By: Krista Olynyk, owner of KJ and Co.
Trusted by wedding professionals and couples for one-of-a-kind weddings! As seen on Style Me Pretty, Wedding Obsession, Today’s Bride and more. Winner of a Wedding Wire Couples’ Choice Award.
We learn about wedding etiquette in our WPIC course and we’re constantly advising clients about protocol and convention, but what about etiquette when it comes to doing business as wedding planners, particularly on the web?
Since so many planners are new to running a website, blog or various social media accounts in general – let alone from a business-owner’s perspective – I thought I would share a few important points to keep in mind.
Link With Love
This is rule #1 folks! Give credit where credit is due.
Failing to do so can be very misleading. Whether you’re Instagram-ing an inspiration photo, sharing it on Facebook or including it in a blog post, link back to your source appropriately. Failure to do so absolutely gives the false impression to readers (intentional or not) that the photo is of your work. Not only is it dishonest, but its a very fast way to offend the creative genius responsible for the work, as well as your peers in the industry. (A quick little disclaimer in your profile is not enough.)
Here’s an example of how I typically credit a photo on my blog:
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| image by Brian Miller, via Green Wedding Shoes |
As you can see, I’ve credited the image to the photographer, linked his site, and the blog I found it on with a hyperlink to the post where the specific photo was featured.
On Facebook, Instagram and Twitter you can easily “tag” their business page, or at the very least give the name of company in the comment. Look up more about tagging on Facebook here, or for Instagram here. Google is free and it knows how to do everything! Use it.
Pinterest Is Not A Source
Plain and simple. If you’re crediting Pinterest as the source of an image you’re being incredibly lazy, and again, disrespectful to the people who created it in the first place. Either take the steps to find the appropriate source of an image, or find another suitable image that you can find the source for. Try the steps here.
Share The Love
If you’re mentioning a business or an event – for whatever reason – link to (or tag) them. It’s the nice thing to do, and wouldn’t you want them to do the same for you? If there’s a reason that you don’t want to link to them, then you ought not to be mentioning them at all.
Take the time to find the appropriate link for their webpage and then go the extra mile and see if they have a Facebook page, Instagram or Twitter account, or a preferred hashtag. Now tag or link those correctly on whichever social platforms you’re using to spread the news about your new blog post.
What do I mean by that? If I feature a vendor on my blog, they will usually be linked multiple times in the post itself. Then, when I tweet the post on, or share it on my Facebook page, I’ll tag their page as well. When others see you sharing their links, they will hopefully reciprocate.
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| In this particular tweet I tagged Minted because their sale was the main topic of my linked blog post. |
Be Sincere
Don’t be “that guy”. Whenever you share someone’s work or spread the word, it should be because you legitimately believe in them, love their style or found something they did or shared interesting. Not simply because it would be good for business to be associated with them. Bottom line, be sincere. When commenting on things with the intention of boosting your SEO. You don’t gain credibility by jumping on bandwagons. You’re best bet to succeed in business is to do what you like and feel, not because someone else is doing it, or because you feel like you should.
Spread Good Web Karma
One good turn deserves another. If a business links, tags or tweets you, you don’t need to acknowledge it 100% of the time, (in case they’re being “that guy”) but it wouldn’t hurt. If you’re not willing to reciprocate with a retweet, at least say a simple “thank you” or favourite the tweet, “like” the pic or post, and so on. A little goes a long way.
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| I always love to see The Wedding Cake Shoppe‘s work. |
Re-Gramming
When you share a professional photographer’s photo or “regram“, never put a filter on someone else’s work. (Sidenote: my wedding photographer teases me every time my favourite Instagram filter turns my hair blue.) Their editing style is their signature and presenting their work consistently is key to their success and reputation. Most are very particular about their style, so keep in mind when you slap a vintage-looking filter on a professional’s photo it’s no longer a proper representation of their work and they might prefer not to be tagged in that case.
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Take some time to learn the basics of each social media platform in order to link and tag with good etiquette in mind in order to be a good member of the creative community.
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