It’s the end of another busy summer wedding season; a time to rest for a few well-earned weeks, a time to reflect on what went well and of course, a time to prepare and start working toward filling your diary for next year. So now that those hot summer days are beginning to feel like a distant memory, what is it that your wedding business could be doing online to boost your results, reach more people and get that phone ringing at a time of the year when engagements and web searches are at their lowest point?
We’ve worked with every wedding business you can think of – from venues and caterers to marquee providers and evening entertainers, so here’s just a few things you could be considering…
Real weddings bring home the bacon
When it comes to the wedding industry there’s one piece of content that works better than any other and that’s real weddings. No matter if you’re a caterer, a photographer or a venue, a real wedding is likely to get you more likes, more comments and more shares than anything else you share online. Now is the perfect time to line up all of your content for the next couple of months; get your real weddings going out on a regular interval and if you can, tag the bride and groom in any post you make – you’ll find that they’ll share amongst their peer group, giving you extra exposure than you’d have otherwise garnered from just a standard post.
How about video?
(Usually!) if someone is planning a wedding they’ll be doing it for the first time and they’ll have plenty to think about! From venues to catering choices and photographers, most will be a little out of their comfort zone, even if they’ve been planning their big day in their mind for most of their lives. What this means is that anything you can do to become more engaging and break down online barriers, the better.
Video is the ultimate way of doing this – no matter what you’re buying, people buy from people, so if you’re a photographer have you got a short video introduction on your website somewhere? If you’re a venue, have you got the same or perhaps short clips of certain parts of your site? These don’t need to be professionally created and if you’re sharing on social media then they can sometimes gain greater results than if they were.
So the summary here? Start thinking about video and how you can make yourself more engaging than the next person you’re competing against.
Mastering Instagram
You’ll probably already know that someone planning their wedding is likely to use Instagram as a research tool, so make sure that you’re using the right hashtags (as many as you can on each post). You should also vary these on different posts to ensure that you’re getting as much visibility as possible. Using the same ones each time is a little like going fishing and sitting in the same place all day waiting for the fish to find you.
Also make sure you’re using Instagram stories as these are the best way of expanding your reach and following. If you’re already using them then ensure that you’re not adding lots at the same time – by spreading your posting out over a day you maximise the amount of time your logo is first in the story list.
Keeping Pinterest ticking
If you know they use Instagram, then you’ll also know that many use Pinterest too. If you’ve not added boards and photos recently then make sure this is on your to-do list (and this includes your real weddings mentioned in our first point!).
Optimise each board and pin by using key phrases people are going to be searching for. Luckily the Pinterest algorithm is simpler than other social media platforms out there so there’s a quicker road to success. If you’re not sure about this area, then please do get in touch with us.
Timing is everything
People use the weekend to really research so always ensure there’s plenty of content for them to enjoy. If you’ve not got posts going on on Sunday afternoon or evening, then you’re potentially missing out on a good slice of visibility pie!
A gallery takes many minutes
How many photos should a Facebook post have? Short answer is more than four and less than 15. The reason why? If you have more than four it creates a + sign on the gallery and has a higher click rate than if not. This means that people are spending more time on your post, which in turn means more interaction and greater chances of conversion.
But why no more than 15? Purely that people stop clicking and cycling through the photos. If you’ve got that many then best to have two posts and two bites of the content cherry!
Having that conversion machine
Ultimately everything you do on social media is geared toward getting people to your website. If it’s not up to scratch, then you’re not going to convert as many people. If you don’t convert as many people, then you’ve got to send more people to the site to get the numbers you want. That costs money. Money spent on advertising means less profit and less happy faces!
If you’ve done your website, then you should be getting someone to do it properly. Are we saying that because we build them? No – it’s just common sense and ultimately means you get better results.
If you are looking to get one, then you need to start soon though or you’ll miss the January engagement season whilst your competitors reap the rewards!
For more information on how we can help your wedding business please give us a call on 01566 232323 or email us on hello@mihidigital.co.uk