4 Ways To Suck At Marketing

I get asked all the time about how to market a wedding or event business. Should I be on Pinterest? Is E-mail marketing the right thing? What about TikTok? I’ve heard that video is trending right now but it’s all about engagement, or is it? Did you hear that the algorithm changed? And on and on and on. In an effort to help you end the marketing overwhelm and confusion, we’re going to talk about the four most common ways to suck at marketing your wedding or event business. Here’s how to do it all wrong and, most importantly, what to do about it.

It’s exhausting and overwhelming to own a creative small business right now, especially one in the wedding and event space. I don’t care if you’re a photographer, planner, florist, DJ, stationer and more, there’s so much to do between serving your current clients and trying to bring in more clients through your marketing efforts.

When it comes to marketing, you have so much at your fingertips, and you have so much at your fingertips. It’s a blessing and a curse. We, as the business owners, have tons of tools and educational resources at our disposal to marketing our businesses, but somewhere between helping our clients and being the human resource manager and serving at the the tech support, it’s a lot.

We have ultimate control over our marketing channels and our messaging, yet it’s exhausting and often leads to inaction. Believe me, I get it. 

With all this exhaustion and pressure to constantly be bringing in new inquires, comes not just overwhelm, but also shame. Many wedding and event business owners feel ashamed of their marketing efforts. They aren’t doing enough. They aren’t doing it right. No matter what I do, it’s not funny, clever, thoughtful, inspiring, engaging, helpful or creative. 

I’m pulling back the curtain on the overwhelm. I’m getting honest and real about the four most common ways to suck at marketing your wedding or event business. Yes, that’s right. Instead of telling you what to do, I’m going to tell you what not to do. My goal is not to make you feel bad or add to your shame train. But, rather, I want to empower you to take control of marketing your business. I hope to provide you some relief from the pressure to do it all and be perfect in your marketing. 

Here are four ways to suck at marketing your wedding or event business. 

1:  Not Do It

If you really want to suck at marketing, just don’t do it. I’m not saying you have to do all the things and be on all the platforms, but you do need to be doing some level of marketing for your business. You have to do what works for you, what feels right and is manageable for your business. You don’t have to do it all, but you have to market your business. Even those slick people who say they don’t market and aren’t on social media are doing some kind of marketing. (See, we’re talking about them right now!)

Whether that’s networking for referrals, paid advertising, social media, content marketing - the list going on and on for ways to market your business. The best way to be bad at marketing is to not do it at all. And if you’re doing something, it’s better than nothing. 

2:  Do It All At Once

A lack of consistency is very common in wedding and event businesses. We’re busy, busy, go, go, go. And then we’re not. It’s the high event season where nothing else matters but our clients and our events, and then it’s the off season and we have time to focus. The tendency is to do no marketing for a while, go radio silent, and then to cram it all in at once when you finally have the time to knock it out.

When it comes to marketing, not being consistent is exactly the wrong thing to do. Most marketing platforms place value on consistently showing up instead of dropping a ton of content all at once and then not touching it for months. 

For more, check out my best tips for how to be consistent in your marketing.

3:  Be Someone Else

The best way to tank your marketing efforts is to try to do what everyone else is doing and to try to be someone else. You must, must, must be authentic in your marketing efforts. If you are not being true to yourself and your core values, it will show.

It is a quality over quantity game when it comes to authenticity showing up as yourself in your marketing.

4:  disRespect The Platform

I say disrespect because that’s what it is. You must understand - and respect - each marketing platform that you’re using.  For example, when you try to apply an Instagram approach to the Pinterest platform, that’s not respecting Pinterest. 

Respect your time, the platform your on, and the users who are on the platform, aka your potential customers, but take the time to understand each platform before you just dive in and try to get business from it. 

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I hope these tips for surviving the summer with the marketing of your wedding or event business were helpful. As for me? I’m off to the beach to enjoy my summer vacation!

If you’re a creative small business serving the wedding and event industry - such as a wedding planner, photographer, entertainer, DJ, rental company, florist, invitation designer and more - and you need help with your online marketing, content creation, or your Pinterest account, please send me an email at info@juliannesmith.com or check out my done-for-you and training services for wedding pros. I’d love to work with you to maximize your creativity and the overwhelm and work with the clients that you want to work with!

For more tips and advice on the wedding industry, be sure to check out past blog posts and sign up for my weekly emails where I’ll send you all kinds of wedding business education nuggets in 100 words or less!