Introduction

We conducted this educational survey to help participants to comprehend the most effective strategies for marketing, identify changes in the marketplace, and learn about what tactics other businesses in the wedding industry are utilizing in their business promotions. The results of this survey can provide the entire industry with insights into the trends and values of the many marketing strategies wedding vendors have choices to implement. Responses were from all over the country in multiple wedding vendor categories.

Survey Results

Data summary: How important is it for you to receive recommendations from satisfied clients? Out of 123 responses, 84.6% chose “very important”, 14.6% chose “important”, and a minor percentage chose “little importance”. The option “not relevant to my business” was not chosen.

Takeaway: Considering word of mouth is crucial to the growth of business and that a referred client is a much warmer lead, think about what you can do to be more proactive about generating referrals.

Data summary: How important is walk-in traffic to your business? Out of 123 responses, 43.9% chose “not relevant to my business”, 18.7% chose “important”, 18.7% chose “little importance”, and 18.7% chose “very important.

Takeaway: Understanding that some of the businesses surveyed do not have a physical location, the importance of walk-in traffic is remarkably low. Today, your website is the equivalent of a front lobby or a store window. Just like somebody that walks by a window display, they are looking at your business through the window of their computer or mobile device and decide whether they want to stop in or make an appointment.

Data summary: How important is it for you to advertise on wedding websites? Out of 88 responses, 38.6% chose “very important”, 43.2% chose “important”, and 18.2% chose “little importance”. No participants chose “not relevant to my business”.

Takeaway: The importance of advertising on the wedding websites right for you is indisputable. However, deciding which platforms fit your needs is very strategic. Also, wedding websites are only responsible for driving traffic to your website. The effectiveness of the website is going to be an important determinant on how successful your online advertising is.

Data summary: How important is it for you to advertise in wedding magazines? Out of 123 responses, 61% chose “little importance”, 22.8% chose “important”, 8.9% said “not relevant to my business”, and 7.3% chose “very important”.

Takeaway: Wedding vendors have a diminished view of print advertising. The main obstacle is the determining of direct response. Readers can’t click onto your ad from a magazine but they can create recognition for your business that can lead to familiarity with your company when they see you online that can enhance the responsiveness of your virtual presence.

Data summary: How important is it for you to advertise in your local newspaper? Out of 123 responses, 54.9% chose “little importance”, 10.7% chose “important”, 32% said “not relevant to my business”, and a minor percentage chose “very important”.

Data summary: How important are marketing mailers to your business? Out of 123 responses, 49.6% chose “little importance”, 15.4% chose “important”, 26.8% said “not relevant to my business”, and 8.1% chose “very important”.

Takeaway: Direct mail is used less and less in wedding marketing. The right direct mail approach can generate results because wedding couples are receiving increasingly less mail than years ago.

Data summary: How important are Google Ads and/or SEO to your business? Out of 123 responses, 54.5% chose “very important”, 32.5% chose “important”, 10.6% said “little importance”, and a minor percentage chose “not relevant to my business”.

Takeaway: Improving online visibility can be helpful to the growth of any business. However, the strength of the website has a great determinant in maximizing the conversion of the traffic generated. Also working on your reputation is extremely important to the process, striving for strong reviews on all-important review platforms.

Data summary: How important are bridal shows and/or party showcases to your business? Out of 123 responses, 33.3% chose “little importance”, 33.3% chose “important”, 31.7% said “very important”, and a minor percentage chose “not relevant to my business”.

Takeaway: Bridal shows remain an important marketing strategy, but to maximize these results always be prepared with a strong booth and a strong follow-up system in place. The key is to capture the leads of the booth visitors rather than relying on a master list of all attendees (many show producers no longer include that).

There were 123 responses to the question “How is it important for you to network with other wedding vendors?” 50.4% chose “very important”, 9.8% chose “little importance”, and 39.8% chose “important”.

Respondents were asked “How do you proactively network with businesses that have the same clientele but do not compete with you? Please check all answers that apply”. The results of this prompt are as follows:

• We actively recommend each other (78.9%)
• We display each others’ business cards (37.4%)
• We exchange client information so that each company may contact their respective customers (20.3%)
• We do not proactively network with non-competing businesses with the same clientele (13%)
• We rent space to another vendor (3.3%)

Takeaway: Networking is a key ingredient in helping many businesses. The more possible touchpoints established between vendor partners, the more successful it proves to be.

The most heavily selected responses to the prompt “How often do you exhibit at bridal shows and/or party planning showcases? Please check all that apply” included:

• I do not exhibit at bridal shows or party planning showcases (26.8%)
• One show a year (21.1%)
• More than three a year (20.3%)

When asked “How do you follow up after a show? Please select all that apply”, the majority of survey participants responded:

• Emails (77.7%)
• Social Media (40.2%)
• Phone Calls (34.8%)

Data summary: Do you maintain a database of your customers to keep your name in front of them after they completed your business with you? Out of 123 responses, 64.2% chose “yes”, and 35.8% chose “no”.

Takeaway: Your satisfied customers are your best brand ambassadors to generate referrals. If you have not taken the time to develop a database, now is the time to start. If you have already, send anniversary cards and personalized notes to check in on them. Keep your business on their radar screen.

When asked “How do you communicate with your customers? Please select all that apply”, the most heavily selected methods of communication included:

• Email (95.1%)
• Engage on social media (70.5%)
• Phone follow-up (66.4%)

Takeaway: Respondents were asked about which social media platforms they were active on (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogging) and how often they posted on them. While posting amount varies amongst responses, Facebook and Instagram are the most popular social media tools for wedding vendors. So many wedding vendors do not post content on traditional blogging platforms. Social media is more about sharing than posting. Doing blog posts about your actual clients is something to ask your customer to put on their social media platforms and share with their family and friends. Blogging is also an easy way to update your site, which is something Google favors for site ranking.

When asked “Who manages your social media?”, out of 121 responses, 69.4% were “I do it myself”, 20.7% were “I have employees do it”, and the remaining percentage was divided between responses including “I have an intern”, “I hired a professional”, “we outsourced to freelance agents”, “me and my employee”, “employees & intern”, “I do not have this”, and “looking to hire someone for this position”.

For the prompt “What do you post about on social media? Please select all that apply”, the majority of the responses were as follows:

• Real weddings (73.9%)
• Spotlight happenings about my company (73.1%)
• Promotions of my company (68.9%)

Takeaway: Real weddings are usually the best type of blog posts to feature because they are the most shareable with your clients. Unless you are in the rare minority of wedding businesses that have a community of return readers.

Data summary: What do you offer as referral incentives to your customers for recommending a customer that buys from you? Out of 122 responses, 55.7% chose “I do not offer anything”, 22.1% chose “a gift”, 15.6% chose “a discount”, and other responses were divided amongst “discount for anyone/everyone they know getting married”, “elegant card/handwritten thank you”, “I am a destination service”, and “referral fee, cash, or discount”.

Takeaway: Referral Incentives can be very powerful but you need to be generous with the reward. Remember getting a referred client is more profitable because you did not spend money in advertising to acquire that customer. Send that customer dinner for two at a restaurant or a gift card. If you figured out the acquisition cost to get a new client from your advertising and marketing channels, referral incentives will in comparison usually be lower.

When asked “How do you collect testimonials? You may select more than one”, the top three responses to this prompt included:

• Posting them on the company website (72.1%)
• Displaying thank you cards from customers (31.1%)
• Referral of testimonials to other customers (19.7%)

When asked about review platforms The Knot, WeddingWire, Google, Yelp, and Wedding.com, WeddingWire was the platform with the most individual reviews, while Google had the most overall use as a platform.

When asked “What kinds of promotional materials do you distribute to your prospective customers? Please select all that apply”, the top results of this question included:

• Business cards (89.3%)
• Four color postcards (36.4%)
• Four color brochure (30.6%)

When asked about spending time on public relations, about 60% said that they do not spend time on PR for a range of reasons. Others have a blog or send photos and articles to the media.

Data summary: When was the last time your website was updated? Out of 122 responses, 69.7% said “less than a year ago”, 16.4% said “more than a year ago”, 11.5% said “a year ago”, and a minor percentage said “I do not have a website”.

Takeaway: With such a vast majority of wedding businesses having updated websites, if your website is not updated or mobile-friendly, you are at a strong disadvantage.

Data summary: When asked “Do you have an SSL certificate?”, out of 119 responses, 51.3% said “yes”, 35.3% said “I don’t know what this is”, and 13.4% said “no”.

Takeaway: For those who do not have an SSL Certificate or understand the importance of site security and client trust, please read this article. https://www.brianlawrence.com/wedding-business-website-needs-an-ssl/

When asked “What platform was your website built on?”, the most popular answers were WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace.

When asked “Do you do e-commerce on your website?”, 70.2% said “no”, 16.5% said “yes”, and 13.2% said “planning to”.

Data summary: Do you advertise or market online? Out of 120 responses 75.8% said “yes”, 24.2% said “no”.

Takeaway: Any wedding business that is not doing some sort of effective marketing online is losing business every day. It’s hard for a business owner to know they are missing but that silent majority of wedding couples are getting most of their wedding vendors either from referrals or responding to some sort of online marketing.

When asked “If you said yes, where do you advertise? Select all that apply”, the responses for this question were as follows:

• TheKnot.com (59.1%)
• WeddingWire.com (48.4%)
• Pay per click with Google (43%)
• Yelp (12%)
• WeddingVibe.com (11.8%)
• Wedding.com (10.8%)
• Perfect Wedding Guide (7.5%)
• HereComesTheGuide.com (6.5%)
• MyWedding.com (3.2%)

When asked “What percentage of customers say they found out about you looking online”, half said “over 50%”, other responses were divided amongst varying percentages.

Data summary: When asked where their business operates from, out of 121 responses, approximately 45% said they operate with a home based business or their business is online only. 28.9% said “a brick and mortar store”, 10.7% said “venue”, and other responses were divided between “office”, “warehouse”, “studio”, and others.

When we created this survey, our intention was to shed light on wedding businesses on what their peers are doing and thinking when it comes to marketing. I also hope it serves as a blueprint for many businesses to understand what options they have to take charge of their business future. As I have said in the past, “If businesses rely strictly on word of mouth, they will be swallowed by their competition.” Have any questions? Email me directly at [email protected]. If you have a wedding vendor audience, please share this on your industry platforms.