How Businesses Can Succeed At Wedding Fayres
This year’s wedding season is already in full swing, so the current market is as competitive as ever. Richard Cutmore, Director of TFH Gazebos, shares his advice for making your spot at a wedding fair count.
Wedding fairs are extremely beneficial for brides and businesses alike. Planners and soon-to-be-weds are given the opportunity to browse the many different options available to them in one place, and businesses can engage directly with their target market.
However, these events can also be frantic and competitive, so it’s important to make sure you’re doing all you can to stand out to potential customers.
Below are my tips for promoting your business at a wedding fair to bring in more customers and drive sales.
Start early
It’s never too early to start planning your approach. Take the time to develop a proper strategy, including what your pitch will be and what interactive elements you will use. Good pitches are usually short and sweet, covering all the basics of your business in around 30 seconds or less.
The interactive element can be anything that gives customers an example of what you provide. The best interactive elements get customers to touch and use your product, but food businesses should offer free samples and business that provide services (for example, photography) could consider videos to demonstrate what they can do.
One of the best opportunities wedding fairs provide, which is often overlooked, is being able to speak to other businesses who are also at the event. Before the fair, research who else will be there and make a list of businesses that you want to approach. You can learn a lot from them, plus networking like this means that they might remember you and recommend you to their clients.
Once you’ve mapped out the perfect wedding fair strategy, you can reuse it time and time again at different events. The same goes for your promotional materials: proper marketing — such as leaflets, flyers, and freebies — may cost a little extra upfront but, once you get them right, you can use and distribute them at as many different events as necessary.
Organise your staff
Before the wedding fair, make sure your staff are well prepared and everybody knows what their role is. Schedule staggered break times so that everyone can keep their energy levels up without leaving the stand unattended, missing opportunities, or snacking in front of customers, which could put people off. Discuss what you will do when there’s a lull or, equally, when you’re overwhelmed with custom. For example, can one person leave the stand to approach customers and return when the stall gets busy?
You and your staff are also ambassadors for your business, so think carefully about your personal appearance. Make sure your clothing is clean, pressed, and carries your brand. You and your staff should always be friendly, welcoming, and paying attention, and everyone should know all the necessary technical information about your product or service. Remember: it’s good to be proactive and engaging, but don’t be pushy when it comes to sales. Focus on building a good reputation instead.
Be memorable
Most wedding fair visitors won’t have the time to visit every stall, so it’s important that they can learn the basics about your business at a glance. Heavily feature your logo and business name on your banners, flags, and gazebo; this way, even if people don’t stop by today, they might remember you in the future.
Make sure you know exactly what your stand will look like. Will you be indoors or outdoors? How big of a booth will you be given? There’s nothing less engaging than an empty table, so it’s a good idea to print tablecloths with your logo and create a display by arranging your products or promotional materials.
Why not host a competition or raffle? That way, people will remember to come back to you later to see whether they have won. Offering something more than just a sales pitch shows that little bit of extra commitment, organisation, and excitement. You could even announce the winner on social media to create a buzz and encourage participants to give you a follow.
Take these tips on board, and you can be confident that you’ll attract customers and increase sales at the next wedding fair you attend.
The UK Wedding Event has two intimate shows coming up this month at DoubleTree by Hilton in York on Sunday 14th July followed by Royal Hotel Hull on Sunday 21st July and you can book free tickets to attend them by clicking HERE.