Do you still use magazines?
Aug 20, 2010 Wedding Planning Institute
Graphic courtesy of Marry Me Productions, which has done some legwork finding a few (free) wedding websites. Check out their list!
Much like the decline of the newspaper industry, the bridal-magazine industry is feeling the effects of a change in advertsing, with advertisers choosing monthly plans for less money, and the pressure to adapt to a changing world that includes some pretty powerful social media. Blogs and online magazines come immediately to mind, but Facebook and Twitter are also playing a big role in how brides and certified wedding and event coordinators are planning weddings.
Says eWednews: “According to the study findings, 47% of businesses five years old or less are finding business better compared to 32% of businesses over 20 years old. The discussions rage on, as organizations like Conde Nast finally announce changes thanking past business models that served them welll but now look forward to the future. “Conde’s desire to follow a new business model focused around digital connectivity, technology development and consumer insight clearly speaks to the fact the time to change is long over due,” according to competitors and sources familiar with the intentions and storyline.”
EWed also finds that older, established businesses are having a harder time giving up The Way They’ve Always Done Things and adapting to a rapidly changing business climate, as compared with businesses that are only 5 years old or younger. All of this is direct proof that LWPI’s graduates have an immediate need to incorporate social media and technology into their business plans and marketing proposals. Facebook and Twitter are great ways to gather new business and show off the work you’ve already done, but it’s important that you keep your online life professional. Making connections on Facebook and Twitter is great, but you want to be sure that you follow up immediately with any complaints - preferably privately.
It’s hard to imagine a day when every bride you know doesn’t have a pile of dog-eared bridal magazines in her back seat or piled on her coffee table, and there is of course a chance that it will all turn around. But with an Internet full of easily searchable files, and blog writers who have made their name by identifying the top wedding trends each year, it’s possible that future brides will be more plugged in than ever. And that all means that, in turn, wedding and event coordinators have to be plugged in, too! LWPI believe that magazines still have a role to play, but our company is also ahead of the curve when it comes to incorporating the Internet into business and wedding planning, and our instructors pass on that information to our students, too.
We’d like to know: What are your favorite Internet tools for wedding and event planning?
Tags: bride, brides, Internet, magazines, social media, wedding
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August 23rd, 2010 at 3:50 pm
My favorite tools while I was planning my weddings was blogs. I would subscribe via google reader to ones that stumbled across and mark design ideas as favorites.
August 25th, 2010 at 5:33 am
It’s actually been nice to flip through magazines during the course of my studies here at LWPI. I hadn’t done that in a long time…
That being said, it seems like companies like Conde Naste are heading over to platforms like Apple’s iPad which I love. I do most of my reading on the iPad and I have a subscription with Time Magazine, Men’s Health and Popular Mechanics. I also find it to be more interactive and easier to put in your backpack than a bunch of magazines.
Also I’m questioning where twitter is at currently. Yes, it seems like a lot of companies have a twitter platform to advertise, but my nephew who is 15 says him and none of his friends twitter or go to blogs. He said it’s all about Facebook. So it makes me curious what the future holds for twitter.
September 7th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
I just recently got engaged and have been purchasing every bridal magazine I can find! They are all fun to look through and can spark some ideas but not all that helpful. Most of the magazines are not local and cannot offer any realistic suggestions because it leaves too many open ended questions. If there were more local magazines with real places and vendors that I could use, it would be very helpful. I do enjoy cutting out photos from magazines and putting them in the binder I created so that when I do find potential vendors I can show them exactly what I’m thinking. Another thing that I find to be annoying is that most of the magazines have the same ads with the same photos and the same information. One magazine that I got is going to be very helpful because it is a planning magazine. It goes from selecting your colors right down to the last details along with pictures of real weddings and examples.
The internet is great for finding all of the information but I do enjoy being able to just cut out the photos that I like and storing them rather than saving them or printing them out, which I have also done. I don’t think that bridal magazines will ever really die out just for the simple fact that newly engaged women love to share and flaunt their engagement with everyone, and carrying around a bridal magazine or checking it out at the store tells everyone “I’m planning my wedding”. It’s a very exciting time and most brides will use every resource they have.