WeddingWire Advertising Review: Wedding Pro Success Story

Does WeddingWire advertising really work to get leads?

I interviewed Chris Whitehead, Atlanta wedding and corporate events entertainment specialist at Atlanta DJ Online, to learn the unconventional strategy he’s been using to get high quality leads and book weddings with WeddingWire.

The Challenge

Chris’ WeddingWire featured listing was competing with dozens of other DJs.  He needed to stand out and get noticed to earn those bride clicks.

He turned to website conversion specialist, Brian McGovern for help.  Here’s the strategy they came up with that turned him into a WeddingWire advertising superstar success story.

The Strategy

THE GOAL: Get bride off WeddingWire and onto the Atlanta DJ Online website.

The WeddingWire website is designed to keep brides on the site, searching for vendors, reading inspiration and hiring their advertisers. That’s great for WeddingWire, but not so good for Chris because he’s right next door to the competition.

THE BAIT: A compelling headline and thumbnail image designed to look like a playable video.

Brian McGovern urged Chris to remove his business name from the title of his listing and use it as an opportunity for a call to action instead. Brides and grooms really don’t care about the name of your business, and using your listing title as a headline is an effective way to get more clicks.

They choose the headline, “Watch This Video Before You Book Your Wedding DJ.”

Instead of displaying a typical wedding photo as his featured listing image, Chris and Brian created an image designed to look like a video that plays on the click. This takes advantage of the conditioning website visitors have to click on videos.

THE HOOK: A special landing page and dynamic video with a compelling call to action..

The battle isn’t won with the click. The next challenge was to turn that click into a real lead.

To pull this off, Brian and Chris created a unique landing page just for people who clicked through from the WeddingWire ad. It was branded with WeddingWire’s logo, creating the impression that Atlanta DJ Online had WeddingWire’s special endorsement.

When a bride or groom lands on the page, a video begins playing automatically. This video contains footage of non-stop dancing, gorgeous uplighting, monogram gobos and the other high end features Chris offers, as well as the powerful video testimonials from his happy couples.

The video includes a call to action encouraging the visitor to “Check My Availability” that’s reinforced by the big red “Click Here!” button below. This instantly lets them know if Atlanta DJ Online is available and invites them to fill out a form for an instant quote.

Once Chris has the name, date and email address of the couple, he’s able to follow up with automated emails, phone calls and more.

The Results

This unconventional strategy for WeddingWire advertising was a slam dunk.

• WeddingWire is the #2 source of leads for Atlanta DJ Online.

• His first month advertising on WeddingWire booked enough weddings to pay for the entire YEAR! He got 13 leads and booked 4 of them.
• The WeddingWire approach results in better quality leads because it presells them; they watch the video and already know what they want.
• Chris had to hire 3 more DJs just to keep up with all the work coming in.

The Winning Difference

Chris’ controversial advertising strategy on WeddingWire didn’t go unnoticed. Competing DJs complained that he was “going negative” and getting an unfair share of clicks.  But everything he was doing complied with WeddingWire’s advertising guidelines.

Chris has recommended this strategy to another DJ and photographer who are seeing similar results.

One interesting side note: this identical strategy doesn’t work for him on the Knot. This is likely due to the site’s unique layout and differing market.

Advice If You’re Considering WeddingWire Ads

Chris has several tips if you’re considering advertising with WeddingWire:

1. Call up a sales rep and ask for the click through numbers of competitors who advertise there.
2. Crunch the numbers considering the cost of the ad.  Would this number of leads be a good investment for you?
3. Use this unconventional strategy to create your listing and landing page. It works!
4. Be sure to include reviews and testimonials wherever you can, especially video reviews.

“A bride told me she heard about me from a friend, but later on I found out she watched all my reviews and just didn’t want to admit that she’d hired me based on that.  Brides get mad at me now if I don’t do a video review after the wedding!”

– Chris Whitehead, Atlanta DJ Online

What do you think about WeddingWire ads?