Selling to a wedding and event market with event marketing.
You have a great product or service. You need to be seen. How do you do that?
There’s quite a few platforms you can choose to be seen on but does it really build trust and relationships with your ideal clients? Event marketing is the beginning to relationship marketing and often the best way to get into that section of business is via a bridal fair or open house, or pop up market experience.
Bridal Fairs
While very immersive I have had a lot of people ask me “is this worth it” mainly because participation in these larger events can be very costly and labor intensive. Costly because the host has to pay for a large space to have them in typically and labor intensive because you have to load in and set up essentially a mini store in a blank space (within a very large ballroom) with virtually no character.
The short of it is, you can spend very little on a booth if it’s well planned and thought out and still get interest. I think the better idea is to PLAN.
Secondly, you need to decide if you are at a stage where brand recognition is important. You may be saying “well isn’t it always?”. This is true… to an extent.
If you are not clear on
Your true audience ( the customer that buys your most selling item or service)
Your branding (logo/colors/offerings)
Then this type of show you are likely going to get lost in.
If you are in the discovery phase of the said items there may be other ways for you to participate in relationship/ event marketing however.
Wedding Venue Open Houses
These are wonderful ways to get your product and service out to the public and ideal customers. Whether you are very clear on your brand or if you are in a discovery phase.
They usually more intimate types of events but can pack a punch in marketing because the attendance typically isn’t made up as much of brides or customers unclear on vision. Also they are often coming to the venue because they are ready to buy. They are no longer in that discovery phase of research. They’re coming to the venue the open house is at because they’ve potentially already booked it and are looking to fulfill the rest of their vendor needs or are ready to make a big purchase like most of these venues cost.
What are key things to remember when looking for a venue to showcase with as a business?
Align yourself with the venues you see your ideal client booking or having their events at. You wouldn’t just put your products in just any store, right?
Have realistic expectations about the event. If you are thinking you will see droves of people at an open house at a Venue, it’s not that kind of event. This gives you the opportunity to really allow your personality to come through.
Have your “booth” compliment the space and surroundings.
Plan your main goal on making friends with the other vendors there and wowing the venue to bring you referrals. This is probably the biggest and most important part of being part of any event. Make sure you set up early enough to actually chat with the other vendors. It is so so important. Those pieces of referrals you can give each other will bring you client/ customer after customer if you make a good impression and connect.
If you do a drawing of any sort make it easy for customers to give you their info. This is true of any event big or small really. Have an iPad with a program that they fill in info right there and get something in return or can go on your site with their phone at the event to sign up and receive an immediate free gift. This way you have their info and your contact info may even be stored in their phone afterwards too. Additionally you could ask they follow you on a social media channel (Instagram/ TikTok) to get the gift as well.
Well I hope this helps your marketing efforts and even if you’ve never thought your business translates to the bridal or wedding market, think again!
Just like the children’s and parenting market the wedding market is the start of people creating families, traditions, building a home base. It’s an integral piece of marketing products and services to open eyes and ears.
If you would like to attend an open house, Adore offers venue business consulting and works with venues on their hospitality experience and sales. We bell venues plan these and we actually have one coming up if you would like to see if this type of event is for you.
Click here to let us know you’re coming ! There will be vendors, sampling, networking , and more!