The holiday season is more than just a time for festive gatherings and celebrations—it’s also peak proposal season! From Thanksgiving through Valentine’s Day, countless couples will take the next step in their relationships and start their wedding planning journey. With newly engaged couples flooding the market, this time of year also signifies a crucial period for wedding professionals: booking season.
But before booking season officially kicks off, industry pros must prime their businesses to navigate a hyper-competitive market and process an influx of leads. As the year winds down, now is the time to prepare a strategy that can support the demands of engagement season—especially if you plan to take time off for the holidays.
Here are a few ways to get ahead of the curve before holiday engagements ramp up.
Pivot your marketing message
Throughout the year, your marketing strategy may target couples at all stages of the wedding planning process (and perhaps even those who aren’t yet engaged!). This approach covers a wider range of prospects, reaching couples whether they’ve been engaged for a week or a year.
But when proposals peak during the holidays, you’ll need to focus on those in the blissful, champagne-filled days of a new engagement.
“During the holiday season, I fine-tune my marketing efforts to highlight engagement-related services, such as special engagement photo packages or tips for holiday mini-sessions,” shares Craig Peterman of Craig Peterman Photography & Videography. “Since many couples get engaged during this time, I believe in strong strategic marketing efforts to stay relevant on all platforms.”
In addition to promotions, consider how you can develop educational content that would appeal to a freshly-engaged couple. How can you get them to click “follow” or “subscribe” so you can follow up later in their planning journey? Think color palettes, planning timelines, and venue choices rather than guest lists and dinner menus.
Peterman notes that booking season is also a great time to establish brand authority. “Don’t underestimate the power of social proof,” he says. “Sharing recent testimonials or success stories from previous engagements/weddings can build trust and credibility.”
As engagements pick up, tailor your marketing strategy to meet couples where they are in the planning process: stage one! At this point, they are likely experiencing information overload, so keep your messaging light, engaging, and simple to understand.
Make it easy for prospects to reach you
Consumers tend to follow the path of least resistance, so take some time to audit your sales process and remove any sticking points along the way. If a couple has trouble from the start, it doesn’t bode well for their client experience and they’ll likely look elsewhere.
Jen Sulak of Weirdo Weddings encourages event professionals to double-check all communication channels and ensure prospects can get through.
“Check that your website or any forms of communication are in working order and able to receive calls, texts, messages, and more,” she urges. “The last thing you want to find out is that a page is broken or something is off with your cell phone!”
Peterman notes that transparency also helps maintain a smooth sales process by qualifying leads before they reach out. “Streamlining your contact forms, offering quick responses, and clearly displaying your packages and pricing can reduce friction in the process,” he explains. “You don’t want to waste any of your time, or your potential customer's time, by not being transparent.”
A seamless booking process sets the tone for a five-star brand experience. Show your prospects exactly what they can expect from working with you!
Refine your time management approach
During booking season, it might feel like your sales pipeline is overflowing with leads. While it’s good for your bottom line, an influx of leads can disrupt your typical business processes if you don’t have a dedicated sales team.
Michelle Maslowski of One of a Kind Events recommends using time-blocking to address a heavy flow of leads without dropping the ball in other areas of your business.
“Rather than jumping on inquiries the moment they come in, we block out several times a day that we respond to inquiries,” she reveals. “Blocking time out each day during engagement season guarantees we get to each inquiry and booking in a timely manner and give each lead the personal attention we want to provide.”
You can apply the same technique to other sales and marketing activities, like scheduling consultations, prospecting, and posting to social media. While these tasks are vital for lead generation, they shouldn’t come at the expense of your regular business functions.
Set up reusable templates
Time is of the essence when responding to inquiries, but you can’t expect to have a spare moment every time a new lead comes in. Having pre-written templates allows you to respond quickly and consistently, saving time while maintaining expectations.
“Templates that need only a little tweaking (say the prospect's first name) make responding to a laundry list of emails so much faster and easier,” Maslowski assures.
Whether it’s an initial inquiry response or a follow-up, templates help to ensure no lead slips through the cracks. Additionally, Maslowski recommends pre-scheduling emails to save even more time. “Scheduling emails allows you to work ahead, so you don't have to worry about sending a follow-up email,” she adds.
Email templates are excellent time-savers, but relying on them can lead to communications that feel impersonal or robotic. Couples want to work with people who connect with them on a personal level, so be mindful to strike a balance between efficiency and authenticity. Use templates as a foundation, but try to customize each email with details from their inquiry to build rapport and showcase your personality.
With the holidays around the corner, every wedding professional should be thinking about ways to prepare for the busy booking season. From fine-tuning your brand messaging to creating streamlined processes, a proactive approach will ensure your business remains visible as your sales pipeline fills up with leads. But don’t wait until the last minute—now is the time to get ahead of the game!
Meghan Ely is the owner of wedding PR and wedding marketing firm OFD Consulting. Ely is a sought-after speaker and a self-professed royal wedding enthusiast.
