How to Get Leads From Paid Advertising

When business starts to slow down, many wedding pros consider investing in advertising.  Paid online advertising can definitely work to get real leads.  However, there are several elements you need to get right in order for it to work.

Here are four tips to create effective online ads:

1) Choose the Right Medium

• Make sure your target couples are actually using the site you’re advertising on (whether it’s the Knot, WeddingWire or Facebook).  While there are engaged couples on these sites, they may not be your target market.
• Ask the advertising site for statistics about numbers of clicks and page views for other advertisers in your market, if possible.
• Ask the current couples who’ve booked you whether or not they use these sites before paying for advertising there.

2) Design a Strong Ad

• It must have an attention-getting headline that directly speaks to your ideal clients.
• It must have a strong “call to action” designed to get the click.  For example, “Click here!”  “Watch this video…”  “Contact us…”
• It must make a compelling offer that your couples want.

3) Create a Landing Page

• Don’t send traffic directly to your home page!  Instead, design a specific landing page that’s all about the ad they just clicked on.  For instance, if your ad offered them a special coupon, take them to a separate page where they can claim it.
• It must have a strong call to action and offer that matches the ad.
• It should be designed to capture that advertising visitor as a real lead.

4) Tracking & Testing

• You need a way to meticulously track the clicks, website visitors and leads you get from each ad.  This way you’ll know what’s working.
• Don’t just create a single ad and pray that it works.  Test out one variable at a time and track your results (headline, image, offer, etc.) so that you can optimize your ad for maximum clicks and leads.  Run a split test if you can.
• Keep tracking and testing to make sure your ad is giving you results.  If you notice, for example, that you’re getting clicks on your ad, but no leads, work on your landing page offer.  If you aren’t get ad clicks, improve your ad headline and offer.

What about Google Adwords?

Your wedding business can get traffic from Google Adwords, however advertising on the Knot is going to be much simpler.  If you’re interested in Pay Per Click advertising (aka PPC) try running some Facebook ads first to get the hang of it.

If you’re going to manage your advertising campaign yourself, Google Adwords is usually a good strategy for someone who likes numbers and spreadsheets, since you’ll have to carefully track click-throughs and costs in order to optimize it.

It’s worth doing some Google research on these strategies to learn what you can about successful implementation before you begin.

Don’t Neglect Avenues of Free Traffic

Even if your paid ads start generating leads, don’t forget to keep your free traffic coming in as well. For many wedding pros, this is through a blogging strategy.  Regular blogging (at least once per week) is a great way to get free website visitors.

If you’re stumped for what to write about, make a list of 100 topics by combining “wedding” with another subject.  For example: pets and weddings, timing and weddings, mistakes and weddings, children and weddings, seasons and weddings, etc.  Be sure to include local cities, venues and topics of interest.

Force yourself to keep writing until you have a list of 100 blog post titles.  You’ll never be stuck about what to write again! In the off season or when you have extra time, write a few more articles and keep them in reserve for your busy months.

Do you use paid advertising in your wedding business?

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