Hey, Wedding Vendor: For Couples to Book You, They Need Your Location
For your dream clients to find you — and book you — couples need to know where you are.
It sounds silly. Obvious. Duh, Kelsey. Thank you so much for your insight. Your marketing help is invaluable. *eye roll*
But it’s easy to miss. As a wedding industry content marketing specialist, I’ve looked at loooooots of vendors’ websites and social media profiles. And sometimes it’s hard to find where these beautiful people are. Like, 10 clicks and 3 frustrated whimpers hard.
Which doesn’t matter – unless someone wants to hire you. After all, *admirers* don’t need to know where you are. People who want to connect with you and pay you dollars for your incredible services (ding, ding!) do.
“But I’ve got to sell them on my heart and how amazing their wedding will be…”
Now, I can’t blame you for talking about other things besides map details. You have a lot of unique selling points to highlight. You want to connect with the client, whom you love already. You have so much expertise to share to help couples have the most fabulous wedding day possible. And you should talk about all of that.
But. If you neglect some key logistical information, those other connections and golden nuggets of value could be for naught.
Because you’re not their perfect vendor unless you’re accessible. They have to know. Are you even attainable for this couple? They cannot afford the heartbreak of falling in love with you, and then discovering that you can’t make the 10,000-mile trek to them. They don’t have the time or emotional energy.
Think Like a Customer
Pause to think like your potential clients. Ready?
The scene: You’re just giddy with love. And also stressed to the max planning the most important event of your life. You’re on your phone, your fiance is on his laptop, and you have five separate to-do lists between you. And go.
When in the customer journey are couples wondering about your location?
As soon as they start considering you. When that switch flips and they think, “Ooh… I want that for our wedding.” That’s when they’ve got to figure out if they can have your services for their wedding.
Where do they expect to find your location information?
Not buried. Oof.
But, truly, when they want to know, they want to know fast. They want it clear. At the top. Close to your business name. Big. Under a relevant section title, like “About,” “Who We Work With,” “Our Services,” “Contact…” On the footer of every page. Somehow they want to see it, quickly and easily.
Because they want to know if they should take you seriously, or if this is a waste of their time.
What happens if they can’t find what they want to know?
Two options. They could inquire anyway. Just take a chance. Or they could click out and move on.
If they take the chance to inquire anyway, they risk wasting their time and being embarrassed. Feeling like their outreach was silly – reaching out to someone who makes no sense for their situation. And still needing to find vendors, but now with less time.
The path of least resistance is to abandon the effort before it’s sucked too much time. They can’t tell if you make sense for them or not, so they’re just going to go.
That’s your couples’ headspace. How are you going to meet them there?
How a Wedding and Elopement Photographer Markets Using Her Location
Take a glance here at what my girl Alexis has going on.
She’s a wedding and elopement photographer with a romantic documentary style. I love following her because she puts out such sincere stuff. You just have to look at her photos and listen to the way she talks about her work; her content both melts you and pierces through the fluff at the same time.
And we went to college together, so I’m about seeing her in her element, thriving. Not that we weren’t living our best lives cramming for exams, but you know.
In the Social Media Bio
First, your girl is active on her socials (@alexiselizabethphotos). People discover her that way. Because she knows that, she tries to make it simple for couples to figure her out.
When couples click from a compelling post to check out her profile, it takes one instant to see where she works. The area she serves is right there, front and center.
Boom. Clarity. Immediate critical information. Thank you — that’s something we needed to know.
And if you’re not sold on being exclusive, tied to a specific location, you can adapt her example. She says she starts in Utah and will travel anywhere. So couples know where she’s based. They know where she prefers to work, or works the most. But couples also know that she is a willing traveler, and they can chat with her about crossing those border lines.
Couples don’t have to click to a link and search for a “Contact” or “FAQ” tab to find that. They don’t have to scroll all the way down through her (well-updated) posts to an introduction. They don’t have to (1) creep on her real weddings, (2) find the tagged locations, and (3) infer where she likes to be based on where the venues are. *Ugh.*
It’s not that you’re not worth the effort to dig. Your services are worth all kinds of investment. But couples are busy and emotional. Let’s make it easy for them to see whether you’re a fit or you’re not.
In the Website Copy
Then, here are snippets from our elopement expert’s website. (Very vibey for her, by the way. She’s just dreamy and almost gritty all at once – raw and ethereal… Love her.)
So this is on her About page: “...all over the country (and the world).”
We can see that she’s your travel buddy. Adventure on. Go. She will go with you.
When we get to the pricing of her packages, though, we get a little more detail. This excerpt below is from a midlevel photography package.
Right there at the bottom of the package description, easy for the skimming eye to catch: “travel included for Texas and Utah.” It’s not that she won’t go farther, but those distances are included in the stated price.
Those location keywords are at the crucial, critical point of decision. Just in case the dreaming couple forgot, this is where she works. This is where you can expect her to go (without fees).
Everyone’s expectations are set. The couple can inquire – or not inquire – with an understanding of whether this relationship could really work.
See how much this helps?
How to Make Location Work for You
Website Copy
If you really want to identify with a location, include it clearly on your website homepage. Headers, footers, subheadings, metadescriptions, search engine results displays…
For example, maybe you want to be googled as “Tyler TX wedding photographer.” Then something along those lines needs to prominent – and repeated – on your website.
Try, “the romantic Tyler, TX wedding photographer you’ve been looking for” under your business name. Right there, the first thing visitors see. Or “serving the Tyler, TX area” in your site footer. Or “Tyler, Texas is my home, and wedding photography is my art form” in your About section. (Don’t worry; we’ll work on the phrasing until it sounds like you.)
Neither Google nor potential clients are smart enough to just know where you are. Not if you don’t say it.
So let’s tell them. So they don’t miss out on you, and you don’t have to wonder what could have been.
Collaborative Content
Take it further. Want to be – not just associated – but engrained in the culture of a city’s most stunning weddings? To be the area go-to? Get that town, those in-demand venues, the top planners, the prolific florists – get them in your content.
You see the social posts tagging all the vendors. Not only is this ethical, paying tribute to the whole team, but it’s also good wedding business. You are all building one another’s businesses together. You’re increasing brand awareness. You’re showing each other off. You’re displaying the fact that you’re a team player – which is important because couples want vendors who will be on their team.
But you’re also doing something very practical. You’re showing where you are. Who you work with. The culture you know like the back of your hand. If couples are in that space, you are the one they want. Because that corner of the universe is your playground and your business office.
The Case for Blogs
With blogs, you can extend your claim beyond the socials and into the search engines.
Again, if you want to get picked up by your location – or a desired location – you’ve got to put it out there. Hard. Claim it.
I wonder sometimes why gorgeous weddings and styled shoots stay relegated to socials. They could be glowing up web content and staking a claim in the searchable marketplace. Becoming the base blog content that many social posts link back to. Leading couples to the compelling website that sells bookings for you. It’s not either-or. You can do both.
Take that event or shoot to a blog. Tell the love story or inspiration. Talk up the other vendors. Talk out your strategy. Share your tips for couples. Show that you are a genuine, creative, in-demand expert ready to bring dreams to life.
And tell couples where in the world you are so that googling “[vendor type] in [location]” does something for you.
Or, maybe better, so that searching “weddings at [venue]” or “best [other type of vendor] in [town]” brings couples to helpful information… on your site. And they find out what a gem you are, without even looking for you.
Your Location Is Key to Attracting the Right Clients
Reduce Impractical Inquiries
Making your location clear will also help weed out not-so-dream clients. How many emails do you want to send telling couples that you’re so sorry, but Nova Scotia is outside of your range this summer? Or that you love the bayou wedding for them, but you really thrive in the Nashville area?
Because you may have people that love your work enough to ask. Unless they already know the answer.
So if you don’t want to field a lot of inquiries that aren’t practical, make it very clear what is practical for you.
Keep Leads Engaged
And let’s remember that, as some marketing experts have lovingly said, readers are selfish and lazy. That sounds harsh, but couples are looking for solutions, and they don’t have all day to find answers to their questions.
Leaving off the information couples need could very well turn them away.
If they can’t figure out enough about you to get a sense of whether you’re a fit for them, they may just move on. There are other vendors out there. They’ll try one of them. They’ll see what they can learn about them. Quickly, because they don’t have time to play.
And again. I’m going all, “What might have been?” The chick flick tears. You would have been perfect for each other. Perfect! But it will never be. And I’m throwing my pillow and yelling and stomping in disgust.
So let’s tell them what they need to know while we have the chance.
But What If I’m Not Location-Based?
No Need?
Now, this might not make sense if you’re not location-based. Why would you make a thing out of location if it doesn’t matter?
My website homepage, for example, has zero location keywords. Why would it? I work remotely. I will happily hop on a call with you and send you marketing copy from anywhere. What I most care about is the heart of the wedding professional on the other end of the line. Geography notwithstanding.
So let’s say a planner wants to offer fully remote services. She meets with clients through video calls. She coordinates vendor logistics by phone, email, online platforms, etc. Her home base doesn’t really affect anything, either. So location doesn’t matter, right?
Not so fast.
Think of Location Differently
First, if she wants to be found by people searching for a remote planner, she should make sure her online presence has those keywords. Instead of making “Texas” or “Houston” or “Houston Bay area” prominent, she should emphasize words like “remote,” “digital,” and “online.” In a sense, that is her location. Online is her stomping ground. Remote is her map pin.
Beyond that, however, the planner may still have locations she prefers to serve. Maybe she will work for the right-fit couple anywhere. But she adores Floridian beaches and seaside communities. She’s built up professional relationships there. She knows how the cultures operate. She speaks the salt-kissed language. And she can create killer events there because imagining the sea breeze lights her up so much.
There is no reason to hide that. If anything, she should make that clear so she can attract more of her dream clients.
Enter Florida beach references sprinkled throughout her website copy. Hello, blog posts featuring her favorite seaside venues and the hair-and-makeup artists that just get the coastal bride vision.
By incorporating these, the planner shows her expertise. She displays her repertoire – not through bragging, but with value and inspiration. And she’s putting the hooks in the water where her dream clients swim. Using location keywords to attract the clients she really wants to work with.
You can do that, too.
Takeaways
So please don’t hide where you are. Or where you want to be. Your region isn’t as romantic as your vision statement. I feel. But clients need to know.
If you want to attract the clients you really want, you have to make your offer very clear.
If you want to keep interested leads engaged, you need to tell them what they’re wondering, fast.
If you want to identify with the swoon-worthy wedding scene in a particular region, you’ve got to put it out there and own it.
It’s not rocket science, but it does take strategy. And consistency. And it helps to have a marketing writer who gets you.
If you want a partner to help you market your wedding business, let’s talk. Content strategy is my jam, and conscious wedding vendors have my heart.
Book a free consultation call here. We’ll discuss how to best accomplish your goals. I’ll make sure you leave with value you can use. And if we decide to work together, you’ll get the bonus of a new #1 cheerleader… in addition to copy that sells couples on your magic.
Talk soon!
XO Kelsey, Copy With Love
