6 Marketing Tips for Wedding Videographers
The wedding industry is incredibly competitive. Here are some great marketing tips to help you reach engaged couples and book more weddings.
Top image from Love to Mary. Remaining images from Shutterstock.
The wedding business is one of the most stable markets in existence. People will always get married. As such, engaged couples will always search for a venue, bakery, wedding photographer, DJ, and wedding videographer. This also means that the industry is very competitive. Ranging from your cousin’s roommate’s nephew that just got a camera to full-fledged production houses, you will need to find a way to stand out.
Let’s just make it known: You aren’t going to shoot every wedding that you receive an inquiry for. That’s a good thing. You should narrow your focus on the types of weddings you want to shoot. Do you want to focus on local weddings, or will you be willing to travel? Do you only shoot the ceremony and reception or do you shoot all day? Once you’ve decided what you want to do, then you need to target your market.
1. Update your website.
You have to have a website. Even if you aren’t happy with how the site looks, make sure you have something up. Your site should at least include your most recent video highlight reels, a brief biography, and contact information. You can make the site more interesting by writing blogs about each video you post. There you can talk about the wedding day and link to other vendors that worked the event. When couples look for videographers, they will search for videographers in the same city as their venue. Be sure to list your location on your website, as well as any other locations you have filmed in before. Make sure to update the website with your newest highlight reels.
2. Have easy-to-read materials.
When a couple reaches out to you, don’t respond with a novel-length email. Have a nice brochure for them to look through. Even if it’s just a digital single page brochure, send them a nice and informative PDF. Include a breakdown of the pricing, as well as payment options. Even if the prices adjust and aren’t yet fixed, at least offer a starting price. If you offer several different package options, be sure to break down what each package offers.
3. Use Facebook Pages.
Don’t rely on a personal Facebook account. Have a separate business account. This will help with analytics and target marketing. Whenever you release a new wedding highlight reel, you can use the “Boost Post” feature on Facebook. You can promote your film to show up in various news feeds. The best part is targeting your boost by selecting engaged couples as your target audience.
4. Get to know other vendors — even other videographers!
Knowing other vendors is crucial to your success. There will be vendors you don’t enjoy working with, and there will be some you wish you could work with all the time. One of the best things you can do is reach out to other vendors, especially the ones you have already worked with. The two of you can cross-promote each other to couples. Some couples will ask you for recommendations. You will look like a seasoned pro when you offer a list of the best coordinators, DJs, and photographers.
Don’t shy away from getting to know other videographers as well. A friendship with them can lead to all sorts of opportunities. Not only can you critique each other, but you can help one another. If you ever need an extra shooter, or, worst case scenario, you get so sick you can’t film, it’s great to have a backup ready. They also make great recommendations when you are already booked on a certain date.
5. Don’t rely solely on wedding magazines or websites.
You aren’t a photographer. A still photo won’t benefit you and magazine ads are expensive. Wedding magazines can certainly help with name recognition, but you can’t showcase your work. It’s your video highlights that will win a couple over. The same goes for wedding vendor websites. If a vendor site doesn’t allow you to showcase your work there, then you will have to drive the traffic to your own site. You will also have to pay extra to get top billing over other videographers. So if you are putting money into the wedding vendor site, make sure you are getting the most out of it.
6. Attend bridal shows.
There are tons of bridal shows in every major city, so be sure to do your research before committing to one. The best thing about these shows is your ability to meet couples face to face. It’s a great chance to show off your personality and style. If you and the couple don’t click, then it just wasn’t meant to be. It’s still better to get the right couple for you. These events are also very expensive to attend. No only do you pay fees for a spot, your booth will need to stand out and showcase your work. You will nee to have a tv/laptop/tablet ready to show highlight reels. Also, have plenty of brochures, business cards, or at least a sign up sheet. You have to be proactive at these shows. If you aren’t willing to engage with people, then you are just wasting time.
Want to read more about weddings? Check out these posts from PremiumBeat:
- 7 Tips for Shooting Awesome Wedding Video
- How to Ruin a Wedding in 7 Easy Steps
- Best Royalty Free Wedding Music for Videos and Slideshow
Have you had success with these strategies? Know of more tips we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
