The bridal industry is a very competitive one; there is no doubt about that. Marketing your bridal business successfully can be quite a challenge, especially if you are working with the limited advertising budget most small businesses have to work with. So what is the most effective way to make the best of your bridal business marketing dollar?

Traditional advertising such as the local Yellow Pages, or radio and television, however small the station, are just too far out of the advertising budget that many bridal businesses have to work with. In addition, how well this kind of large investment works is almost impossible to track. You may indeed be gaining a new client or customer as a result of a commercial they have seen or heard, but the chances are you will forget to ask, and in the excitement of the whirlwind experience which is wedding planning, your blushing bride to be will probably neglect to mention how she found your bridal business specifically. However, in order to survive and prosper, precise and targeted marketing of your bridal business is crucial.

There is another, very effective and economical method of marketing your bridal business that you may have never considered, or even heard much about. In today’s economic climate, the savvy bridal consultant should consider the great power of online advertising. Thanks to the great spread of everyday Internet use by exactly the people you need to target and the power of major search engines like Google, you can target specific geographical areas for people searching basic keywords, in this case things like “wedding planning” “bridal consultant” and even simply “wedding”. Even better, online advertising lets you target the specific demographic you are seeking. If wedding fashions are your niche, then the person clicking on your ad specifically is probably already actively in the market for a beautiful gown, so half the battle is won already!

But how does this kind of marketing really convert into great advertising for your bridal business? To be most effective you need to direct the person who clicked on your brief little online ad to a more expansive “landing page”. On this page you need to create a great and compelling reason for this potential customer, or visitor (they are “visiting” your page now) to share their basic contact information with you. Offering some kind of free or discounted service in return for the visitor sharing their name, telephone number and email address via a simple contact form is always works very well, as everyone loves to feel like they are getting something for nothing! Consider offering a free bridal consultation, or a discount coupon that the visitor can print out at home. The data from these contact forms is emailed to you immediately, letting you follow up on these “hot leads” promptly, while your bridal business is still fresh in the potential client’s mind.

The true beauty of using the Internet and this kind of bridal business advertising is how little it costs. You will only be charged for potential customers who take the time to “click” on your ad specifically, those people who are demonstrating a real interest in your services or products. Online advertising like this really is the best and economically sensible way to make the best of your bridal business marketing dollar.