How Do I Get More Leads For My Wedding Business?

More Leads = More Weddings

One of the biggest challenges we face as wedding professionals is getting more leads.  When you attract more phone calls and email inquiries from brides, you have the chance to book more weddings.  It’s a pretty simple equation, really.

Let’s say that right now you get 10 leads per week and you meet with 5 of them.  Out of that 5, 2 of them book you.  That means 20% of your leads turn into booked weddings.

If you can increase your number of leads so that you get 20 per week, now you’ll book 4 weddings.

Double your leads, double your bookings…as long as the quality of lead stays the same.

The Bridal Marketing Boost

How can you get more leads?  First, think of all the places where your leads come from now.  Your list will be more specific than this one, but here’s a start…

• Organic Search Traffic (The fancy name for people who find your website by searching in Google or the like.)
• Blog Traffic
• Online Advertising
• Print Advertising
• Bridal Shows
• Vendor Referrals
• Bride Referrals
• Social Media
• Guest Blog Posts
• Lead Generating Sites (Eventective, Respond.com, etc.)

Which of these sources gives you the most high-quality leads?  The high-quality part is critical; you might get 1,000 leads from Eventective, but only end up booking one of them. (That is not a made up number, by the way.)

Think of how you can do MORE of that type of marketing.  I call this the “Bridal Marketing Boost.”

It’s a lot easier to build on something that’s already working for you than it is to try something totally new.  New marketing is unproven and will nearly always be more expensive or complicated than you anticipate.

How can you do MORE of the activities that are already bringing you leads?

Examples of the Bridal Marketing Boost

When I ask wedding professionals where their best leads come from, they usually answer, “Word of mouth.”

One wedding photographer named Lisa found that over 80% of her booked weddings came from the referrals of former brides.  How can Lisa get more leads from this source?

She might:

• Start a referral program by offering her current brides a gift or discount for each referral that books her.
• Encourage her happy brides to share her blog post of their weddings or ask them to retweet and share her posts.
• Send brides a link to post a review of her services on Wedding Wire after the wedding.

One wedding planner named Nora found that most of her leads came from one particular venue that referred her.  How can Nora get more leads from this source?

She might:

• Grow this relationship by helping out the venue, which leads to more referrals.  She could plan a special event for free, refer them to her website designer, or connect them with a linen provider who supplies offers rentals at a discount.
• Identify another venue with similar clientele and start building a relationship with them.
• Schedule monthly networking “check-ins” with this venue to make she stays on their mind.

If your wedding blog brings you the most leads, you can…

• Write blog posts more frequently.
• Add “tweet this” and “like” buttons to your posts so that it’s easy for people to share them.
• Automatically share your blog posts on Facebook and Twitter.
• Start doing guest posts for other wedding-related blogs.

If your advertising on a particular wedding website is sending you the best leads, you might…

• Upgrade your advertising on the site for more visibility.
• Use that particular ad in other locations.
• Advertise on other wedding websites that have a similar audience.

Are you starting to get the picture?  The Bridal Marketing Boost works because the easiest way to get more leads is to optimize what’s already working for your wedding business.

Challenge yourself to come up with ways you can work with what’s already working.  How can you use your biggest strengths and the marketing that’s already generating leads to bring in more of them?

How to Get More Bridal Leads Starting Today

1. Write down all the sources of your leads.
2. Identify the top 3 sources of the very best leads.
3. Brainstorm ways you can do BOOST that bridal marketing.  Think about how you can grow that relationship, expand your presence or get more results.  Come up with at least 10 ideas for each of your best lead sources.
4. Pick just ONE idea and start working on it today.

If you want more leads, go with what’s already working before you start chasing down the Next Big Thing.  You’ll get more results from a lot less effort.

What’s your best source of leads?

Photo Credits Kelvin Luffs and vanz