How to Research Your Market as a Wedding Vendor

How to Research Your Market as a Wedding Vendor

I’m diving into how to research your market with my top three research points! These will help you stand out and reach clients that you actually like to work with! In the last year, it has become apparent to me that most wedding vendors don’t work with their ideal clients more than a few times a year. My team at DeLine Photography? 30+ weddings a year with our ideal clients. Yes, real people who we enjoy being around, laugh with, who genuinely value us, and trust us to do the damn thing. How did I do it? I started with market research.

You can create any ‘ideal client’ avatar all you want but if you are not reaching and speaking to an actual real person who will run to purchase what you offer, you’re wasting your time & money! If there’s something we hate, it’s wasting time & money!

Stay in touch

I’m not talking about chatting on the phone with your girls. I’m talking about the opposite of ‘out of touch’. Keep your research relevant. If your brand is french inspired, but you’re in a market that’s palm trees with zero french vibes, you’re screwed! You are wasting your time & money. You may be thinking, ‘Damn, that’s harsh.’ I only say it to be clear that you can not and will no longer waste your time and money! Researching your market starts by looking around. What kind of location do you serve? Coastal? Mountains? Destination? Vineyards? Whatever it is, create a brand that can book clients in your local market. Truth: Being a full-time destination wedding photographer sounds fun, but your profit margins are much smaller than those serving a local market. (Carve out a portion of your bookings for destination work if you want, but also make your brand fit your local market.)

Location, Location, Location!

Next up, let’s get to work with our friend Google! Yes, we’re tight with Google around here! Google your location, and google venues in that location. Choose your top five venues in your local market. Research each venue, wedding trends, and style. Start to see if you’re ideal client would get married there. If it’s a no, don’t waste your time, move on! Once you have a solid list of venues – start building a relationship. Start creating marketing that speaks to the couples getting married at that venue. You have to find and research venues that will serve your brand.

Find your people

Many industry educators will tell you to build an ideal client avatar. I’m going to tell you to do the opposite. I create marketing that speaks directly to my ideal clients because I build my copy, content, and strategy from real people I’ve served in my business. If you have ONE ideal wedding a year, use that couple as your base. Speak to them every time you write a piece of copy or talk in your social media stories. Speak as if you’re speaking to that one person, and you’ll see that one person become three, then five, and soon enough, you’ll have a calendar filled with those ideal couples. Yes, it really is that easy. Study your people!

If you love my advice on researching your market, you’ll love the Five Signs you Need to Niche Your Business!