They are ALWAYS going to your website first!
There are many ways for a prospective customer to find you. Perhaps they received a referral, saw you at a wedding show, or saw your ad in a bridal magazine. Regardless of how the couple first learned about you, they are going to check out your website before they ever contact you or go any further in the sales process. If they don’t like your website, they will move on to one of your competitors and will likely never give you another chance. Today, having a good website is a basic requirement for being in business and should be viewed as an investment that is every bit as important as your investment in the tools of your trade. Quite simply, without a good website you cannot have a successful business.
Does your website portray you as a Wedding Professional or a Jack-of-All-Trades?
Flowers are one of the most beautiful elements of a wedding, yet most florists have websites that are less than beautiful. Most rely on the Teleflora or FTD template website, which means that most florist websites look almost exactly the same. Usually, there are more mentions of hospitals and funerals than there are of weddings. Consider having wedding-specific pages on your website, or even a completely separate website, with your wedding offerings.
Does your business do things other than weddings? There’s nothing wrong with that as long as the prospective customer doesn’t find out. Being a jack-of-all-trades can hurt you when selling to weddings. If you want more wedding business, consider creating separate branding, marketing materials, and a website for the wedding side of your business. It’s a small investment that will pay off big.
Most wedding websites are AWFUL!
I recently reviewed a few thousand different websites belonging to wedding professionals. Most were amateurish at best, and many were simply awful. Keep in mind that most people are seeing great websites every day and, right or wrong, they hold your website to the same standard.
How does your wedding marketing compare?
Spend a couple hours on Google and check out the websites of your competitors and your peers in other markets. Make sure that your website is at least a little better than the others. Designing a great website can be a fairly easy process. You can purchase an inexpensive WordPress website template in which you can simply plug in your photos and advertising copy. There is simply no excuse for having a website that turns off customers and costs you business.
Marc McIntosh is the producer of the Wedding Experience, the leading wedding shows in the Washington, Baltimore, and Richmond markets. The Wedding Experience provides the opportunity to promote your business through face-to-face contact with a large audience of motivated buyers. For information, call 703-425-1127, email marc@weddingexperience.com or visit www.weddingexperience.com.
