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It's one heck of a Fri Yay Dotties, are you ready for the weekend?
As wedding season winds down and plans for Winter start to blossom, I wanted to kickstart your off season marketing with a couple of ideas to inspire you. Although it can be tempting to stop everything over this season, I actually think it may be one of the most important times to kick your marketing into gear. You have free time and it can give you so much more room to plan out your marketing for the seasons ahead.
But what if you've run out of funds? What if you are waiting on big payments and deposits and just don't have anything to spare? I get it, I understand. Luckily, there are plenty of ways of marketing that don't require funds. Let's explore!
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1. Write a post on Polka Dot Wisdom
You knew I would sneak this one in right? But truthfully we love Polka Dot Wisdom (and a sneak peek of reader survey results, reveals our readers do too!) Guest posting and sharing your knowledge, your "I Wish you knew", your inspiration and who you are is a great (free!) way to market your business, brand and knowledge and connect with couples Click here to login to our post crafter.
2. Dive onto social media
It may be a headache, but we all know social media platforms like Instagram. Facebook and Pinterest are huge drivers of traffic to wedding pros. How long since you updated your Instagram bio? How long since you curated your feed to show off your best work? Have you started a Pinterest account? All of these tools are free and when utilised well can be enormous drivers of traffic for you.
3. Optimise your site for search
Happy with traction you are getting via social media? What about traffic via search? How do you rank for your location+vendor type? (think Melbourne Wedding Cakes or Sydney Makeup Artist) How are you getting found by your potential clients when they search for you? Optimising your site for search is something you can do and learn in your own time and it costs nothing.
4. Connect
One of the most important ways I have found (and yes I can do it even virtually) to get yourself out there is to connect with others. Have a wedding vendor pal you have been meaning to catch up with for months? Now is such a great time. What about joining a wedding vendor Facebook group? An in-person networking event? I don't think this is aggressive marketing as it is exposing yourself to new people and ideas that could give you a boost! You never know who someone is talking to and how that person might just recommend you going forward.
5. Submit weddings for publication!
A shout out for our whiz-bang submissions tool! Submitting weddings, engagements and your own work for publication can be brilliant free marketing. Choosing a publication that suits the client you want (for us, we are all about feel good weddings) and utilising that publication's process to share your best work can be such a brilliant way to show off your talent.
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6. Update your website
Did you produce a bucketload of beautiful work last season? Have you blogged it on your blog? Have you updated your galleries? Your Facebook account? Publishing your work and making sure your website is up to date with your freshest productions is a great way of marketing yourself. Clients also love seeing themselves up in lights so make sure to send them the links so they can forward them on to their friends.
7. Start A Newsletter
I am a big fan of newsletters - obviously, as you are reading one right now! And generally, aside from the platforms, you use to host it (though many are free for basic numbers and plans) they cost nothing but time. Build a database of your family and friends, ask potential clients or past clients if they would like to subscribe and start curating useful information.
Sharing your latest work might be fabulous, but what about upcoming specials? Referral offers? Even wedding day information like how to choose that beautiful get ready spot, what they need to give you on the day, what a wedding timeline might look like.
8. Interact
I have already talked about connecting with others, but there is another version of this. What about commenting on blog posts of vendors you love? What about sharing Facebook posts from your favourites? What about scrolling through your feed and interacting with potential clients (in a non-spammy way - no one likes spam). What about interacting with fellow vendors on their own social posts? Interaction, when done in a thoughtful way can also be constructive and give building blocks to your own business.
9. Collaborate with styled shoots
Styled shoots can be fun and often cost nothing more than time and consumables. It's also a great opportunity to play with elements you have dreamt of but may not have been able to convince clients to use yet. If you have a team of vendors you adore, why not get together for a beautiful styled shoot you can all use the results of in your portfolios?
10. Think of Your Past Clients
I think so often it is easy to ignore the marketing benefit that can come from past clients - but if your clients are anything like me - post wedding they will want to sing your praises from the rooftops. SO have you thought about engaging them? Offering them up a referral discount (a voucher for a beautiful floral arrangement, a cake for a special birthday or a family shoot?) asking them for testimonials you can share online, asking them to share your name around - there is a lot you can do with already joyous clients!
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I would love to know <<First Name>>, what ideas you have to market your own business for free?
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Check out all our weekly picks on one place on the Polka Dot Bride Spotify playlist.
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Little Dragon
What were hipsters listening to a good three years ago? It's this. This is my style, not necessarily the genre of music - but discovering something way later than anyone that has some nous about them. Cool with a capital C and very compelling stuff here.
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Mental As Anything
You know this one, and still it hasn't aged. MAA are a band that have helped etch out that quintessentially Australian sound and songs like this are part of the our zeitgeist.
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Parliament
Without revealing any plot points of the sequal to Guardians of the Galaxy that's just been released, the soundtrack is absolutely cracking and has reminded me of some incredible dad rock and 70's disco hits I'd forgotten about. Chuck this one on loop.
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Ed Sheeran
I can't get over this track of Ed's, even though I was convinced it was from his first album (it's not!) - despite this I think you can find comfort in the similar sound of this coming of age bonafide hit.
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