Marketing Your Wedding Business Through a Recession
There is a lot of debate about whether we are in a recession or not, but regardless of what you (or anyone might think), the fact is people are already starting to act like we are. And, when people start to change their spending habits, that is your clear sign as a business owner to take a good look at how you are asking them for their money. Because, at the end of the day, that is what we are all doing when we market our businesses—we’re asking people to trust us enough to fork over their hard-earned money. So today, I wanted to dive into what you should be thinking about (and doing) as you market your wedding business through a recession—whether the powers that be officially declare us as in one or not.
The biggest thing is to keep marketing
It’s natural to feel like you should take your foot off the proverbial marketing gas pedal when you hear people talking about a recession, but you should actually do just the opposite—you should be doubling down on your marketing! Because, the fact of the matter is, your business (read: you) won’t make any money if you aren’t doing something to attract clients and customers. That’s because marketing sits at the tippy top of your sales funnel, and if you stop working to get people in at the top, you’ll find yourself high and dry at the bottom.
Recessions are also just one of the reasons you should never put all of your marketing eggs in one basket. Think about it. Recessions or economic downturns make people change their behavior, and when they do, it can turn a marketing strategy that worked really well into one that only kind of works well. So, instead of finding yourself in a place where you need to scramble to establish your business on a new marketing channel, having a diverse marketing strategy allows you to lean into what works and lean out what’s not.
Understand how your clients/couples are being impacted
If deciding to ease up on marketing is the first mistake wedding business owners make when they hear the word recession, the second mistake they make is assuming everyone is being impacted in the same way—because they are not. Just like most things in life, some people will feel economic downturns more than others. So, before you even start thinking about how you are going to market your wedding business in a recession, I want you to ask yourself these questions:
How has your ideal client changed? Or have they not?
Are they needing to only spend money on essentials? Or do they still have disposable income? Have they been saving for a big spend or for their wedding?
Are they still spending the same amount but just taking more time to research the best buy? (You can call this “overthinking or over shopping”.)
Are they only cutting their spending by a little?
Are they not impacted at all?
Update or create your customer map(s) for each of your ideal client personas so you can really be thoughtful about what you need to adjust (or not) on the marketing front. And, if you need help getting started, my Customer Map template will walk you through it all.
Messaging matters
Your marketing messages always matter (hello, great copy!), but it matters even more when people are on edge. Because, when people are taking more time to research their purchases and more hesitant to commit to big spends, you need to be very mindful about what you are saying and when. This makes going through the exercise we just talked about even more important since you can’t say the right things if you don’t understand how people are feeling.
They key is to not ignore what their reality is but to make sure you are staying positive through it all. Because wedding planning can already be really hard for a lot of couples—making them read a ton about “how bad the economy is” or “how little money they might feel they have” on top of that is no way to move them closer to a sale. Making sure your marketing messages lean towards the positive side of things also helps people have confidence in you and your business since it makes your corner of the world feel more stable (which is what people really want deep down).
Focus on the people who already know, like, and trust you
Which brings us to the last marketing tip I wanted to make sure we covered—don’t go chasing after super cold leads during a recession. Cold leads (read: people who currently have no idea who you are) takes the most time, money, and effort when it comes to marketing. Because, in order to get those high-quality leads to actually inquire, a big part of that is making sure they know, like, and trust you. That takes a lot of resource when you are talking about complete strangers—it’s much easier when you’re talking about warm leads.
The best place to find warm leads in the wedding industry? Referrals! And you already know that—probably because your best inquiries come from vendor and past client referrals. So be sure you are dedicating some of the time you spend on marketing to staying top of mind with the people who are connecting you to those warm leads!
Want to dive deeper into how your approach to marketing can (and should) change throughout the year? Be sure to read this piece about using seasonality to market your business next!
