Lesson #9 - Wired Up With WeddingWire

WeddingWire first began back in 2007 as a way for the wedding industry to efficiently connect consumers with merchants in an online platform. Timothy Chi, WeddingWire CEO, helped launch the company from his living room and has continued to expand their inventory, both with staff and member numbers, ever since. Today, WeddingWire is one of the largest wedding sites in the world and their technology helps to power other leading wedding industry sites like Martha Stewart Weddings. In fact, their platform now powers over 14,000 small businesses across the globe. However, at its core, WeddingWire is still doing exactly what Chi set out to accomplish; connecting customers with vendors efficiently and effectively.

So what can WeddingWire do for you? It would probably be easier to tell you what WeddingWire cannot do for you, but here are some of the highlights of their interactive and informative website:

• Local Vendor Search
• From venues to photographers and florist to catering teams, the WeddingWire website has over 200,000 vendors in their database
• Each vendor has their own page on the WeddingWire website with photos, deals, FAQs, and customer reviews
• This page also contains a link to the vendors actual website (if applicable) and buttons to find the vendor on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest
• Wedding Forums
• This is a place for customers and companies to interact via discussion boards based on a wide variety of topics
• Don’t see the topic you wish to discuss? You can create your own discussion board forum at the click of a button
• Find Your Dress
• Allows visitors to sort through bridal gowns, bridesmaid’s dresses, flower girl dresses and more by brand, neckline, silhouette, price, etc.
• You can also search through photos of invitations, favors, jewelry and much more
• If you find a dress you love you can click the “save” button located at the bottom of every photo and it will be stored on your “inspiration board”

There are several other tools on the WeddingWire website such as gift registry assistance, travel recommendations, and search tools to find truck shows and bridal events in your area.

Most of the tools listed above are available to anyone that comes across the WeddingWire website. However, once you are a registered member, even more tools become available to you! After we got engaged, I began using one of WeddingWire’s competitors, TheKnot. However, their personalized website service does not even come close to comparing to the options that WeddingWire gives you. That was enough for me to make the switch!

Their website options are not the only aspect of WeddingWire’s planning tools. In fact, let’s take a closer look at how WeddingWire can help you plan your big day.

• Your  Profile
• Much like a Facebook profile, this is a snapshot of who you are and what you are interested in talking about with other couples
• Allows you to add photos, videos, vendors, and inspiration boards to better connect with other users
• Fun fact: this has a cute little wedding day countdown on the side too!
• Wedding Checklist
• After you create your profile, and plug in your wedding date, a personalized checklist is
  created for you
• This serves as an excellent guideline as to when you should begin thinking about certain aspects of your wedding and when you should actually be locking those details in place
• Once you have completed a task, just click the box and away it goes!

• Inspiration Boards
• Essentially, this is the exact same concept as Pinterest boards; allowing you to add items to your inspiration boards that you find while browsing the WeddingWire site
• Unique to this option though is the ability to customize where your photos are displayed – in the end, your board can literally look like you created a bulletin board
• Wedding Website
• This is the main reason why I joined WeddingWire! It’s easy to use and has hundreds of background/template options
• You can customize the areas of your site (i.e. Wedding Party, Venue Locations, etc.)
• Allows you to create a unique URL with you own wedding name
• Fun fact: our wedding website is still under construction, but feel free to take a look
• www.weddingwire.com/laceeandsteven
• Interactive Room Diagram
• This is also one of the best features of the WeddingWire website and one that many other wedding website services do not offer
• Type in the dimensions of your reception venue and begin creating your customized room layout
• Options to add various types of tables and bars to the diagram to see just how many people will fit your space
• After you have input your guest list, the seating chart gives you the opportunity to individually place each guest in a chair on your diagram

• Budget Calculator
• Lists all of the individual costs that you might come across while planning and executing your wedding
• Columns for the estimated cost, the actual cost, the amount paid, and the amount due
•  Also gives you the option to add in your own costs, if they are not already listed

WeddingWire’s planning resources are incredible and I login to their website at least once a week. However, their most helpful tool happens to be their mobile application. All of their planning resources are accessible on their mobile app, as well as various photos, discussion forums, and inspiration boards. You can literally plan your wedding at any point in time at virtually any place you happen to be. WeddingWire is not only mobile friendly, but is “other network” friendly as well. Social share buttons (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+) are included at the bottom of every photo on the WeddingWire website and you can even download their Facebook app to share your wedding story with even more couples and wedding lovers.

While WeddingWire does a great job of working alongside other social media networks, they could use some work in the proximity marketing department. Some things they could consider would be offering deals or coupons to customers that check-in at their “WeddingWire Rated” locations or claiming venues or vendor locations as WeddingWire approved on services like Yelp and FourSquare. WeddingWire Rated vendors have had a certain amount of positive reviews in areas like quality of service, professionalism, and value. Allowing their positively rated venues and vendors to use the WeddingWire name for these purposes would help the venue and vendor’s credibility at the same time the WeddingWire name is being spread to more and more potential customers.

All in all, WeddingWire offers a unique and pleasant dreaming and planning experience for brides, potential brides, and wedding lovers alike. With easy sharing options and on-the-go tools, WeddingWire has taken its target audience of small business owners and eager brides and turned themselves into a wedding industry staple. 

{Let's Make A Connection}

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Lesson #6 - A Fairy Tale Email

Greetings!

I’m so glad you took a little leap and opened my email! Allow me to introduce myself – my name is Lacee Utt and I’m a passionate wedding event lover and an avid social media enthusiast. Now, I’m sure you hear that more often than you would like, so let me explain what I mean by that statement…

Much like most young girls, I grew up playing in princess dresses and hosting pretend (albeit quite real to me) tea parties for my dolls and stuffed animals. However, I quickly realized that my fascination with all thinsgs glittery and magical ran much deeper than a simple girlhood dream. I’ve always had a “pixie dust” approach to life, but when I joined the Walt Disney Company my senior year of college, I’m pretty sure that pixie dust quadrupled! It was a range of emotions that can pretty much be summed up like this…

I haven’t had the most typical professional career journey to say the least. From operating theme park attractions to solving guest situations while wearing a plaid wool vest in 90 degree Florida sun, nothing has ever been off limits. It’s been through these “interesting” positions that I have found the core skills and values that make up my professional self. Impeccable guest (customer) service, exceeding guest expectations, anticipating guests needs and desires before they are ever mentioned, and remaining calm, kind, and understanding in high stress and demanding situations. All of those experiences, coupled with incredible skills that I learned along the way, eventually led me to the mecca of all things pixie dust filled: Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings!

My time with the Disney Weddings team has lead me to my true passion; creating and executing fairy tales for any person brave enough to dream of their very own happily ever after! With this passion and my growing knowledge of social media and marketing, I would make an incredible candidate for your Social Media Manager position. While David’s Bridal already has a strong social presence, I would love to further and deepen that presence by creating lasting and real relationships with fans, followers, and customers alike. By taking your existing social media outlets and adding in even more personal touches, together we could take David’s Bridal to places never thought possible. Adding in places for tips and tricks from wedding professionals, places for Brides and Grooms to dream and create their perfect day (take a look at my Pinterest board for an example), and places to showcase real life fairy tales come true are all ideas that I would bring to this position. I hope to strengthen the idea already brought forth in your television commercials…You’ll love David’s Bridal.

I love David’s Bridal and I hope that you will love me too!

In Love and Laughter,
Lacee Utt

{Let's Make A Connection}

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Lesson #4 - Maintaining the Love

I love David’s Bridal so much that this week’s post is dedicated to that socially savvy and totally trendy Bride loving brand all over again!

Visiting David’s Bridal’s website is a fun, enjoyable, and informative experience for Brides of all kinds. It’s updated constantly with the latest additions to their various collections including bridal gowns, bridesmaid’s dresses, shoes, accessories and much more. With daily deals and online promotions, sometimes the website is more effective than an in-person stop at a David’s Bridal store!

There are several sections of the website that take a Bride far past just browsing for her gown or her bridal party dresses and introduce fresh and new content. The “Dress Your Wedding” link takes her to a virtual world where she can create her entire bridal party and actually put them in their outfits. She can even change the background to fit something closer to her actual wedding atmosphere. This option gives her the ability to “see” what her wedding party will look like when they are standing next to her.

The “Color &Style Inspiration” link brings her to a place where she can do just that…get inspired. There are links to the David’s Bridal catalog and look book, to the latest bridal trends, to real life wedding stories, and of course, to their blog and social media sites. One of the neatest features in this section is the “Find Your Figure” tool. It allows her to click on the body figure that most resembles her own and then gives her ideas for the types of dress that will look most faltering on her.

There is also a “WeddingSolutions” link that offers her advice on various parts of the wedding planning process, apart from dress and shoe buying. This section of the site shows viewers that David’s Bridal is more than just a wedding dress retailer, but that they are also true industry professionals with a great knowledge for their product and beyond. With links to local vendors, tips and advice articles, photographers, reception services and much more, it shows that David’s Bridal is a true expert when it comes to helping you plan your special day.

One of the best features of the David’s Bridal website is their “My Event” section. This is a great way to get Brides hooked on their site and coming back for more than just dresses and shoes and really plays to that “industry professional” piece we just talked about. The My Event site provides her with all of the tools needed to plan her special day. From a budget calculator to a shopping list, this is her virtual filing cabinet and will help keep her on task with the planning process. The best part – it’s completely mobile friendly! 

As you can see, David’s Bridal’s website is a fun and interactive place for Brides to play, dream, create, and be inspired. With “share” and “like” buttons on every buyable item’s page, it’s easy for users to share their findings with friends and followers alike. The best part about their website though is that you can continue dreaming and creating on your smart phone as well! Their mobile website is user friendly and easy to navigate, just like their online version, so the planning doesn’t have to stop when you leave your computer.

In visiting the David’s Bridal website, you will encounter some “push marketing” tactics like a pop up chat window that allows you to speak directly with a David’s Bridal representative, emails that offer promotions and insider tips on the latest trends in the wedding industry, and pop up ad windows showing off their exclusive wedding invitation collection. They also make great use of “pull marketing” techniques by giving you the opportunity to sign up for email newsletters, being the first link when “wedding dresses” is searched on Google, an opportunity to sign up for text messages alerts on promotions and trends,  and offer great real-life advice and stories on their official blog site.

Throughout all of David’s Bridal’s multiple online outlets, consistent branding and theming is seen on every platform. From Facebook to Twitter and Instagram to banner ads and websites, the use of their logo and similar colors (depending on the fashion season of course) makes it easy to navigate between each site and never feel lost or confused.

There isn’t a lot about the David’s Bridal website, or brand in general, that I would change. However, there is always room for improvement. I think that marketing their My Event tool more could prove quite useful. I had never even heard of their event tools until pretty recently, I thought that only brands with planning tools were The Knot and Wedding Wire. These two brands also off their planning tools in an app, something David's Bridal could benefit from greatly. It’s also pretty difficult to find their blog on their website and social media platforms. In fact, I’m not entirely sure how I happened upon in the first place. The only way I could find the link to it on their website, was at the VERY bottom of the site in a “Connect With Us” section that houses links to their Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube accounts. They obviously have a great presence in social media, but I feel like they could do a better job of sharing that with their website visitors.

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Lesson #3 - You'll Love David's Bridal

With nearly 2.5 million weddings happening each year in the United States alone, it’s easy to assume how bridal superstore, David’s Bridal has become the most successful bridal retailer in the nation. According to ScottRogers, Director of Strategic Planning for David’s Bridal, from 2006 to 2007 two-thirds of all brides shopped at a David’s Bridal location! One of the many reasons David’s Bridal attracts such a large audience is their “David’sBridal difference.” Rogers explained that this means offering customers the ability to try on dresses in her size and color, and know exactly what she is purchasing (and at a reasonable price too). A stark contrast from the industry standard’s strategy of carrying sample dresses in just a few sizes and making their customers wait several months to “officially” try on their dress.

So how did David’s Bridal get their brand and idea seen in the first place? An incredible integrated marketing campaign – that’s how! David’s Bridal started as a small Fort Lauderdale bridal salon in 1950 and was purchased in 1972 by entrepreneur PhilYoutie. Youtie noticed in the 1980s that Brides were changing; he said, “I saw a busy, intelligent bride-to-be who didn’t have the time, patience, or money to shop for a wedding gown the old way.” Using this insight and analysis, David’s Bridal opened David’sBridal Warehouse in 1990, a first of its kind bridal superstore, offering discounted designer replica wedding dresses in all sizes and shapes. While it was met with industry criticism, budget conscience Brides fell in love with the concept! In 1994 and 1995, David’s Bridal doubled in size from 14 to 36 stores – fast forward to today and David’s Bridal operates more than 300stores nationwide.

So what kind of marketing strategy are we talking about exactly? Sure, David’s Bridal has seen incredible growth and evolution over the past 60 years, but how have their marketing strategies evolved? Simple, they have kept up with the latest and greatest technology creations!

In 1996, you could find this bridal gem on your television! That catchy tune, “You’ll love David’s Bridal,” has been a staple in the companies television commercials since the very beginning…admit it, you’re singing along right now too!

While their television commercials have evolved over the years, incorporating the latest fashion trends and hooking you with incredible sales and promotional offers, that catchy tune has remained a consistent piece of their marketing and advertising scheme.

Television is not the only place you’ll find David’s Bridal marketing on display. Have you ever opened one of the many bridal magazines on display at the grocery store checkout counter? If so, you’ve probably seen a David’s Bridal print ad like the ones pictured here. Often times, these ads also contain coupons or promotional offerings that the reader can redeem at a David’s Bridal location (or even online)..

David’s Bridal also has a presence at nearly every Bridal Show or Expo happening across the country! Bringing along samples of their latest collections, free giveaways for attendees, and helpful brand representatives that are passionate and knowledgeable about their product – couple those elements with the consistent use of their iconic logo and you’ve got a winning combination...and one I’m certainly going to pay attention to.

Speaking of consistency, have you ever stepped foot into more than one David’s Bridal store? If so, you probably haven’t noticed much a difference. Racks and racks of dresses in the front and fitting rooms in the back, it seems pretty standard but the consistent feel offers shoppers a sense of comfort and knowledge while browsing. 

One of the most helpful aspects of my recent David’s Bridal experience is their “Wish List." While I am getting married Florida, my bridesmaids will be coming from all over the country. I was able to go to my local David’s Bridal, pick out my bridesmaid dresses (and shoes), and add it to my “Wish List.” Now, all my bridal party needs to do is go to their local David’s Bridal and say they need items from Lacee’s Wish List. The associate can pull my Wish List from their database and my girls will know exactly what to purchase – super helpful and calms any nerves about your girls getting the wrong dress. After my in-store visit, I now get emails weekly about specials, promotions, and the latest additions to their various collections.

But don’t forget…I mentioned that David’s Bridal was keeping their fingers on the pulse of not just the latest fashion trends but also the latest advances in technologies. As Brides have gotten increasingly more mobile and virtual, David’s Bridal has had no choice but to keep up with the changing industry. They have an incredibly informative website that allows Brides to search their vast inventory at the click of a button. It's easy to register and quickly start receiving exclusive emails. However, it’s become more than just shopping for HER wedding dress; today’s Bride is looking for a one-stop-shop, a place she can browse (and potentially purchase) bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses, shoes, accessories, etc. David’s Bridal has answered her demands with an enormous inventory of personal and designer collections to dress her entire bridal party from head to toe. With the 2012 launch of their mobile website, Brides can literally have it all at their fingertips everywhere they go. KeelyConley, Director of e-Commerce for David’s Bridal said, “Mobile is key to the future of David’s Bridal’s multichannel experience…As a brand, being present across a broad range of consumer touch points is critical in strengthening our relationships with customers.” You can even join a text message club with David’s Bridal to receive bridal alerts and offers straight to your phone.

While the website has been a great tool in enhancing David’s Bridal’s marketing scheme, they knew it was also time to expand into the ever growing social media world. With the creation of official David’s Bridal Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and blog pages, I’d say David’s Bridal is doing pretty well keeping up with the times! Each of these platforms offer ways for David’s Bridal to reach their consumers in ways that Phil Youtie would have never thought possible in 1972. These platforms allow fans, followers, and David’s Bridal themselves to share personal stories about their experiences, tell their own stories on a public platform, and share tips and tricks with the ever-emotional bridal community. Each of these social outlets helps to foster relationships between consumers and the brand better than any television or print advertisement ever could.

David’s Bridal has clearly done a great job of blending outbound marketing (television commercials, print ads, and in-person sales expos) with inbound marketing tactics (websites, emails, and social media platforms). So well, in fact, that David’s Bridal was honored as a Silver Winner at the 2012Channel Innovation Awards for its “innovative approaches to connecting brides to personalized wedding planning resources through its online web store and creative a cohesive brand experience no matter how or where their customers shop.”

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