On her way to the wedding market, your potential bridal client impressively hurdles numerous obstacles to make it to your business doorstep. Before she leaves her house, she has to close the webpage telling her she can save thousands of dollars by planning her own wedding, shut off the television news reporting consumer confidence is at its lowest point in over two decades, step over the newspaper headlining congressional angst over the latest big business bailout, and ignore text messages relating the layoff woes of her potential bridesmaids.

Amidst the deluge of financial roadblocks, how does the Certified Wedding Planner clear the way for prospective brides and grooms to learn about and choose your services? As more and more people are forced to find ways to save money, wedding professionals must be innovative in their marketing and services to catch the eye and meet the demands of an increasingly frugal client base.

On the wedding and bridal marketing site WeddingBrand, founder Michael Brito stresses the importance of search engine optimization in an age where many brides and grooms use the Internet to make their wedding planning decisions. While having an informative and well-placed website is vital, survival requires doing more than simply hiring a webmaster and marketer.

For Andy Ebon of The Wedding Marketing Network, the value of getting out and pressing palms with your wedding industry cohorts is priceless. By networking with other industry professionals, the smart wedding planner can learn how others are delivering the flexibility and education desired by brides, as reported in a survey by The Wedding & Special Event Yellow Pages.

Deborah Crawford, BellaOnline’s SOHO Editor, concurs with the importance of a strong Web presence to exhibit your work and build your brand as well as a strong personal presence at wedding shows and industry events to elicit bridal clients and referral partners. She also recommends developing a niche that allows you to target your marketing to a specific segment of your local client prospects.

TART Marketing Director Michelle Hashemi advances online marketing to include positioning yourself as a wedding planning expert for local media and utilizing email and newsletter campaigns to generate customer interest. For reaching your client base more directly, consider setting up a blog, but do so with caution.

Tags: Certified Wedding Planner, wedding planner marketing

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