Wedding expos are a concentrated dose of wedding vendors for brides and grooms-to-be. Couples will research attire, event spaces, caterers, videographers, and photographers. Having a vendor space at these shows gets you exposure and can create a great list of leads. In addition, having a great booth with professional wedding album samples, large prints, and offering raffle prizes attracts potential clients. A crowded booth creates a buzz and allows the photographer to talk to multiple people at the same time. However, what does all this look like virtually? As you’ll be able to see below in our guide to Navigating Virtual Wedding Expos – Part 2, it takes some planning. Once you find your virtual space and understand the trade show platform, it’s time to create content for your “booth”
Preparing Your Expo Materials
Here are some of the assets you’ll need for a virtual expo.
- A great bio!
- An identifiable brand and logo
- Links to all social media platforms so attendees can follow you
- Downloadable brochures with clickable content that takes attendees to your website
- Great wedding and engagement images
- Detailed photos of the professional wedding albums that you offer
- Video and or slideshows showing your work and products
- Live or recorded presentations about your business
- Downloadable giveaway/prizes to raffle off
Showing professional albums and finished prints lets couples know what your brand delivers.
Creating your marketing content for a virtual expo is a project. Getting your message across will require more than showing pretty pictures. It is more than just photography, it’s everything you do for your clients.
You’ll need to tell the story of your brand. If this is your mission statement: “From our first consultation to the delivery of your unique wedding album, Two Hearts Photography strives to bring you beautiful imagery and the highest quality professional products,” you’ll have to deliver this message over and over and over.
Communicate Clearly and Effectively
Not being face to face with a prospective client means that your communication has to be engaging, clear, and informative. Therefore, navigating virtual wedding expos requires a strategy. “If you are not a strong writer, it may be a time to reach out to a professional who specializes in writing copy,” says Nancy Burgess of Nancy Burgess Strategic Marketing. Additionally, this can benefit the marketing collateral at your virtual booth and on your website. Digital marketing specialist, Burgess adds, “The goal of writing great copy is to promote your brand messaging and drive traffic to your website and capture emails to start a conversation with great prospects.” You need the attendees to engage with you!
Moving Pictures
If there’s an opportunity for video at your booth, use it. As a result, videos will keep guests at your space for a longer period of time. If a live streaming presentation can be done, GO FOR IT!
Authenticity is the name of the game with live pieces, so let your personality take the lead. If you need to make a recorded piece, Animoto and other web-hosted video creators can help you make dynamic marketing clips in a matter of minutes.
Video content for your virtual booth is great. If you can stream live, even better!
Gathering Information
It’s all about the giveaways! (Really it’s all about lead capture!) Bonuses, freebies, and raffles draw in the crowds. In exchange for the prizes and promo items, you gain contact info for potential buyers, leads. What downloadable treats can you share? Think about gift cards for local restaurants, complimentary engagement sessions, tips for planning your first-look pictures, a list of top 10 places to do bridal party pictures, or your favorite cupcake recipe. Be creative and have a plan.
Prepare your follow-up campaign ahead of the expo. Remember to be consistent and persistent. Three to five follow-up emails are an inbox reminder of your name and service. If you don’t have a studio management system like ShootQ or Honey Book, Mailchimp can be a good campaign assistant.
What’s Next?
Virtual wedding expos can help professional wedding photographers continue to get in front of couples looking to hire. In addition, the materials that are created for these shows can easily be added to your website to create a more robust online presence.
We hope you learned in Navigating Virtual Wedding Expos – Part 2 some tips and tricks to success this engagement and wedding planning season. In our next and last blog on virtual expos, we’ll look at goals for attending shows and set up an action plan.
