Today I want to talk about attracting ideal brides. If you are a new wedding planner, you may consider anyone who wants to pay you as your ideal client. And while that is a perfectly normal feeling when you’re just starting out, I bet you’ve had your fair share of less than ideal brides that may have made your job a little harder than it should have been. And in turn, I bet you’ve had at least a few dream brides who you would book 100 times over!
Let me give you a few examples:
Example 01.
First, imagine having a client whose planning and wedding day go off seamlessly. They book you immediately after your first meeting, selecting your highest package and don’t even bat an eye at the price. They’re super easy and happy throughout the whole process and truly value the service you’re providing. On the day of their wedding, they are on cloud nine and in awe of how everything came together perfectly, continuously thanking you over and over for making their dreams come true.
Example 02.
Then, imagine a client that you meet with where you get a gut feeling that it’s just not going to be an easy one. They don’t book with you right away, but instead try to knock your pricing down and question your expertise. When they finally hire you, they immediately disregard the processes and systems you have set in place, and seem to make the planning process much more difficult than it needs to be. On the day of, they micromanage all of their vendors (yourself included) and are never fully able to relinquish control of the details even after you’ve assured them that you’ve got it all covered.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could only work with that first client over and over and never have to worry about working with the second type of client?
Well, I can’t promise that you will never get a tough client again, but getting extremely clear on your ideal client will actually help you to attract more of those ideal brides and turn away the problem ones!
So let’s talk more about those ideal brides, shall we?!
In order to attract the right people to our brand, we need to start with the basics. We need to know who she is. We need to speak directly to her. We need to start building her trust. And we need to show her what it would be like to work with us.
Tip 01. Determine who your ideal brides are
If you want to attract your ideal client, you need to have a good understanding of who that person is. I challenge you to take it a step further than determining her age or where she lives. Dig deeper. The goal here is to get as specific as possible.
Who is she? What does she value? What does she do in her free time? What is her wedding budget? Where does she shop? What things in life does she appreciate most?
Think through these questions in as much detail as possible. It may even help to think about one or two past ideal brides who were a dream to work with, and write it all down as if you were describing them.
Tip 02. Speak to your ideal brides
When we initially think of our ideal brides, we oftentimes think of brides who are recently engaged. But we can’t forget about the pre-engaged brides, too.
Understanding her, speaking directly to her and creating a connection with her early on will help form a stronger bond that grows over time. Sometimes to the point where you have ideal brides contacting you saying that they have followed your work for years, just got engaged and can’t imagine getting married without you by their side. Amazing, right?!
So whether it be through your website copy, blog posts or social media content, it’s important to speak directly to your ideal brides at all times.
Tip 03. Build trust and add value
Next, you need to think about what problems your ideal brides might have before or during the time when they are looking for or considering a wedding planner.
Make a list and blog about those things. Or scatter in some wedding planning tips on Instagram for instance. Add value to an ideal brides life up front by being the expert and providing helpful content that solves her problems.
When you do that, she will start to trust you and you will become the wedding planner she connects with and wants to have by her side on her wedding day.
Tip 04. Show what you want to attract
When it comes to sharing your work, make sure to always keep your ideal brides at the top of your mind.
When you’re sharing images on Instagram or adding a new portfolio to your website, it’s important to only show the types of weddings you want to plan more of. The work you show should allow your ideal brides to envision themselves as a bride and see her dream wedding come to life.
I wholeheartedly believe in quality over quantity and would rather see 4 galleries of someone’s best work on their website than 20 galleries of their best work scattered amongst some not-so-ideal weddings.
Intentionally showing the work you love will ultimately attract your ideal brides who love it too!
Attracting your ideal brides is possible if you can get really clear on who they are and start forming a connection with them early on. Building a genuine relationship and fostering a bride’s trust will show her that you are who she needs to plan and execute her dream wedding!
Xo,
Jess
Images by Cory & Jackie
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