Association of Bridal Consultants

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4 Hot Tips on Using the Latest Trends to Attract Business

By Laura Cave, The Knot, New York CityDo we have your imagination running wild yet? Now that you know the trends, here are a few tips for incorporating them into your website and marketing to attract new business. Engagement season kicks into high gear in late November and stays hot through Valentine’s Day, as a fresh wave of brides get engaged over the holidays. As a wedding pro, you should set aside some time in late fall every year to audit your brand, website, ads, and anything else in your arsenal that might need refreshing for next year. Follow these suggestions to make 2014 your best year yet: 1) Curate your portfolio: You’ve just finished a ton of weddings and in roll the photos. For your website’s portfolio, pick out the shots that most reflect you and your style, not necessarily that of your client. Think about the kind of client you want to work with next year, and choose a selection of images that you think will attract that customer. The more specific you can be the better! Limit your portfolio to the images that best represent your work and use your blog and/or Facebook page to showcase more recent work.2) Audit your Website: The look of The Knot’s website is updated at least every two years, and wedding businesses should do the same. Online media is changing all the time and just as there are changing wedding-design trends, website design changes with the season, too, as technology advances. Keep up by removing old, blue hyperlinks, auto-sound, and fancy flash intros—they act as a barrier to your visitors. Go for light, airy backgrounds along with simple navigation, and don’t forget to make your contact information easily accessible! Need inspiration? Check out the website templates offered by sites like Wordpress.com, SquareSpace, and Tumblr to get an idea of what’s popular. Also, make sure your website is easy to access via mobile phone and tablet. If you can, go for a responsive design that senses and adjusts to the width of the screen your visitors are using.3) Get reviewed: Be sure to get testimonials from your recent couples. There is no better way to establish trust with future clients than to show them the reviews of past happy customers. As an added bonus, if they write the reviews on www.WeddingChannel.com, you can be considered for the annual Best of Weddings Award, which adds extra credibility to your business.4) Get (more] social: Establish your expertise by regularly publishing inspirational content to your followers on Facebook and Pinterest, the two most popular social networks for brides. Since 80 percent of all pins were repins of content already in Pinterest, the audience there is ready and waiting to make your content go viral. Remember: Posting something pretty never hurts! Use a post scheduler like HootSuite to schedule your Facebook and Twitter posts days in advance so you can focus on clients during the day, and keep your social accounts active at the same time! ••Wedding Trend ResourcesFor continuing coverage of everything new and fabulous in the world of weddings, follow: http://theknot.com/blog or follow on Twitter @theknot.For marketing advice and business education exclusively for wedding professionals, visit: http://theknot.com/b2b or follow on Twitter @theknotb2b.