The Death of Bridal Magazines and Ad Based Resource Guides
We’ve all seen the downtrend in Magazine sales over the past decade but I think we can all agree that print is struggling to stay afloat these days and especially in the bridal market. Can you even remember the last time you had an actual magazine in your hand and couldn’t wait to flip through the glossy pages? The last time I popped into Barnes and Nobles a few years ago, it was to grab a copy of a bridal magazine because I styled the bridal fashion feature and wanted a copy. The once packed bridal aisle was down to a single depressing and lonely shelf. As I leafed through the few copies of my once favorite publications, I was shocked at the not so glossy pages, the lack of any real content or inspiration and the fact that they were half the size they used to be. It was a sad moment for me as I once lived for each and every new issue that hit the stands.
I can recall as a bride myself, gorging on stacks of wedding magazines that I would literally spend hundreds of dollars on. I walked into all of my wedding appointments with a mood board, yup a mood board! Magazine tears galore on a giant piece of foam core! Later in my life as a busy wedding planner and event designer, I subscribed to every issue to have on hand in my studio so I could soak in all the inspiration as well as for clients to flip through during brainstorming sessions. Nowadays, by the time an issue is prepped and printed, it’s old news, and the trends, gowns, and inspo are headed in another direction. The bridal world is moving at a much faster pace and the only way to keep up with it is social media. Advertisers are bailing on print and traditional advertising which includes publications online website listings.
I think it’s safe to say that social media has for sure has killed the bridal magazine. Couples are no longer relying on magazines to give them the 411. They are looking to influencers, friends, families and other brides and they are doing it on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. What about the following of the magazine's online presence you say, that still has value right? Well, I don’t know about that, not in the traditional sense that most publications are still holding onto for dear life. Having been a vendor and small business owner myself as well as a marketing consultant for other wedding vendors, I have some insights. I can tell you that I see much more value and a proven return on investment by boosting an IG post or running an ad on FB rather than buying a page in the magazine or a website listing for $1500+. Vendors are more savvy and understand the value of social media marketing and they no longer see the value of buying a print ad or a spot on the website of a magazine's local resource guide. Algorithms allow consumers to be targeted with content that interests them, so vendors investing in their own digital marketing is a much more clear cut path to direct sales. So the challenges are clear, but how do wedding magazines and bridal websites move forward? It’s time to Pivot.
A New Strategy For A New Marketplace
Use Your Readership to your advantage! So you’ve got a big following and you're pulling out all the big numbers from your GA dashboard to try and sell ad space to your advertisers, but they aren’t biting. Try a new angle. Dig deeper. When consumers hit your website, what are they looking at? What is driving views? How many pages per session are they hitting before they bounce? What are the click-through rates for each vendor? What does the heat map of your website look like? You need to know what those specifics are to really sell to your vendors. You need to know what is bringing in traffic and why. You have the data to back up your sales pitch. You need to sell what is driving views and clicks, not “premium website listings.” If you are confident and credible, you will gain the trust of your advertisers again.
Build your brand. You’ve got the street cred and you’re a household name in the wedding world. Now it’s time to get your social media game on point. Build a bridge between you and your couples. Don’t push worthless content and ads, be an expert, the maid of honor, offer a mother’s advice, and most importantly, be accessible. Editors should be the voice couples need while planning their wedding. The editor of a magazine is looked upon with awe by both couples and vendors alike. They are loved, respected, and admired. Using social media to have a voice is key to providing that personal connection to couples. Facebook groups and personal editor pages are a brilliant way to build brand engagement and have key insights into wedding planning couples. Brides and grooms love to chat with each other for recommendations, tips, and advice, and of course as the editor, you are in the perfect positions to very subtly pitch your paying vendors.
Diversify your content. Real weddings are not the only form of content. While yes, they do perform well, the content that goes along with them is typically mediocre. If you are going to focus on real wedding content, tell us more. What were the biggest challenges? Takeaways from the bride and groom? What are the specifics that are going to build excitement? We need more than pretty pictures when it comes to real weddings. Feature your vendors. Share their images, events, sales, etc. Foster the relationships with them just as much as you do with your couples. Be a true resource guide. Offer valuable content that is up to date, fresh, and new. Don’t just regurgitate old articles every year. Be creative with your articles, make the content fun, engaging, and useful. Not every article has to be a hard sell. Create unique features like behind the scenes with top wedding planners or hindsight is 20/20 with recently wed couples and a taste of weddings bringing you the most flavorful food and drinks of the season. Post polls, surveys, would you rather, choose your favorite and live virtual events. There are so many options to choose from that will build excitement for your readers and grow your numbers. Video content is one of the best ways to boost your brand tout suite! A single minute of video is said to be worth about 1.8 million words. Studies also show that in the coming years, approximately 74% of all internet traffic will be video. A weekly video with the editor is a great idea. Pop into one of your local advertisers and grab a quick video of the shop, products, gowns, etc. This is social media gold. Engaging content is key to growing a following and positioning yourself as an expert in your feel. Oh, and your vendors will love it!
Listings on websites should be free. Yup, that’s right, free! There is almost no value to a wedding vendor by paying to have their business listed on your website. Digital savvy consumers find vendors by referrals and through that great little map app that pulls up all the local options in their area. And hello Google? The listing is nice, but worthless. And by the way, modern couples are smart enough to know they are seeing a listing because that company is paying to be there and they are about to be fed a straight-up sales pitch. There is 0 credibility or personal connection making a consumer feel warm and fuzzy and wanting to click on that link. Rather than focusing on website listings and sales pitches pulled right from an advertiser’s website, think about sponsored content pieces that couples actually want to read and are also beneficial to the advertiser. Build a personal connection with your readers and your vendors. Ad value! Grow engagement! Get results!
Sell content features, not ad space. Get ready to start pitching some creative advertising bundles. We’ve already established that listings are worthless. It’s time to really dig into what your vendors want from you. What do you have that holds the most value? Social Media? Email Subscriber List? Blog Traffic? These are the keys to your vendor's hearts. A feature on social media is 10x more valuable than a website listing. A vendor mentioned in a post, exciting! A story take-over, yasss please! Advertising packages should be heavy on social media placements with creative content features and drool worthy images. Next up, good old email marketing! Emails can be formatted to read like a mini-magazine. A dedicated email featuring inspirational vendor content is an easy sale! The key is going for interesting content, not a hard sales pitch. Forget about “don’t miss this amazing new venue” and instead focus on “views for days and farm to table mouth-watering menus we can’t wait to share with you.” Don’t forget about the good old blog! Blog content is highly searchable and still a huge driver of traffic for websites. A bride may not know about a certain vendor or your publication’s website, but they sure may be googling, “updos for short hair.” If you create content, they will come. Sponsored content pieces are a no brainer, any vendor would prefer this over a straight ad. For the few that are still buying print ad placements, sweeten the deal with included social media exposure. If it goes in print, it should be mirrored online. Don’t waste great content that no one is going to see. The best part about all of these options, the results are measurable. You can see what links people clicked on, exact traffic, click-through rates, and ROI’s. This is imperative to upping your sales game.
Broaden your offerings. Magazines spend thousands of dollars on a stylist and photographer for the editorial shoots that provide inspo for the pages of their latest issue. I should know, I was one of those stylists. The one thing that drove me absolutely crazy was that 90% of the content and images that came out of those shoots ended up on the cutting room floor. Hundreds of images that would never be seen because editors and publishers don’t want to jeopardize the integrity of the issue. I was able to plan, design, and produce those shoots and in one day come out with enough content to not only fuel a killer 15-page spread in the magazine, but also an additional 10 content pieces and original images to populate other sections of the magazine and provide website content. This should 100% be a service provided by magazines. Produce the shoots, use the content for killer website and social media features, and allow the vendor to have a select number of images from the shoot. It’s time to modernize the old ways of the publishing world. Holding amazing images hostage that will never see daylight is a complete waste. Using your skills and assets to elevate your publication and sell this service to vendors, everyone is happy.
Paying Customers Only! I know in the years past, publications would take styled shoots from anyone and would feature any decent articles that were submitted by vendors. I get it, when you're desperate for content, and you're getting stuff for free, why not right? After all, that’s how I got my start in the blogging and styling game. But guess what? All you are doing is pissing off your paying customers. Why should a vendor pay when they have a 90% chance to get featured for free! Support your circle by embracing your paying customers. So many vendors these days are getting better at the content game and producing some great styled shoots and articles. They should be the ones getting some free press and earned media. Create some exclusivity and make people want to be part of the club. You have to pay to play.
