GROUP FORCE Ball Gown Or A-Line? Live Band Or DJ? Tiara Or Veil
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Be a Bride Pull brides in with attractive Web sites and irresistible Mbridal events. agnet By Amanda Long Ball gown or A-line? Live band or DJ? Tiara or veil? attention is packed. Floral Management talked to florists who’ve learned how to Chicken or fish? Tahiti or Hawaii? As soon as that ring lands stop brides in both their virtual and real tracks. These florists haven’t just creat- on her finger, a bride-to-be enters the decision-making marathon, often at ed a Web site or plunked down some cash to exhibit at a bridal show, they’ve full speed. The bridal magazines pile up, the unsolicited advice from turned themselves into forces that brides can’t resist. future in-laws pours in and the bride races from one vendor to the next. G roup Force So how do you get her to slow down and head in your direction? Brides, like most customers, rely on top search engines to begin their Put yourself smack dab in the middle their wedding planning. online hunting. So to get on their trail, of her planning path, that’s how. Most Nearly every major metropolitan area pretend you’re a newly engaged bride get- brides don’t get to the aisle before first has wedding guide site portals, like www. ting married in Sarasota, Fla., (giddy glow heading to the Internet or to a bridal elegantsarasotaweddings.com (created by not required). You go to Yahoo.com or show. Increasingly brides are relying on florist Art Conforti) and www.dallaswed- Google.com and type in “Sarasota wed- online local wedding sites and clearing- dings.com, where brides can search for dings” in the search function. The first houses like The Knot.com, which counts local vendors. And in cities large and site at the top of the list is 2.1 million unique visitors a month. small, bridal expos attract crowds in the www.ElegantSarasotaWeddings.com or Alan Fields, one of the authors of thousands during the planning frenzied www.SarasotaWeddings.com, the online “Cyberbride: The Complete Online months of January and August. This year, components of a local wedding network Guide to Planning Your Wedding,” esti- Seattle’s two-day Wedding Show wel- created by Art Conforti, owner of Beneva mates nearly 90 percent of couples now comed at least 8,500 attendees. Flowers in Sarasota. Click here, or on one look to the Web for at least some of The crowd fighting for the brides’ of the network’s paid listings, and your 22 MARCH 2004 | Floral Management Clockwise from left: Beneva Flowers shows off its wares (and hardware) at a Sarasota, Fla. bridal show, organized by owner Art Conforti. Sharon McGukin, AIFD, PFCI, shares bridal bouquet insight with brides-to-be at a small gathering in Savannah, Ga. Susan Brown, (pictured left with McGukin), began hosting the smaller bridal events as an alternative to larger “mall-like” shows. Brides browse vendors from the Elegant Sarasota Weddings network at its first show. pretend planning gets a whole a lot easier. our standards, he knew his reputation search engine searches time and time The site is packed with at least 60 ven- was in good company.” again is the result of an intense marketing dors, in 23 different categories (ice sculp- Networking, both online and off, is a strategy Conforti encourages all members tures, dentists, beachside reception sites, popular way to harness the power of to follow. In addition to the $125 month- etc). Visitors can read bridal trivia, eti- referrals from other vendors. In a survey ly fee, members pay $20 a month for quette tips, sample vows and suggestions e-mailed to SAF members, the majority Web site support. Conforti sinks that into for toasts. Although created by a florist, of respondents indicated that word-of- advertising, mainly by purchasing key it’s not dominated by flower information mouth referrals, from both brides and words, such as “ice sculpture, weddings but instead by the questions brides have other vendors, are the most powerful and limousines” to ensure that any search when they first start planning. way to attract bridal customers. for these wedding-related items pulls the While the site’s graphics, ease of use Choosing between several forms of mar- sites to the top. This kind of approach and content are attractive, its real keting, respondents chose “other” and gives a florist or a wedding cake maker strength is its participants. “We’ve got then wrote in “word of mouth” in at exposure to someone who might have ini- the best of the best,” Conforti says of the least 70 percent of the 131 surveys. tially just been doing a search for recep- members who are selected by the group’s Conforti’s group is by no means the tion locales. “We try to think of every board to ensure they meet certain profes- only wedding network, nor the only one single vendor, product and detail that a sional and sales standards and, most having success, but his selective bride would want more information important, that other network members approach to membership and the expo- about, buy up those key words and fill are comfortable referring them. The sure of the network’s online component our pages with information about them,” board has turned away vendors whose do make it worth noticing. And prospec- he says. (For more information about images might dilute those of the group tive bridal customers are noticing, with search engines, read Plugged In, p. 56). and those who cater to a different, and an average of 2,100 visits monthly. In And instead of just posting a directory often lower-budget clientele. That selec- July 2003, site visits peaked at 3,203 for of vendor’s Web sites, Conforti posts tivity has helped Conforti attract profes- the month, a good sign that the site is copy-rich sections for each category that sionals who shied away from other generating buzz at June weddings. explain traditions surrounding each and wedding networks because of their offer buying advice. While all this help- “come one, come all” approach. “We’ve he making of ful information certainly impresses got a cake decorator who has never been a Must-click brides, it plays a more important mar- a part of any network because he’s never TGetting www.ElegantSarasota keting role. Search engines work by wanted to take such a gamble with his Weddings.com and www.Sarasota finding key words on Web sites; the reputation,” Conforti says. “Because of Weddings.com to pop up at the top of more words, the more fuel the search MARCH 2004 | Floral Management www.safnow.org 23 lick with Bride Magnet: Art Conforti, destina- Beneva Flowers, Sarasota, Fla. C tion Annual Sales: More than $3 million brides Wedding Business: 10 percent Online networking takes on Key Marketing Tactics: Founded many forms and can be as local online wedding network and easy as linking your site to a hosts bridal events city or statewide list of ven- Shop Established: 1987 dors. Not all require stringent membership policies or any engine has. Instead of a simple line that offline marketing responsibili- says “www.bridalgowns.com,” Conforti ties, like Conforti’s creation. Vendors must meet certain professional standards makes sure the words “gowns” and As destination weddings continue to and be approved by other members before joining “wedding” appear several times in the hold strong as the wedding trend of the the Elegant Sarasota Weddings network, which hosts a comprehensive Web site and bridal shows. page (but not too much to bore readers.) new millennium (see article, p. 29) After the information, there are two or florists in resort and beach towns know three vendor listings, with contact infor- that many brides only make virtual vis- ately writing back and then following mation and a Web site. “We’re feeding its to their area before the big day, plan- up by mailing a brochure of bridal pack- off one another’s expertise,” Conforti ning their entire wedding via email and ages and prices (“In Vegas, it’s all about says. “Someone may be looking for a phone calls. Some, like Caroline J. packages!” she says). Her average wed- photographer but when she types in Rohrer, owner of Elegant Creations & ding is between $500 and $1,500; wed- ‘Sarasota wedding photographer’ our Celebrations Florist in Las Vegas, have dings account for about 30 percent of site will come up before an individual answered the call with Web sites specifi- her overall business. The Web site vendor’s site. She gets not only a listing cally for the out-of-towner. emphasizes the ability to cater to an on- of local photographers but also access to While some people are still shocked the-go, budget-conscious bride and has all the other vendors she’ll need.” at Britney Spears’ commercial break of several photos so customers don’t have Participants don’t mind having the a wedding, Rohrer says she wasn’t sur- to waste any of their Vegas vacation network beat their own sites to the top prised by at least one aspect of the flipping through thick bridal books. “If of the search engine charts, Conforti short-lived affair. “Brides come here you’re coming to Las Vegas, you’re says, because the association with other for the quick and easy, that’s why you already in the mindset to keep every- professionals helps establish credibility. get married in Las Vegas,” she says. thing easy,” she says. “This won’t work “By creating an exclusive site and “They want the planning to be quick everywhere, but for the bride who wants advertising it as such, we’re telling the as well.