Engagement Season - Is Your Wedding Business Ready?
In the undeniably catchy lyrics of Taylor Swift…”Are you ready for it?”
As a wedding professional - you already know this - but engagement season is the time between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day when somewhere between 20-35% of couples get engaged.
After sharing the good news with family and friends, this is when couples start picking a date, talking wedding budget, and making inquiries with venues, photographers, planners, officiants, florists, caterers, hair and makeup artists, bands, DJs, bakers, photo booths and beyond.
So, this is why I ask: Are you ready for it?
Photo Credit: Morris Photography
Imagine You Are A Newly Engaged Couple
Are you ready to handle the influx of new couples who will want to hear about your services? Are you wondering what that even means? This would be a great time to try to imagine you are a fresh set of eyes taking a peek at your wedding business.
Imagine you are a newly engaged couple. You are excited, and you’ve got ideas but also might be blissfully unaware of what goes into planning a wedding and how much all of it costs. Perhaps you find a vendor from a Google search, or maybe one of your friends gave a recommendation. Either way here you are looking at this wedding business for the very first time:
Look at the Google Business Profile (& Reviews)
Look at the website
Look at the social media channels
Look at the profiles on The Knot & Wedding Wire
Look at the YouTube videos (if applicable)
Now that you have looked at all your channels through the eyes of a newly engaged couple…you may be feeling super confident or you might be feeling a bit annoyed! I’m guessing you have at least a few things you would like to tackle. If this seems like a big hurdle and you don’t know where to start - take a look at this checklist:
Engagement Season Checklist
I’ve created a list that should make it easier for you to begin optimizing your online presence so that when the couples start inquiring, you can relax knowing you’ve put your best foot forward and you are ready to get these leads on calls and get these dates booked.
Google Business Profile:
💍Is all the information updated and correct?
💍Do you have recent reviews?
💍Are your keywords used in your listing?
💍Are your photos updated and reflective of the current state of your business?
💍Are you posting updates?
Wedding Website:
💍Does your website speak to your dream couples?
💍Is the user experience smooth? (No broken links, clear call-to-action button)
💍Have you shown couples the steps to take to work with you?
💍Is your location crystal clear to the area you serve?
Lead Follow-Up:
💍Do you have autoresponders set up for any chat messages & website inquiries?
💍Is your first inquiry email response undeniable?
💍Do you have a lead follow-up plan set up that includes calls, texts, and emails? Automated if possible.
Social Media:
💍Do you at least have one post new enough on each channel to confirm that you are an active, thriving wedding business?
💍Are you sharing the reviews you’ve gathered on social media as social proof?
💍Is your branding and bios on your social media channels current with your website branding?
SEO:
💍Are you showing up in Google results for the keywords you want to rank for?
💍Are you publishing blog posts that are helpful to potential brides while establishing your local SEO with relevant links?
Insert panic here.
I get it. That is one heck of a checklist! Some of these items are more easily checked off than others.
I never want to leave any wedding professional feeling discouraged or helpless because you are too busy to bring someone on to the team or you don’t have the budget just yet.
5 Quick Wins to Get Your Wedding Business Engagement Season Ready
Updating the Google Business Profile and getting a new review posted there from a past bride
Make sure all your social media channels have a new post (if you don’t already post regularly)
Checking your website to make sure your LOCATION is crystal clear
Make sure you have no broken links on your website
Make sure you have made it EASY to contact you (Button in the upper right corner)
Need Help Getting Ready for Engagement Season?
I’ve been working remotely with wedding professionals for over 4 years and these are exactly the things that we optimize so that you look undeniable to newly engaged couples all year round - not just engagement season. If you’d like to devise an actionable and affordable plan to tackle any of these, let’s talk! I offer complimentary 15-minute calls so that we can determine if we are a good fit for working together.
