As a wedding planner, you understand that when couples come to you, they aren’t just looking for help coordinating their special day; they want someone with the know-how to shape a unique experience tailored specifically to them. A wedding planner who understands that each event is a story and knows how to spin the straw of budget limitations into the finest gold. The resulting magic is central not only to making the couple’s day truly special but also to building your career.
Wedding planning is an industry that benefits solidly from word-of-mouth marketing, as the happily married share their experience far and wide. From social media to engagement forums and in-person conversations, your previous clients are your best marketing asset, showing off your work as they celebrate and remember their special day. Knowing how to tailor weddings in such a way that they hit every emotional touchpoint and harness emotional intelligence to deliver a stellar experience — that is your differentiator, your superpower, and it will get you more clients with each successful event.
So, how can you develop that skill and turn yourself into the hottest destination for couples looking to make their wedding ceremonies unique?
Identifying and Connecting Emotional Touchpoints
In order to properly utilize this skill, you must first understand what an emotional touchpoint is and how to connect it to a positive emotional journey for attendees. An emotional touchpoint is a single point in time where you have the opportunity to evoke emotion in a guest; think, greeting them with a smile when they approach your venue or decorating the bridal suite just how the would-be bride likes it. They are moments where emotions are likely to surge, and you, as the conductor, direct them.
Creating an event that attendees will remember is a calculated endeavor, not an inauthentic one, but one where you are aware of each touchpoint and seamlessly connect them. Concept maps can help you connect identified emotional touchpoints to one another, allowing you to map out a seamless emotional journey that helps your couple and their guests to fully experience the highs of the event.
However, the secret sauce to making a wedding unique is to turn your wedding into an experience unique to each couple, allowing attendees to resonate powerfully with the couple’s story. Some of the ways you can do this include:
- Incorporating elements of heritage throughout decorations: Cultural, religious, and regional iconography in unexpected places can be pleasantly surprising and help the event feel like it belongs wholly to them.
- Bring the bride and groom’s personality into the event: When considering ways to keep guests entertained and engaged, consider the bride and groom’s personality. For example, they can play the music they like on an impromptu dance floor, replace seating cards with personalized poems, or hire their favorite live artists.
- Planning additional activities before/after the ceremony: Mix up the itinerary with dinner at the couple’s favorite spot, a moonlit tour of the venue, or an after-party at a local dance hall.
How you personalize each event will depend on each happy couple. Your conversations with them, formally or informally, are your best source of intelligence on their likes, dislikes, and dreams. Take notes after each conversation, paying attention to even the most offhand comments about their interests, and look for opportunities to incorporate them into the ceremony for maximum effect.
How Word-of-Mouth Marketing Bolsters Your Business
Understanding the role of emotional touchpoints in executing an event is one thing, but how does this approach concretely translate into more business for you? Well, this experience-based approach translates to better results for the consumer, which is one of the most powerful factors in positive word-of-mouth marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing is a proven, tested approach that builds brand loyalty, trust, and credibility. It is a wholly organic, hands-off form of marketing where consumers relay their experiences to one another with no incentive to do so. Events that harness a unique factor or tap into the customer experience in an unprecedented way are likely to see a lot of traction from this marketing tactic, as consumers can’t help but share their unique experiences with everyone.
It’s a potent marketing tactic for wedding planners, both because of the inherently personalized nature of their business and because of the quantity of people involved in each ceremony. Each guest represents an opportunity to spread the news further and wider through their connected channels. Making an effort, then, to not only map the couple’s emotional touchpoints but also include the guests and forge a unique experience for them is the best way to get the most mileage out of this marketing tactic.
Conclusion
We hope this brief primer gave you the tools you need to craft unique wedding experiences that people can’t help but share. Take time to map out emotional touchpoints, consider how you can pleasantly surprise your guests, and uniquely reflect your couples in your events, and you’ll have engaged couples practically beating down your door.
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