Wedding PR: Making it Last

 by Meghan Ely

Like many of the brides I used to work with in my previous life, I met my husband on Match.com. Unlike most brides I used to work with, I actually saw him out on a date with someone else prior to our first date. This wouldn’t have been so controversial if he hadn’t said he was at his sister’s for a BBQ (which is why he couldn’t go out that date with me.) 

So I like to hold it over his head from time to time- mainly when the trash needs taking out or for when I’m already tucked into bed under several fleece blankets but left my phone charger downstairs. 

I also had a pretty big wedding PR win earlier this year when Good Morning America came to my house and filmed my Royal Wedding Party. I was able to get my hands on the video shortly thereafter, and it now lives both on my blog and my site, in addition to my canned introduction for when I have a speaking engagement. Last week, I sat in on a great social media workshop and the crowd was asked for examples of when a social media strategy turned into press so I shared my story once again. Once the seminar wrapped up, I found myself among a group of wedding pros itching for the full story. 

The fact is, if something big happens, such as a wedding pr feature, you need to ask yourselves one thing – What is the best way to leverage this for my wedding company? 

So what is a wedding pro to do? Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started:

1. Add it to your Press Page – The ultimate goal should be to drive prospects to your web site to learn more about your services, so make it a priority to add your feature to your press page. Don’t have a press page? Not a worry, just add it to your to do list once you have 3-4 strong features. 
2. Update your Bio– Whether you have a speaker’s introduction such as myself or simply a bio on your web site, be sure to update it ASAP with a note about your recent feature. 
3. Spread the good word with your fellow wedding pros – If you’ve come upon a great real wedding feature, be sure to share the good news with the wedding pros who helped make it happen. Not only is it a great gesture, it allows others to promote it as well. 
4. Blog and Facebook about it – Don’t forget to add social media to the post-wedding pr to do list. If your feature was online, be sure to pull a screen shot of it and chat about it on your blog, as well as feature it on Facebook in Twitter. 

Time and time again, I remind my clients that a wedding pr feature, whether it be a guest blog or a picked up real wedding submission, only lives as long as you let it. So the question now remains- what do you plan to do about it?

Meghan Ely is the owner of wedding marketing and wedding pr firm OFD Consulting. She is the exclusive wedding PR columnist to wedding marketing journal WedLock magazine and offers wedding marketing and wedding pr advice for wedding professionals on her own blog Illuminate.  She loves ruffle table runners and Royal Wedding Tchotchkes.

Photography Credit: Rob Garland Photographers