media campaign won’t become a liability.

•    Make Time to Get Creative – Marketing is all about being innovative and creative, so make sure there’s time in your schedule for brainstorming and letting those creative juices flow.

•    Ask Around – Don’t be shy about networking with fellow professionals in the wedding field, even if they’re technically a rival business!  Talk to people at conventions and online to learn about the tools they use to find new ideas.

What tools or approaches do you use to keep your marketing fresh and professional?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kelly Rice is a freelance writer, avid reader and book hoarder.  She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her wife and daughter.

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