Time to change our marketing tactics??

Jon Robertson · January 13th, 2016, 01:35 AM

I used to advertise in the print version of the Scottish Wedding Directory. However, in recent years I've see little return from that so have dropped the print ad in the last year and just have an online listing with them.

Most of my bookings now come from referrals such as previous couples, photographers, planners and also other videographers if they are already booked.

I dropped the ball a bit with the website over the last year or so and have paid for that in terms of google ranking. Started to address that at the end of last year and the site is creeping back up the rankings now. Made sure my blog post are properly SEO friendly which seems to have helped. I do need to get more onto the radar of venues and have started tagging them in the Facebook posts.

Facebook is a good medium for getting your work out there. Like Noa says, the play stats for a video can rocket into the 100's once a bride shares them on FB.

In regards to a mobile site, I signed up with Weebly to create my website. Love the fact you can make changes to your site online from any device and have the changes instantly applied to the site online. No more messing around with FTP uploads. They also produce a mobile version of the site. It's not perfect but it's effort free. The last I read, not having a mobile site only affects your ranking to those viewing on a mobile device but that could have changed

Robert Benda · January 13th, 2016, 08:51 PM

An update to my new tactics, taking the advice from here.

I cranked highlights out within days of the weddings. I also promoted the posts with Facebook ads. The idea is the social media stuff will, hopefully, also improve my website's SEO, eventually. So far, I've spent about $15.

The results are already starting to show. 3 new inquiries, one will book, one would have booked but I'm already taken. The other, I don't know yet.

Lot's of new eyeballs on my stuff, too

-My NYE highlight has been watched over 750 times
-The video of the Best Man rapping his toast from Saturday is at 563
-the latest highlight, from today, is already at 228

***in the time it took to type this, today's highlight went up 6 more. I'm excited.

Chris Harding · January 14th, 2016, 02:55 AM

Hi Rob

I was with the wedding directory Easy Weddings for 4 years and it was costing me $110.00 a month. My best result from them was 17 brides sent to my website in one month. I did a FaceBook ad targeting local brides last week ..it was a 7 day campaign and my ad reach was 7700 ... 69 brides went to my website and I have 5 potential bookings (they all want to book and interviews are set up but I only consider a wedding "booked" when the money is in the bank) That little campaign cost me $31.00 so it seems that most brides have migrated to FB and prefer to do all their business there!!

Steven Davis · January 14th, 2016, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Guys

At the end of November I dumped my 4 year relationship with our national wedding directory Easy Weddings .. I simply wasn't getting a decent return on my investment any more!

I'm leaning towards dumping my weddingwire account. They've been doing some really odd 'non-vendor' stuff and my leads have all but dried up. I too started Facebook targeting in December. No bookings yet, but almost 400 click throughs.

I started Google Adwords yesterday, I'm a tad more leary of Adwords since it's more general. The most specific I was able to get was age. With FB, you can atleast do interests such as weddings, engagement etc.

I too agree, I think brides are moving away from wedding vendor sites. I know there has been an exodus from WW, not sure about the knot.

Steven Davis · January 14th, 2016, 01:04 PM

"I cranked highlights out within days of the weddings. "

Hmm, I'd have to change my workflow, but that's not a bad idea.

Steven Davis · January 14th, 2016, 01:08 PM

Hey Robert,

The highlight you crank out, is that the on you include, or is it a teaser of sorts?

Kyle Root · January 14th, 2016, 01:10 PM

This past year, I was able to crank out the highlights pretty quickly and get them online to FB timley... I even spent 10 hours the next day and got that one done less than 24 hours after the wedding. Granted it was just a music video though.

I plan to try to have my highlights w/ words done within 1 week this year.

For me, I'm trying to work harder of making good connections with venues, photographers, florists, and bridal shops... even offering to do free promo videos and photography work for them.

Robert Benda · January 14th, 2016, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

That little campaign cost me $31.00 so it seems that most brides have migrated to FB and prefer to do all their business there!!

Nice. I never did Facebook because, when I was just a wedding DJ, it didn't make sense. Now, I can't believe I didn't do it sooner, for filming weddings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

Hey Robert,

The highlight you crank out, is that the on you include, or is it a teaser of sorts?

1 or 2 highlights and I always give them the entire ceremony, speeches, 1st dance, etc. on DVD/USB/digital download.

For highlights, I make one or two, depending on the package they book. For a half day (ceremony until during the dance) and they can get 1 highlight. For the entire day and they get two highlights.

My highlights are 4-8 minutes, and 12-20 minutes. I sell the longer one as the video they'll watch over and over again, while the 5'er is great for their friends on Facebook.

Exampes on my website to show the difference, if you really want: Wedding Videos | RNB Weddings by Robert Benda

The short highlight I posted yesterday at 11am ended up with over 300 views. I'm loving this new strategy. Last year, I'd take as long as 3 months before posting.

Steven Davis · January 14th, 2016, 02:00 PM

Thanks for the info Robert. Loved the color on your videos.

Leon Bailey · January 14th, 2016, 05:58 PM

Still trying to figure this thing out. I’ve advertised on a couple of wedding blogs, nothing! Done WW, nothing, Gigsalad, nothing, Wedj, nothing. TheKnot is far too expensive for me, so not going that route. I’ve done FB ads, but nothing. Probably spent close to 2k on it. Done Twitter ads, nothing. I have gotten inquiries from FB and Twitter, but they don’t respond after I contact them or want something extra cheap. I’d say all of my inquiries come from Google. I’m not on page 1, but page 2 for my area. All of them are pretty much budget brides who want something cheap. Still working on getting to page 1. I have reached out to wedding planners, most ignore. I have met with a few, but nothing comes out of it. Orlando is so over saturated with cheap videographers, photographers offering video, and all the vendors are very cliquey so they stick with who they know. People say to network, well, I go to network meetings and it’s the same thing, people talk to who they know and others brag about how much business they are doing. I follow up with people after, most ignore, some are nice, and some ask for something for free. I hate to sound like I am whining, but it just seems like maybe I am not cut out for the wedding industry lol. This is definitely my last year trying.

As for everyone else, SEO is everything. Using Social media is a must to. Don’t just use IG and link your FB and Twitter to it. Actually post on the different platforms unique stuff. On IG make 15 sec videos, make like 30 sec videos for Twitter, and make previews for FB so you’re always driving traffic to your website.

If anyone has questions about their website or anything, you can always ask away!

Chris Harding · January 14th, 2016, 06:48 PM

Hi Leon

Brides have migrated away from directories and things have changed too. When you advertise in a directory you are bundled with all the other videographers in your area so unless you are the best and spend the most money brides are unlikely to click on your website. I found that the majority of website clicks I was getting from directories were other videographers "checking me out"

FaceBook advertising needs to be carefully targeted though. I just allow ads to be distributed to my area only and limited to a 25mile radius ..I only target women between the ages of 20 to 35 (guys seldom book videographers) and avoid keywords like "photography" as that will target females 20 -35 who are photographers ..I don't want them ...keywords like "engaged" and "wedding" are a lot better.

Apart from your website you also need a FB page and need to keep it up to date so once you are found brides will keep coming back so weekly posts are important .. I even say on my page "This week we are doing a wedding at ......" When you have done a wedding share it with other vendors who were there ..I will always pop a still of the celebrant and couple or the lady bringing in the cake to the venue and put that on my page AND share it on the vendor's page too. It's all about networking and brides will be visiting vendors pages so you need to be on there too!! You are doing the vendor a favour by sharing your stuff and obviously yourself too!! It really does need to be an ongoing thing with FB so I make a habit posting during the morning coffee session to maintain a presence ..makes a huge difference.

Steven Davis · January 14th, 2016, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leon Bailey

Still trying to figure this thing out. I’ve advertised on a couple of wedding blogs, nothing! Done WW, nothing, Gigsalad, nothing, Wedj, nothing. TheKnot is far too expensive for me, so not going that route. I’ve done FB ads, but nothing. Probably spent close to 2k on it. Done Twitter ads, nothing. I have gotten inquiries from FB and Twitter, but they don’t respond after I contact them or want something extra cheap. I’d say all of my inquiries come from Google. I’m not on page 1, but page 2 for my area. All of them are pretty much budget brides who want something cheap. Still working on getting to page 1. I have reached out to wedding planners, most ignore. I have met with a few, but nothing comes out of it. Orlando is so over saturated with cheap videographers, photographers offering video, and all the vendors are very cliquey so they stick with who they know. People say to network, well, I go to network meetings and it’s the same thing, people talk to who they know and others brag about how much business they are doing. I follow up with people after, most ignore, some are nice, and some ask for something for free. I hate to sound like I am whining, but it just seems like maybe I am not cut out for the wedding industry lol. This is definitely my last year trying.

As for everyone else, SEO is everything. Using Social media is a must to. Don’t just use IG and link your FB and Twitter to it. Actually post on the different platforms unique stuff. On IG make 15 sec videos, make like 30 sec videos for Twitter, and make previews for FB so you’re always driving traffic to your website.

If anyone has questions about their website or anything, you can always ask away!

Leon, don't get to discouraged. The cold shoulder from other vendors unfortunately is something that happens everywhere. For over a decade I've tried to partner with others and its been no go. I think the industry is changing. I'm feeling like wedding vendor listings may be going to the wayside. The guy I admire around here does a lot of his stuff on social media, he's personally linked to his clients, which can be challenging because you have to say so, well personal.

So keep you head up bro.

Leon Bailey · February 15th, 2016, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

Leon, don't get to discouraged. The cold shoulder from other vendors unfortunately is something that happens everywhere. For over a decade I've tried to partner with others and its been no go. I think the industry is changing. I'm feeling like wedding vendor listings may be going to the wayside. The guy I admire around here does a lot of his stuff on social media, he's personally linked to his clients, which can be challenging because you have to say so, well personal.

So keep you head up bro.

I'll keep on trying. Thank you for the encouragement! :)

Chris Harding · February 15th, 2016, 06:12 PM

Hey Leon
If you have a FB business page then every time you do a wedding make sure you post about it on your page and then make sure the vendors there are friends with you too. That way everything you post can be shared on your vendors time lines so brides that are looking for a celebrant will also spot your post about video ... I just do a post saying "We have a great wedding coming up this weekend and looking forward to working with John Smith the celebrant " (you have thrown John Smith a compliment so you can post and share this on HIS page now with a generic photo of the venue) It increases your reach by a massive amount!! .. I then will do the same after the wedding and share the highlight with vendors pages!!

David Barnett · February 24th, 2016, 06:15 PM

Just following up, I did a second short stint on FB, I figured Valentines weekend might be a good weekend to promote, and maybe reach some newly 'engaged' females aged 23-31 lol. It's been modest, admittedly I've received a TON more likes and FB page views. However it kinda sucks being out of season, would've probably (or will probably) work better when I'm uploading videos more often, as any likes could spread & snowball as 'friends of Likers' could see it.

On the other hand, I don't think I've gotten any leads out of it, so there's that:/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

I started Google Adwords yesterday, I'm a tad more leary of Adwords since it's more general. The most specific I was able to get was age. With FB, you can atleast do interests such as weddings, engagement etc.

Yes, but I've thought this thru tho. Facebook, you can target pretty specific (younger, female, area, interests etc), however even if they're getting married this year or next, they might not be looking for a videographer. Maybe they are set on not getting one, don't have the budget for it, or maybe they already have one or their cousin/best friend/co-worker is doing it for them etc... Whereas, with Google Adwords, there is intent, because I'd assume your buying ads for "Wedding Videographer" for your city or area. So that user is looking for a wedding videographer, whereas on Facebook they might not be.

I've heard Google Adwords gets expensive tho, not specific to videography but just overall. Still, I re-upped on Wedding Wire for another year but not a big fan of it, did ok last year, but for the amount I paid in for the ads I'm not sure it was a win.

January 13th, 2016, 01:35 AM	#16
Jon Robertson Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Edinburgh Scotland Posts: 58	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? I used to advertise in the print version of the Scottish Wedding Directory. However, in recent years I've see little return from that so have dropped the print ad in the last year and just have an online listing with them. Most of my bookings now come from referrals such as previous couples, photographers, planners and also other videographers if they are already booked. I dropped the ball a bit with the website over the last year or so and have paid for that in terms of google ranking. Started to address that at the end of last year and the site is creeping back up the rankings now. Made sure my blog post are properly SEO friendly which seems to have helped. I do need to get more onto the radar of venues and have started tagging them in the Facebook posts. Facebook is a good medium for getting your work out there. Like Noa says, the play stats for a video can rocket into the 100's once a bride shares them on FB. In regards to a mobile site, I signed up with Weebly to create my website. Love the fact you can make changes to your site online from any device and have the changes instantly applied to the site online. No more messing around with FTP uploads. They also produce a mobile version of the site. It's not perfect but it's effort free. The last I read, not having a mobile site only affects your ranking to those viewing on a mobile device but that could have changed __________________ www.wedding-videos-uk.com

January 13th, 2016, 08:51 PM	#17
Robert Benda Trustee Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Crookston, MN Posts: 1,353	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? An update to my new tactics, taking the advice from here. I cranked highlights out within days of the weddings. I also promoted the posts with Facebook ads. The idea is the social media stuff will, hopefully, also improve my website's SEO, eventually. So far, I've spent about $15. The results are already starting to show. 3 new inquiries, one will book, one would have booked but I'm already taken. The other, I don't know yet. Lot's of new eyeballs on my stuff, too -My NYE highlight has been watched over 750 times -The video of the Best Man rapping his toast from Saturday is at 563 -the latest highlight, from today, is already at 228 ***in the time it took to type this, today's highlight went up 6 more. I'm excited.

January 14th, 2016, 02:55 AM	#18
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? Hi Rob I was with the wedding directory Easy Weddings for 4 years and it was costing me $110.00 a month. My best result from them was 17 brides sent to my website in one month. I did a FaceBook ad targeting local brides last week ..it was a 7 day campaign and my ad reach was 7700 ... 69 brides went to my website and I have 5 potential bookings (they all want to book and interviews are set up but I only consider a wedding "booked" when the money is in the bank) That little campaign cost me $31.00 so it seems that most brides have migrated to FB and prefer to do all their business there!!

January 14th, 2016, 01:04 PM	#20
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? "I cranked highlights out within days of the weddings. " Hmm, I'd have to change my workflow, but that's not a bad idea. __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?

January 14th, 2016, 01:08 PM	#21
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? Hey Robert, The highlight you crank out, is that the on you include, or is it a teaser of sorts? __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?

January 14th, 2016, 01:10 PM	#22
Kyle Root Major Player Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Decatur, AL Posts: 883	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? This past year, I was able to crank out the highlights pretty quickly and get them online to FB timley... I even spent 10 hours the next day and got that one done less than 24 hours after the wedding. Granted it was just a music video though. I plan to try to have my highlights w/ words done within 1 week this year. For me, I'm trying to work harder of making good connections with venues, photographers, florists, and bridal shops... even offering to do free promo videos and photography work for them. __________________ Kyle KR Productions; www.kyleroot.com

January 14th, 2016, 02:00 PM	#24
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? Thanks for the info Robert. Loved the color on your videos. __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?

January 14th, 2016, 05:58 PM	#25
Leon Bailey Regular Crew Join Date: May 2013 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 126	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? Still trying to figure this thing out. I’ve advertised on a couple of wedding blogs, nothing! Done WW, nothing, Gigsalad, nothing, Wedj, nothing. TheKnot is far too expensive for me, so not going that route. I’ve done FB ads, but nothing. Probably spent close to 2k on it. Done Twitter ads, nothing. I have gotten inquiries from FB and Twitter, but they don’t respond after I contact them or want something extra cheap. I’d say all of my inquiries come from Google. I’m not on page 1, but page 2 for my area. All of them are pretty much budget brides who want something cheap. Still working on getting to page 1. I have reached out to wedding planners, most ignore. I have met with a few, but nothing comes out of it. Orlando is so over saturated with cheap videographers, photographers offering video, and all the vendors are very cliquey so they stick with who they know. People say to network, well, I go to network meetings and it’s the same thing, people talk to who they know and others brag about how much business they are doing. I follow up with people after, most ignore, some are nice, and some ask for something for free. I hate to sound like I am whining, but it just seems like maybe I am not cut out for the wedding industry lol. This is definitely my last year trying. As for everyone else, SEO is everything. Using Social media is a must to. Don’t just use IG and link your FB and Twitter to it. Actually post on the different platforms unique stuff. On IG make 15 sec videos, make like 30 sec videos for Twitter, and make previews for FB so you’re always driving traffic to your website. If anyone has questions about their website or anything, you can always ask away!

January 14th, 2016, 06:48 PM	#26
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? Hi Leon Brides have migrated away from directories and things have changed too. When you advertise in a directory you are bundled with all the other videographers in your area so unless you are the best and spend the most money brides are unlikely to click on your website. I found that the majority of website clicks I was getting from directories were other videographers "checking me out" FaceBook advertising needs to be carefully targeted though. I just allow ads to be distributed to my area only and limited to a 25mile radius ..I only target women between the ages of 20 to 35 (guys seldom book videographers) and avoid keywords like "photography" as that will target females 20 -35 who are photographers ..I don't want them ...keywords like "engaged" and "wedding" are a lot better. Apart from your website you also need a FB page and need to keep it up to date so once you are found brides will keep coming back so weekly posts are important .. I even say on my page "This week we are doing a wedding at ......" When you have done a wedding share it with other vendors who were there ..I will always pop a still of the celebrant and couple or the lady bringing in the cake to the venue and put that on my page AND share it on the vendor's page too. It's all about networking and brides will be visiting vendors pages so you need to be on there too!! You are doing the vendor a favour by sharing your stuff and obviously yourself too!! It really does need to be an ongoing thing with FB so I make a habit posting during the morning coffee session to maintain a presence ..makes a huge difference.

February 15th, 2016, 06:12 PM	#29
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Time to change our marketing tactics?? Hey Leon If you have a FB business page then every time you do a wedding make sure you post about it on your page and then make sure the vendors there are friends with you too. That way everything you post can be shared on your vendors time lines so brides that are looking for a celebrant will also spot your post about video ... I just do a post saying "We have a great wedding coming up this weekend and looking forward to working with John Smith the celebrant " (you have thrown John Smith a compliment so you can post and share this on HIS page now with a generic photo of the venue) It increases your reach by a massive amount!! .. I then will do the same after the wedding and share the highlight with vendors pages!!