TOP Friendor Approach to Wedding Marketing by Damon Tucci and Rosy Usmani
Wedding marketing can get expensive fast. If you are reaching out to a new crop of brides every season, instead consider marketing directly to gate-keeping vendors. They are a renewable resource as opposed to the one time bride.
Def: Friend-ors -noun
:a wedding vendor that can provide a qualified lead; and with whom you have developed a close relationship or friend-orship.
Concept
Understanding where you fall on the wedding totem-pole is paramount in this highly-targeted approach. The totem-pole is based on a bride’s planning process and as such will vary from bride to bride. Your best shot (no pun intended) at a qualified lead will be generated from vendors that come before you in the process.
Example: When you provide stock images to a reception venue (above you on the totem-pole) they showcase them to prospective clients that will be looking for a photographer shortly after booking. On the other hand, providing images to a limo company (below you on the totem-pole) will not do much good because most brides will have already found their photographer by the time they are ready to book transportation.
This positive effect is compounded by the fact that once you have built these vendor relationships they will continue to yield qualified leads for many years. Direct marketing (to brides) requires that you reinvest every year. Additionally, it is often difficult to track which outlets are truly effective and that can lead to wasted resources.
Building the Relationship
Get creative in the way you reach out to your friendors. Answer the question, “How can I help you sell better?”
- Pre-sized or formatted images for their blog, Facebook or website
- Sample albums featuring their work
- Creation of their marketing materials
- Reciprocal links
- Co-op networking events
- Return of qualified leads
- Featured venue on blog
- P.S. It goes without saying that all of these items will contain your logo for branding.
Pull Out Box Ideas:
1. Select your friendorship only with vendors that target your kind of bride.
2. The most forgotten friendors are jewelry stores and churches.
For more information on friendor wedding marketing, check out the video with Damon and Rosy below:
