How to create a marketing strategy for Your wedding business on instagram

The phrase strategy is used very loosely these days, so let’s first start by defining what it actually means. It is a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.

So first of all, as a wedding business owner, before we get into the details of how to create a marketing strategy to grow your Instagram account. I want you to think about what your overall aim is because this will drastically differentiate the actions that you should be taking. 

How do I figure out what long-term aim I want to achieve for my wedding business? 

Think about the vision you have for your business, what will you be doing and what clients will you be working with? 

Do you have a deep desire to plan luxury weddings in the Bahamas, or do you just want to be known as the best supplier in your area? 

 Now you’ve made a decision, it's time to plan out your strategy. Below, I’m going to outline a plan which you can use to dominate your local area but you can tweak this strategy for different goals which I will explain afterwards. 

Instagram marketing strategy for wedding businesses who want to dominate their local area 

Step 1 - Your Wedding Business Profile 

The Aesthetic

The first step is to ensure that your profile is reflective of weddings in your local area. This is because your ideal clients will be those wanting to get married in the area, so they’ll be wanting to see examples of weddings there. 

Don’t just post photos of weddings you have done, try to get professional shots of popular landmarks in your area. The aim is to make your business look like an authority and an expert with regards to weddings in the local area. 

Your name, bio and keywords 

Next, you’ll want to ensure that your name and bio include local keywords so you can be found by couples searching for local suppliers just like you. 

For example;

Name: London Wedding Photographer 

Bio: Luxury London wedding photographer (followed by your unique value proposition and your social proof e.g. featured in Vogue etc.) 

Step 2 - Your Keywords and Hashtags to Attract Ideal Clients to Your Wedding Profile 

Next, you need to develop a content strategy which is focused around the local keywords which your ideal client is looking for. Then you need to use those keywords in your hashtags and in your captions. 

Let’s use London as an example and let’s say you are a luxury wedding cake designer. 

Here are the keywords you would need to include in your captions and your hashtags;

• Luxury wedding cake designer London 

• Wedding cake designer London

• Cake designer London 

• Wedding cakes London 

• Wedding cakes North london

• Wedding cakes South London 

• Wedding cakes East London 

• Wedding cakes West London 

• Luxury wedding cake designer North london

• Luxury wedding cake designer South London 

• Luxury wedding cake designer East London 

• Luxury wedding cake designer West London 

• Quirky wedding cakes London

• Best wedding cakes London 

• Bespoke wedding cake London

This will result in a huge list of all the possible phrases your ideal client would be looking for when they go on the hunt for the perfect wedding cake designer for their event. 

Then you need to incorporate those keywords into your hashtags and also your captions. Because Instagram doesn’t just look at your hashtags to understand what your post is about, it also looks at the keywords in your captions. 

The aim is to dominate the search results when anyone types anything to do with your niche and your location so you can’t help but get noticed.

Step 3 - Your Content 

Now, this is the step which most wedding professionals don’t do correctly in order to grow their following and become an expert in their niche. 

They post their beautiful photos, then sit back and wait for their ideal clients to come rolling in, but to attract your ideal clients. You’re going to have to do more than post just beautiful photos of your work. You’re going to have to post valuable content which helps your ideal clients in their journey to planning the most beautiful wedding in your area. 

So how do you do this? 

You need to start posting educational content which helps your ideal clients learn about your niche whilst positioning you as an expert in your field. 

Why? 

Because positioning yourself as an expert makes you look more knowledgeable and professional than your competitors, which means when the time is right for your ideal client to buy, you will be top of their list because you will have already nurtured them with your helpful and valuable content. 

Here’s an example of the types of titles you could use for your educational content. 

1. The only advice you need if you want to impress your wedding guests

2. 5 common mistakes that could turn your (insert location) wedding from tasteful to tacky

3. Don’t end your wedding day without _____

4. X things you can do right now to feel in control with your wedding planning

5. Why I tell my brides not to do ___ and why you shouldn’t either

6. Most couples are making these 5 mistakes when it comes to planning their (insert your location) wedding 

7. A day in the life of a luxury (Insert your location and niche here e.g. Sussex wedding photographer)

8. Why I don’t follow X trend and you shouldn’t either

9. Never have ____ at your (location) wedding if you want a classy and timeless event

10. What I’ve learnt working as a (Insert location and niche) professional for over X years

11. Here’s why I would never do X and you shouldn’t hire anyone that does either

12. This is the most important question you should ask your (insert your niche)

13. 5 takeaways from the most luxurious weddings I’ve worked at in (location) area

14. 5 myths about wedding (insert your niche) that you need to stop listening to

15. Here’s what no one will tell you about (insert your niche)

16. This is what I always tell my clients when they ask me _____

17. I will never do X and this is why

18. 20 wedding themes to take your (location) wedding from bland to brilliant

19. 5 things every bride should know before she books a makeup artist

20. 10 things every couple should do on the morning of their wedding

This will be your inbound strategy, a term used to describe creating marketing content which helps your ideal client find you. 

Step 4 - Your Engagement Strategy 

Now you’ve got your content sorted, it’s time to move onto your engagement strategy. This is the part which most wedding professionals skip because they don’t have a clear idea of exactly what they’re doing. 

For this step, you need to think about all of the other suppliers in your area. List everyone from florists, photographers, cake designers, venues, wedding planners to wedding fairs and bridal boutiques. Type into the search bar ‘luxury wedding planner London’ ‘Wedding florist London’.

You can also type those queries into Google and see who is showing up there and head over to their Instagram profiles. 

Anywhere your ideal client would be looking you want to be showing up.

You can also search for specific hashtags on Instagram to unearth these profiles too, for example #londonweddingphotographer #londonweddingflorist 

Start commenting

The beauty of commenting is that it makes your profile visible to a new audience. Let’s say your ideal client is browsing dresses from their favourite bridal shop and they see a comment from a local photographer. If they’re in the market for a photographer, which they probably are, then it’s likely they will head over to your profile and decide if they want to follow you or not. 

Remember, I mentioned previously to include your keyword in your name, this is because it makes it easy for people to see who you are in the comments. Making them more likely to take a look at your profile. 

Make it a routine 

Every day for 15 minutes set a timer on your phone and in that time, spend it commenting on your network’s content to make your profile more visible to your ideal client. 

Consistency is key and a few comments here and there cannot be classed as a strategy, that’s why you need to incorporate it into your routine. 

An easy way to keep track of who you should be engaging with is, to go to your ‘following’ list and sort them by ‘latest’. This will display all of the people you followed most recently.

This is your outbound strategy which means you are actively going out to the world to get your profile in front of your ideal client. 

Conversations 

Now you’re starting to get ideal clients following your profile, it's time to start building a relationship with them. 

This step is so simple but highly effective because people are more likely to work with businesses they trust and like. 

All you need to do is send a welcome message to anyone that follows your account which will sound something like this ‘Hi (name) thank you so much for the follow, what brought you to my page, I’d love to know?’ or ‘Hi (name) thank you so much for following, are you in the midst of planning a wedding?’ 

Then if they reply, keep the conversation flowing by asking about their wedding. Then when the time is right, ask if they’d like to have a coffee and a chat so they can find out more about your services. Don’t put too much pressure on this part, it’s simply to get in front of them to build that human connection and to make yourself memorable. Remember, they’re going to be speaking with so many different suppliers and the ones they book are the ones they know, like and trust. 

And that’s the strategy you need to follow if you want to dominate your local area. Now let’s move onto how you can tweak it for different goals. 

Step 1 - Your aesthetic 

This section will always be about mirroring what your ideal client wants to see. 

For example, if you want to break into the luxury wedding market, you need to take a good look at your Instagram grid and ask yourself ‘does this look luxurious and will wedding planners give me the recognition I deserve?’ If the answer is no, then you’ll need to spend some time doing styled shoots to create the aesthetic that you need. 

No it’s not easy and no it’s not a quick fix, but, your profile needs to mirror the desires of your target market and if it doesn’t, then it’s not fit for purpose. 

Step 2 - Your Keywords and Hashtags to Attract Ideal Clients to Your Wedding Profile 

These need to be tweaked to reflect your goal and what your ideal client would be searching for. The more specific you can be, the better. Let’s say you want to attract affluent couples who are planning a destination wedding in the bBahamas Your keywords and hashtags will look a little something like this. 

• Luxury wedding planner Bahamas

• Luxury destination wedding planner 

• Luxury wedding Bahamas

• Island wedding in the Bahamas

• Planning a wedding in the Bahamas

• How to plan a wedding in the Bahamas

• Best wedding islands in the Bahamas

• Best wedding planners for Bahama weddings 

• Best wedding planners in the Bahamas

• Best wedding planners for the Bahamas

• Bahama wedding tips 

Step 3 - Your Content 

Your content strategy will need to be changed inline with what your ideal client is searching for and what information they will find the most helpful to get them to their dream outcome.

Using the example above, you would tell your audience everything there is to know about planning a wedding in the bBahamas For example;

• Top luxury wedding venues in the Bahamas

• 5 travel tips for your guests at a wedding in the Bahamas 

• Best piece of advice for couples looking to get married in the Bahamas 

• How to plan an extraordinary wedding in the Bahamas 

• 5 things to do on the morning of your wedding in the Bahamas 

Step 4 - Your Engagement Strategy 

This should be tailored again inin lineith where your ideal client will be looking. What you need to ask yourself for this step is, ‘what other businesses are getting the attention of the people I want to work with.’ Then use your answer as the guide for who you need to be engaging with. 

Remain consistent 

Growing your Instagram account and turning it into a pprofit-generatingplatform isn’t easy and if it was, everyone would have tens of ththousandsf followers. The key is consistency and patience. Stick with this strategy and I promise you will see growth and an increase in sales. 

If you’re still struggling to grow your wedding business and you’re feeling confused about what to do next, it could be time to seek the help of an experienced wedding business coach. 

Ready to grow your business? Let me help 

Hi, I’m Hayley, a luxury wedding business coach who will help you attract and book better clients. If you’re feeling stuck in your business and you don’t know which way to turn, allow me to put you back on the path to success. 

Together I can help you, get more inquiries from your website, build value to charge more for your services, stand out in an extremely saturated mamarketplaceelevate your brand strategy and most importantly, run a wedding business you can be proud of. 

If you’re tired of feeling lost, confused and ashamed of your business, book a discovery call with me today and let’s have a chat about how I can help.