Kimberly Vaughan, International Wedding Festival Executive Producer, has produced hundreds of wedding expos & trade shows in Northern California. Kimberly has helped thousands of wedding professionals market their business to engaged couples and exceed their business goals with proven marketing strategies from live event to digital marketing.
5 Great Tips to Ensure Success at a Wedding Expo, Fair or Festival
Kimberly Vaughan • September 1, 2021
5 Great Tips to Ensure Success at a Wedding Expo, Fair or Festival
How to gain the most when exhibiting at a wedding expo, fair or festival
You are exhibiting at a wedding fair or festival! Whether you have participated in expos for years, or this is a new form of marketing for your business, you will want to ensure that you are making the most of the experience. Here are the five most important things to do to gain new business and increase your bookings at a wedding expo.
The first thing you should do before you head to an event is really consider who your target market is. If your answer to that is someone who is getting married, you may not be honing in enough to recognize who to spend time with to maximize your sales expectations at an event. Typically, these events are only a few hours long and you don’t want to be in a lengthy conversation with someone who is picking your experienced brain and they are not the right fit for your business, while people who are your perfect couple pass by your booth. Ask yourself a few questions to define who your perfect couple are. Are you only looking for couples with a specific budget in your field, because you have higher pricing than most others in your field? Are you a venue that can only speak with couples who are hosting an event that is 100 guests or less because of the size of your space? Is your business seasonal when considering outdoor events, or your location? Is there a couple that 100% matches your style of who you enjoy working with and connecting with and that is who you prefer to work with?
Once you have an idea of who your perfect couple is, start a list of qualifying questions. Many people will say not to lead with qualifying questions, but I disagree. I think of these events as speed dating but for business. I don’t want to waste my limited event time on the wrong couples, just as much as couples don’t want to just talk to someone who will not meet their needs. If I am a venue that does not allow outside catering, I might make that one of my first qualifying questions.
A bit of caution for those who make a couple’s budget their only qualifier… Most couples have no idea what their budget is. They may think that they do, but trust me when I say that they have a much better idea what that number is after the show than they do before the show. Long ago, we registered couples with forms at the entrance and were able to get immediate insight into their data. Typically we would hand one form to a bride and a groom. When asked about budget we would see brides responding with a $30k wedding and her partner responding $5K. It was eye opening how many couples do not have budget discussions prior to heading to the shows. With that said, I have seen couples who have checked the $15k box and in the end spent over $30k on their wedding by the time family members have contributed to this, that or the other.
TWO | Set Expectations: bookings vs. consultations.
It is important for you to consider what your expectations are for the event. Are you heading into the event just hoping for more bookings? What does that look like? Do you envision couples completing forms and giving you their deposit onsite? The reality of wedding shows is that full consultations at shows are counterproductive. Most consultations can last up to 45 minutes for intros, discovery of needs, sharing of work, closing the sale, signing contracts and receiving deposits. I recommend that you refrain from consultations at expos altogether. If you spend 45 minutes with one couple, how many couples did you miss an opportunity to introduce your business to in a room filled with your target market? If you are at a 5 hour show, how many consultations can you do? What is your close rate on consultations? With that formula what number of bookings are you limiting yourself to if your expectation is onsite bookings.
A sound expectation is to set a goal of scheduling consultations, parties, or a follow-up commitment with attendees. Think of these shows as “qualifier events” where you are really sizing up couples and honing in on the ones that you want to work with and setting up time to meet outside of the event to seal the deal.
This will not be true for every business type. I have seen photo booth companies walk off a showroom floor with a dozen new bookings and photographers that have left the building with 30 new clients from one show. Generally speaking, those booths have three reps in there and they move fast, talk fast and take a very low deposit as a show special to entice onsite bookings, then work out the details later. If your business has set packages without a lot of variables and choices this may be a successful approach for your business. If you are a florist or event planner, or a business that has a lot of details to work through before a contract, I would insist on a consultation so that you are not tied up with one couple's needs while countless others walk past your booth.
THREE | Designing your space.
First, I would like to say that bigger isn’t always better, so don’t be intimidated if you don’t have a professionally designed booth with a 20x20, island space setup. You can exhibit in a smaller space and impress potential clients. The most important thing about designing your booth is that it speaks to what you do, who you are and translates into a product or service a couple is looking for at the event.
What you do. When couples come to these events they are usually confused about the planning process, they feel like uneducated consumers who are walking into a type of event they have never been to, to meet with products and services they have typically never purchased and that makes them feel they are at a disadvantage. The best thing you can do for them is to spell it out for them at first glance what it is that you do.
Your booth should immediately tell a couple what you do for a living. It could be a sign, examples of your work or displays that clearly represent that you are a photographer, DJ, venue, etc. If you are not a florist, do not fill your booth with flowers. Anyone who has a florist already will pass you by not realizing that you are anything but a florist.
Who you are. Your space should speak to you personally. What is truly going to sell your business is your brand and for most wedding professionals they ARE their brand. You are the spokesperson, the brand manager and the sales person for your business under most circumstances, so what they see should match what they experience when speaking with you. So, be you! Attract the couples you love to work with by expressing who you are. Connections matter with couples. They want to know that they connect with you as a professional on the most important day of their life. With that said, dress professionally, as you would for their wedding. They way that they see you at a show is how they envision you at their wedding. Be organized and prepared. If you are digging through a messy box looking for a pen because you were unprepared when the event doors opened, that is how they will imagine you at their wedding.
Do they need you? Don’t get discouraged if you see couples passing you. Nine times out of ten they have passed you because they already have their cake, photographer, dj, etc.. but don’t be afraid to ask them if they have already made their selection in your field either. The flip side to that is, are you welcoming them? Is your table pushed back behind you? Are you putting up a barrier between you and them with your table? Are you blocking your booth by standing right in the front like a guard, or are you off to the side to allow couples to come into your space and welcoming them to look at your display or collateral?
FOUR | Plan your post show response BEFORE the event.
What you do before the event is so important. Most producers will provide a leads list after the event. You will also collect your hot leads from your booth to respond to first thing Monday morning. You should plan before the show what you will do with those leads after the event. Here are a few ideas:
· Add them into your drip marketing program if you have one setup.
· Send them a one-off email through an eblast service, such as Constant Contact, or MailChimp.
· Ask the producer if they have an eblast service that they will send on your behalf.
· Mail a postcard to each couple on the list.
· Invite couples to an open house, seminar, or online event.
Have these ready to unleash as soon as your return to your desk after the show. Mailing things out? Have your collateral ready to go and your labels ready for addressing. Sending an email? Craft your email prior to the event and save it as a draft message ready for your hot leads. Hosting a post show event? Have your invites ready to go before you go to the show and hand some out from your booth, then follow up with mailing/emailing reminders after the event. Be as ready as you can possibly be before the show to be as responsive as you can be to your new leads. I think of it as a race. The faster they hear from me, the better chance I have to beat anyone else to the punch.
FIVE | Couples and their Wedding Warriors and have their game face on to plan a wedding. Is your team ready?
Your success will depend on the information that couples receive on the day of the event, as well as after the event. With that said, you will want to ensure that everyone who will be in your booth, answering phone lines, or receiving new customers in your brick and mortar are all on the same page. You will want to have a team meeting to review any new packages, products, features, or services that your business is offering. If you are planning to have a show discount, or participate in a show program like Bridal Bucks, in your booth, be sure that everyone knows the details of the offering. How polished will you look when couples ask a question and all your team members have the answers that matter, stand confidently with the information readily available and are on point with their delivery? This is a good time, as you head out into the limelight in front of a room full of your potential clients, to ensure that your team is well versed, poised and trained for a power-sales day. Have you created new marketing materials, or updated your website? Great! Go over each, and every page with your team so that everyone knows what page to point to, or what collateral to grab from your table to share with couples that will be most meaningful to them. This is your team’s moment to shine and fill your calendar.
In-person, event marketing is one of the best forms of marketing there is. It is front and center, in your face marketing that gives you an opportunity to meet that 1% of any given population that is actually planning a wedding in a very short window of time. Practice makes perfect, so spend some time walking around and observing other booths. As you peruse the show floor, notice the flow of booths, setup, décor, raffles & gifts, displays, etc. This may inspire new ideas for your next presence. Be sure to meet with wedding professionals during the fashion show if the room calms down, or just before the doors open. This is a great time to meet new colleagues and to say hello to familiar faces.
Kimberly Vaughan, Executive Producer
International Wedding Festival
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