Benefits of Networking
No matter how big or small, every wedding is made up of many businesses coming together to create the perfect day for the couple. Using multiple businesses, however, can be very stressful for the bride if they haven’t had any interaction with each other before. Networking with your peers in the bridal industry will not only help prevent this stress for brides, but also lead to meaningful, long-lasting relationships between your businesses. These relationships are key to growing within the industry as they allow for cross-promotion opportunities!
Identifying Potential Networking Partners
When you first start networking within the bridal industry it is important to be able to identify what connections are the most important for you to put your effort into. A great way to start finding these partners is by understanding who your target audience is and looking for other businesses with the similar one. This means that your brides are within the same niche and the transition from a bride using both of your services would be seamless as they both meet the needs and look the bride wants.
After knowing who it is you are looking to connect with, finding ways to actually meet them is the next step. One great way is to interact not only with brides at industry events but also with other businesses that are there! If the in-person networking is too intimidating for you, Facebook groups are also a great option to meet other owners!
Networking = Engaging
Just like other types of relationships, you have to continue to put in effort after your first interaction. A first step for this could be following their social media accounts, newsletter, or blog. Then, start to engage with their posts in a meaningful way. This means not only liking their photos, but also commenting on the posts with something of value. Sending DMs or emails is the next step in creating a real relationship between your businesses. These can be friendly check-ins, kudos, or to start a discussion on industry trends such as looking for opinions or advice. Doing this can start real conversations that can help both parties!
Create Opportunities to Cross-Promote
Once you have created and continued to maintain these relationships, creating a way to cross-promote your businesses is the perfect way to build value. Cross-promoting will be dependent on what types of businesses you are trying to combine. For example, networking with a local cafe could mean having their food at your store’s bridal appreciation parties! Other simple cross-promotions could be based on upcoming bridal shows or mainly for content creation. A simple and useful partnership for content creation, for example, can be a bridal shop, photographer, and makeup/hair artist. Making ways to collaborate will continue to build the relationship between your businesses and increase your own brand awareness.
Want to learn more?
Check out our other blog posts and follow us on Instagram at @engagedmarketingcompany for more marketing tips for bridal shops and other small businesses!
