As a marketing agency for wedding venues; we are often asked how to take advantage of the eco-wedding trend. It seems daunting and expectations are usually high. More so than they are with a regular wedding. So pressure can be on to perform. Of course, your venue is already unique, and we don’t want to take that away. But we can help you to enhance your existing charm, and bring it into the world of eco-trends. While many venues are currently unable to take or secure bookings, now is the perfect time to overhaul your existing social media presence. Whilst people are stuck inside, browsing, and dreaming about their wedding!
What are the trends?
It’s all the rage at the moment to have an eco-wedding. But what does that actually mean? Generally there are two sides to an eco-wedding. One is the outward element, and the other is behind-the scenes. Outwardly, an eco-wedding celebrates the natural world. Think hemp bows, dried eucalyptus, flower crowns, and you’re along the right lines. Whilst there is a huge upturn in the market for eco-wedding goods, more often than not, they’re fairly cheap to produce in-house. Talk to your designers and photographers, they’ll be able to come up with some sources. As we’ve said, you can look at Pinterest. Browsing is not just for brides.
On the other side of the coin, people who want to have an eco-wedding are more often than not environmentalists at heart. With this trend, it’s less likely that people are going to move on within a few years. By celebrating the world around us on the most important day of a couple’s life, they often want to ensure they’re being sustainable doing it. Ensuring zero waste, vegan catering and ethical suppliers is just the start!
Social Media Marketing
It’s a visual landscape, the world of social media. Something we only want to take advantage of. Two of the top social media that we like to use as a marketing agency for wedding venues are Pinterest and Instagram. When you think of planning a wedding, it normally consists of cutting out pictures from magazines, choosing colour palettes and picking that perfect dress. If you really want to be seen as a picture-perfect choice for the happy couple, then you really should be on these two social media. Especially nowadays, with social distancing, virtual tours and more, you want to make sure that clients can see your venue without seeing it.
If you’ve been on Pinterest you’ll know that it’s the place-to-be if you’re a bride-to-be. This is absolutely where most, if not all younger brides come to plan their perfect day, so why are you not making yourself available on there? It’s worth noting that on Pinterest, people follow boards, not people or businesses. This means that your approach to this platform needs to be slightly different. One of the most effective ways to utilise the traffic that comes through Pinterest each minute is to have a useful set of boards that are set up. By saying that, we mean making your boards accessible, and make people want to follow them. Create a board called ‘Eco-Bride Vibes’ and make the theme just that.
Pinterest itself estimates that over 70% of the posts that have been pinned which are wedding-related were pinned before engagement. As a marketing agency for wedding venues we always remind our clients that you really want to be present for the whole journey. From the choosing of colour theme to the cutting of the cake, your venue will be centre stage.
Top Tip: Pin all your photos from your site (providing they’re high-quality) and link them all back to your site. Put them on boards with relevant themes, e.g., Catering. Mixing this in with popular content drives people to your boards, and ultimately to your site.
As wedding venues, Instagram is a must-have. It has almost 1 billion active users each month, and is a purely visual platform. However, you may or may not know that recent developments in the algorithm has led to yet more changes in the way we interact with the platform. Now, the most important engagements are as follows, ranked highest to lowest:
- Saving Posts
- Sharing to Story or Friends
- Commenting
- Liking
Invest in your trusty photographer to take some wonderful photos of your venue, the surrounding area and your staff, if they feel comfortable. If you’re able, ask them (or hire someone) to create a virtual tour for your IGTV. This is something that is highly shareable and highly save-able. Plus, Instagram really likes to push reels and IGTV content, so you’re likely to show up on a number of Explore pages.
On Instagram, the personal connection is key, from the throwing of the bouquet to the after-party. So that’s why you must be on hand to re-post user-generated content (UGC). People love to see other people having a good time. Tap into that FOMO! You don’t have to repost straight onto your feed to avoid low-quality content on what is essentially a portfolio or landing page.
Internal Operations
When considering eco-trends, as a marketing agency for wedding venues, we often encourage our clients to look internally. By making your internal operations more sustainable, you’ll be more attractive to couples who want to ensure they’re doing their wedding right by the environment. As we mentioned before, most, if not all couples who opt for an eco-wedding look for sustainability at the core of their principles. Besides the actual sustainability of the event itself, you’re more likely to appeal if the business itself is sustainable. Everything from having a paperless office to being carbon-neutral, we guarantee it’ll be considered.
And they lived happily ever after. And the environment thanked them for it. If you’re interested in getting involved in jumping on the eco-wedding trend and need a little help, don’t hesitate to contact us by calling us on 01376 386850 or sending an email at [email protected].