How to Prepare for Booking Season
When you own a business, getting ahead of certain things can be a challenge. You are, after all, responsible for #allthethings and eye-ball deep in making sure your current clients are getting what they need! But, in your quest to make sure everything is squared away, does booking season sneak up on you year after year and leave you scrambling to prepare for it? What if instead of reacting to booking season you mapped out your strategy, made a plan, and did what you need to do to get ahead of it and attract clients rather than hunting for them?
You might be reading this thinking, “Yeah - that’s great and all. But where do I even start?” And, we hear you. When your to-do list already has reached it-never-ends status, the last thing you have is time to set aside and work through creating a new approach. So today, we wanted to share the 4 steps that are standing in between you and your first I’m-ready-for-you booking season!
Step 1 | Create (or update) your customer map
Before you start anything, you need to define exactly who your ideal customers are, so you can tailor everything to them. From basic demographics about your ideal customer to shopping habits and where they spend their time online, capturing this foundational data is the first step toward building a brand that attracts qualified leads.
Step 2 | Develop a marketing strategy
You have to plan for success during booking season, and marketing your business on the fly is not a strategy. So, step 2 is to put a formal strategy on paper; one that answers questions like:
How often are you going to share on social media and on what channels?
Are you going to blog and, if so, targeting what keywords?
Will you participate in wedding shows?
Putting together even a high-level marketing strategy will give you the roadmap you need to plan for, create, and do everything you need to do for booking season without it sneaking up on you.
Step 3 | Finally update your blog
If there was ever a time to put the best of what you created this year on your blog - it's now! Schedule yourself a block of time where you can batch preparing and scheduling blog posts over the next few weeks so this task is done and done. (And, be sure to optimize them!)
Step 4 | Spread the word
Newly engaged couples spend insane amounts of time on the internet looking at wedding inspiration in the weeks after saying Yes! but the thick of engagement season is not the time to try and get featured. Be proactive and put your brand in front of all those newly engaged couples in a timely manner by submitting your work now for publication this fall and winter.
We just gave you your game plan - want to make it even easier to start knocking these tasks off your list? We’ve got templates to help you bust out your customer map, marketing strategy, wedding blog intros (with SEO tips), and submission prep! Head over to the shop and pick up one (or more) to set yourself up for your most successful booking season yet!
