So you want to start a blog for your wedding business, but you’re not sure what works? You’ve come to the right place!
A blog is a wonderful way to capture your business’ voice, while offering your audience more than, well, just what you’re offering! Share insight with your followers, promote your fellow wedding professionals with curated content, and create shareable content that is engaging to readers with the tips below.
1. Be focused, authentic and positive.
Whether you are a wedding professional who provides diamonds for the highest of high-end clientele or a wildflower crown artisan for free-spirited, backyard bonanzas, your blog should have a focus that speaks to your people.
Unless you have somehow monetized the “drunk-aunt-at-wedding rant” and are publishing them in your blog, choose to remain positive, uplifting, and helpful. Speak to your clients like an old friend, let your personality show through, and be true to your brand and those you serve with consistency in voice, content, and formatting.
2. Use compelling headlines.
A snappy title that explains what the article is about in the least amount of words is important.
You may have THE blog that everyone is searching for but with a title like, “Tips to Blog,” you’ve lost ‘em. Get creative with headlines, but don’t venture so far into Pun-land that your clients have no idea what you’re talking about.
Create a sense of uniqueness and urgency. Your blog is special and they need to read it right now! NOW!
3. Create shareable content.
Social media is the current generation’s particular brand of word of mouth wedding marketing. Format and outfit each individual blog with proper headers, descriptions, image tags and social share buttons to create smooth sailing across major outlets like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and email.
Short content that is unique, valuable, and shareable will drive more readers to your business through social media. Remember to publish and promote your blogs too. Creative social media posts can attract brides like you wouldn’t believe!
4. Make it easy to read.
Many brides, grooms, maids of honor and best men will be tuning into what you have to say from their smart phones whilst standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, after taking 20 selfies and posting one to Instagram, or during their lunch breaks. With the intense amount of information being hurled through the internet, break up your blog into quick, easily digestible snippets.
If Buzzfeed has taught us anything, it’s that current blog readers love:
A) Tuning in from their smart phones
B) Large, bright images and animated gifs
C) Bulleted lists, quotes, subheadings, etc.
D) Quizzes, tutorials, and videos
E) All of the above.
5. Understand content curation.
Not only does curated content allot you more time to sell and fewer hours writing, it provides other like-minded wedding professionals and bloggers a boost, and offers up an array of timely, newsworthy, and useful information ready for the reaping.
Though the images, inspiration, or story may not be yours originally, if the curated content is engaging, many readers will stay on your site to learn more about the topic. Make sure you back up what you’re curating with additional facts, descriptions, details or images to showcase your personal authority on the subject.
6. Use keyword research and SEO tracking.
Part of understanding who your clients are is about knowing what they’re searching for, right?
Well, part of having an engaging blog, is writing to include those keywords, phrases, and topics that they’re searching for!
Search Engine Optimization and keyword research not only assists you in targeting the topics you should be writing or curating, but also the manner in which your blog posts should be formatted to gather the most reach.
Expert wedding bloggers understand SEO is important in order to give your writing the best chance to be seen by search engines, increase your overall ranking, and not-so-magically-but-still-pretty-awesomely fall into the iPhones of your targeted audience when they need you the most.
7. Stop selling.
Finally, and unfortunately, one of the top killers of brand new blogs and businesses is using your blog as a launch pad for sales copy.
Stop trying to sell your wares in your blog! That’s what your e-commerce store, your sales page, and your contact information is there for.
Your content should be tailored to your clients’ deepest desires, written in your voice, and shared throughout the magical wonderland of the internet. None of that will happen if you cloud the holy blog space with product reviews, sales pitches, and deals. Ick.
A blog is a where your audience gets to know you as a wedding professional. They don’t want to get to know a deal-wagering, sales-hocking creep, so back off already!
What do you think about blogging?
Kaitlin Jones is a queer New England-based blogger, Disney vacation planner, and entrepreneur with an insatiable wanderlust. When she’s not cozied up with her laptop she’s crocheting quirky and sometimes inappropriate plushes for her solo biz (Not Your Average Hooker), or creating magic for Disneymooners around the globe.