by Alan Berg,Wedding Marketing Expert and Featured Speaker at the Upcoming Wedding Biz Conference

While we live in a digital world, printed materials are still key to any business. We’re a “less-paper” society, not a “paperless” one. You have many different kinds of printed collateral materials from business cards to brochures, postcards to price lists and menus to promotional pieces. Are your collateral pieces supporting your business or are they causing “collateral damage”.

Your collateral materials need to support your brand image, your mission and your goals. Very often they’re the first impression a prospect will have of you and your business. Are they doing their job, or is it time to replace them? If your business has evolved but your collateral materials haven’t, then it’s definitely time to replace them. One of the  ingest mistakes is waiting to use up your current materials before printing new, better ones.

I’m often asked what new printed pieces will cost and the answer is the same as what a new website will cost you… less than the business you’re losing by having the wrong ones. That’s right, if you lose just one client because your business card, postcard, brochure, etc. turned them off, the profit from that job is likely to have been enough to have printed better ones.

So, what makes a printed piece better? Pretty much the same things that make your other marketing better; they’re well designed, reflect your brand identity, have a clear purpose and a clear call to action. Whoever gets it need to know: Who you are, What you do and What you want them to do now that they have it.

When should you print the materials yourself and when should you print them professionally? If the information isn’t likely to change very often, it’s usually better and cheaper to have them printed professionally. If there are photos then it’s usually better to get them printed professionally. If you often need small quantities of a piece then you may want to consider printing them yourself.

Just understand that printing them yourself doesn’t mean you designed them yourself. There’s no substitute for good design and quality. There are many high-quality printers, laser and inkjet, that will produce a very good image, but make sure that the image that’s  being printed is of sufficient quality to support your brand. If you choose to print them yourself, the goal is to make it so that the person getting it can’t tell that you printed it in-house.

Is print here to stay? While I’m sure we’ll continue to reduce the need to print certain materials, I think it will be a very long time until we’re a truly paperless society. Come to the Wedding Biz conference and you’ll see me do live reviews of attendees’ collateral materials. That’s right, I’ll be analyzing and giving suggestions on how to improve the actual materials of some of the attendees. Are you brave enough to submit yours for analysis?

10 Facebook for Business Best Practices:

1. Be interactive, fun and helpful. When people reach your Facebook page, they are looking for some kind of interaction. Don‟t disappoint them. As an example, a hardware company offered their Facebook fans links, applications, and engaging information, and within a short time, they added 26,000 fans!

2. Embed videos on your Facebook page. There is no reason why you should send people to YouTube to watch your videos. Keep ‘em right on your page with embedded videos!

3. Create a connection between Facebook and the outside world. I recently read a case study about how sales reps worked with local retailers to promote their events through Facebook updates and photos. Consider something similar.

4. Create contests on Facebook. Contests are a fun and engaging way to encourage participation from fans and even generate new fans. For example, in order to enter a contest, one company asked people to comment on a thread announcing a giveaway in Facebook.

5. Integrate traditional advertising with Facebook. The Facebook icon/logo is well known. Add it to your print ads to promote your Facebook presence. Another great idea is to use traditional ads to promote contests that encourage people to sign up on your fan page.

6. Use Facebook to grow your email list, and vice versa. Use your email newsletter to boost awareness of your Facebook page. In addition, promote your email newsletter to your existing Facebook fans. The end result will be growth in your email list and your Facebook fan base.

7. Introduce new products on Facebook first. People who sign up to be fans of your Facebook page are likely your most loyal evangelists and customers. Reward them by giving them information about a new product/service/feature before everyone else. If you do it right, they will help you promote it to others.

8. Welcome new page visitors. When thinking about Facebook, a new metric comes to mind: visitor-to-like. As a B2B company, you ultimately want to maximize the percentage of people who visit your Facebook Page and click the “Like” button. One important way to achieve this goal and establish expectations with new fans is to implement a ‘welcome’ landing page that invites new visitors to Like your Page. Technically, there are many ways to execute this.

9.Integrate social content on your Facebook Page. Facebook is the gateway to the internet for many people. They use it as a home base. In fact, one in eight minutes on the internet is spent on Facebook. Because Facebook has become such an online home for people, it is important to incorporate content from other social channels like YouTube and SlideShare to extend the life and reach of that content.

10. ‘Like’ other businesses’ Facebook Pages. Remember that social media is, well, social. By Liking the Pages of business partners, valued vendors, and customers, Facebook will notify the administrators of those Pages. In return, some of them may also decide to Like your Page, which will also expose it to the individual fans of their Pages. Think of this as leveraging Facebook for co-marketing efforts.

We encourage you to implement all of these practices in ways that make sense for your bridal marketing business. If you need help, consider signing up for our Social Media Jumpstart webinars or contact us for information about Facebook Facelift services. You will also learn more about Facebook and Twitter and other social media best practices by registering to attend the Engage A Bride Wedding Biz Conference.

Credits: hubspot.com, cwi.me

QR Codes are an easy, free and paper-saving way to engage with brides directly.

Vendors participating in the next Bridal Extravaganza of Atlanta are going to experience how mobile QR codes—those funny looking squares–will help you connect directly with more brides and more business.   For starters, your Be A Bride directly listing page, including your contacts, images and social links will one scan away for brides attending the show.

We’re Mobilizing Brides!

Our new Be A Bride mobile app will include a QR code reader, and every bride registered to attend the show will be encouraged to download it and have it on their phone.

Want to create a QR code?  

Google QR CODE Generators to select a free service, or click here for one of our favorites

Here are more tips for using QR codes at the bridal show:

1. Replace your business card with a QR code

A QR code can store your contact information so that scanning it with a smartphone creates an entry in the smartphone’s address book.  Stick your personal QR code on your tradeshow name badge (print it on a label), and encourage new business contacts to scan it to ensure your business card doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. It will also help your new contact recognize your name when you make a follow-up call after the tradeshow.

2.Stop wasting paper and spending too much on printing.

So many of us love decorating tradeshow tables with dozens of flyers and printed brochures. But when brides scoop them up and add them to their overflowing swag bags, we get excited about possibly scoring a new lead.  But how can we know what the passerby does with our flyer? Does she read it? Share it? Store it? Throw it away?

Instead of distributing hard copies of marketing materials, you can distribute electronic copies via email. Simply create a QR code that links to your materials online, even better to a video. You can also Link your QR code to a data-capture landing page linked to your email marketing software. Include a few simple fields for the user to complete—such as name, phone number, and email address, wedding date—and sync the form with a subscriber list that automatically sends an email that contains your welcome message along with links to the material.  Now you’ve got that bride in your marketing database.

3. Don’t force people to visit your table

You don’t need to limit your use of QR codes to your table display. You can include your QR code in advertising, in the program as an image, or print it next to your logo on the event signage.  A perfect use if you are sponsoring a designer gallery table. Put a QR code on your display signage.  You will have a captive audience at the table who can scan the QR code for more information about you or even more details about what went into designing the table.

Learn More about “MOBILIZING YOUR BUSINESS” by attending the Engage A Bride Wedding Biz Conference

more on QR codes and trade show marketing: marketingprofs.com

“This is essential learning for everyone seeking to increase their wedding business,” said Donna Jakulski, The creator of the Bridal Extravaganza of Atlanta in announcing the conference. “Online marketing, social media and increasingly video drives our bridal show marketing, and we think it is critical that more of our industry colleagues have an easy and affordable way to learn how to apply some of these practices into reality for their businesses.

“The race to reach the bride and cut through the competitive clutter requires new strategies and new digital marketing,” adds Linda Surles, the director of digital development and  publisher of Wedding Day Planner, and former Atlanta Bride & Groom Planner. “We’re putting together a powerful day of practical  marketing learning all about how to do more business with brides.”

Session Topics include:

• Popping the REAL Question. Can your Business Survive without Social Media?”
• Marrying Your Business to Facebook. How to get Brides to LOVEyou and SHARE it.
• The Love Plan. Transforming your passion, talent and desire into a successful wedding industry business plan.
• The Art of Engagement in 140 characters or less. Understanding Twitter and using it to build your bridal business.
• Avoiding Collateral Damage.  Using printed collateral powerfully in a digital world, and avoiding costly mistakes.
• Say I Do To Blogging.  Simple secrets to reach brides using the power of words that are free.
• Marry Me. Courting brides online by developing an essential Content Strategy.
• In the Palm of Her Hand.  Mobilizing Your Business in Meaningful Ways along with Why Video Matters in Your Marketing

One attendee will be selected to have their business challenges evaluated and perhaps even solved on the spot with the combined know-how of the  entire panel of conference experts.  The winning attendee will receive thousands of dollars in free social media, marketing and business solutions and services.

The Engage A Bride Wedding Biz Marketing Conference will be held on Monday, January 30, 2012 from 9 am to 5pm at the 200 Peachtree Special Events & Conference Center in downtown Atlanta.  The Conference is being held on the day following the next Bridal Extravaganza of Atlanta, which is from 12pm to 5pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012 and will lead directly into the industry’s highly anticipated annual event, Design Trends 2012 produced by the National Association of Catering Executives.  All events will be held at 200 Peachtree with discount ticket packages available.

Two of Atlanta’s Most Respected Wedding Industry Producers and Publishers—The Bridal Extravaganza’s Donna Jakulski and Wedding Day Planner Publisher Linda Surles—come together to provide the Next Generation of Bridal Marketing.

Atlanta, GA (October 12, 2011)—The Bridal Extravaganza of Atlanta and Wedding Day Planner Magazine (formerly Atlanta Bride and Groom Planner) are partnering to marry the best that a wedding show offers with the best planning information resources for brides to create an even more powerful, mobile platform for Atlanta wedding professionals to reach today’s savvy bride.

“Combining the direct reach that we have with the Bridal Extravaganza of Atlanta’s proven ability to attract hundreds of brides per show with the Wedding Day Planner’s planning editorial and wedding resources opens the door for us to deliver new ways for the wedding professionals to connect with Georgia brides.” said Donna Jakulski, the creator and producer of the Bridal Extravaganza of Atlanta. “Together, Linda and I will build the Be A Bride consumer brand and the Engage A Bride industry brands in new ways that will continue to lead the industry forward.”

“This is an exciting moment to take the bridal show and the wedding planning information needs of today’s bride to a new more personalized and relevant digital level, “ said Linda Surles, publisher of Wedding Day Planner.   “The new wedding planner mobile app is just the beginning of new products and services to come… from new video marketing, social media and pr services to an industry educational conference, we will provide new ways for wedding professionals to maximize their reach and connection with engaged couples.”

For consumers, brides and grooms will have access to online planner tools, information and articles and mobile app downloads to connect with the best wedding resources inAtlanta.

For the wedding industry, a visit to www.engageabride.com will provide all the tools and resources needed to increase your wedding visibility. These will include online registration for Bridal Extravaganza as well as new digital marketing products and services.

The Wedding Biz Marketing Conference will be held onMonday, January 30, 2011at 200 Peachtree. Industry professionals will have the opportunity for attendees to gain an even greater understanding of how to develop successful social media and marketing relationships with today’s increasingly mobile and online bride.

Linda Surles, Creator of Wedding Day Planner

Wedding Day Planner was created by Linda Surles in 2006 (initially as Atlanta Bride and Groom Planner) covering all things wedding, including planning tips and resources, gorgeous ideas, cool trends, local weddings, and THE information brides need to know from experts in the industry.

The Bridal Extravaganza of Atlanta was created by wedding show producer Donna Jakulski. It is held twice annually at the 200 Peachtree Special Event facility in downtown Atlantaand has earned accolades for the level of quality and sophistication of the show in addition to the distinction of “The Best Wedding Show in the USA.”   The next show will be held on Sunday, January 29, 2012from noonto 5pm.  Exhibitor information and online registration is now available on www.engageabride.com.  Information for brides can be found on www.beabride.co.

For more information contact:

Donna Jakulski

404-512-9933

donna@engageabride.com

Linda Surles

678-667-2247

linda@weddayplanner.com or linda@engageabride.com

Choose from optional vendor marketing services on our new registration form that include pre and post show managed messaging to prospective brides, social media support for your facebook and twitter pages, video profiles like this one and featured vendor spotlight opportunities.

Get An Extra Boost with Engage A Bride Marketing Services