You met the brides at the bridal show…now it’s time to follow up with them! Here are some simple tips for exhibitors as you follow up through emails:
- This should be the most obvious, but include your company name and contact information! How else will a bride know who you are and how to get in touch with you? If you have a website (which you all should), make sure you include that as well. Today’s bride is very tech-savvy and will want to find out more about you through your website.
- Make sure you include a subject line and try to make it a catchy one. The subject line is what will grab the bride’s attention and is often what determines whether or not she reads your email! It should not be too long either…The experts say it should be no longer than 5-8 words.
- Mention the name of the bridal show where you met the bride. This will give her a point of reference and give your email more legitimacy. It is always a great idea if you can also include a picture of what your booth looked like at the show.
- Make your email visually appealing! You want to be able to grab her attention, and it is going to be more difficult for a plain text only email to do that. Colors are helpful, and pictures are very eye-catching while allowing you to showcase your products or services. An email marketing program such as Constant Contact is an easy and affordable way to send an eye-catching email.
- Try to showcase your personality and why the bride should choose you to photograph her wedding, make her cake or DJ the reception. You want to do this without coming across as desperate or cheap.
- Include your professional experience. While it may not be important to every bride, it may be the decision-maker for some to know that you have been in business for 5, 10, 15 or 20 years.
- Use the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) option when sending the same email to multiple brides! This protects the bride’s information and keeps it from being available to everyone else that email was sent to. Also, it can be pretty annoying to have to scroll through a list of email addresses before being able to see the actual content of the email…or to receive multiple emails from other brides who clicked “Reply All.”
- Offer a bridal show special to give the brides an incentive to book with you. We recommend a dollar amount rather than a percentage for perceived value…They know exactly what they would save.
- Do not send emails too often. There is a fine line with what could be considered too often. You want to keep your name in front of the bride, but you also want to be respectful of the fact that you are not the only exhibitor sending her emails. At the same time, send more than one email. They are coming to the shows at all points in their planning process. Many will not be at the stage in their planning where they are ready to book your particular service.
- Have patience!
These are just a few simple tips that we feel will help to make your emails stand out more for brides. Do you have any other tips to add?