Open Air Business April 2017
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glampsites, festivals and outdoor events
The UK's outdoor hospitality business magazine for function venues, glampsites, festivals and outdoor events
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FUNCTION VENUES<br />
investing in some technical support<br />
further down the line.<br />
› Outstanding photography – This<br />
is the other area where you just can’t<br />
compromise and need to pay out for<br />
a professional. You want to showcase<br />
your amazing venue both empty/<br />
vacant but also dressed to the nines<br />
for a wedding (think inspiration and<br />
aspiration). Doing this commercially,<br />
paying all the suppliers involved their<br />
full rates, would run to thousands<br />
of pounds, but it is currently very<br />
popular for wedding planners to<br />
offer styled shoot design for free,<br />
calling upon the suppliers from your<br />
preferred suppliers list to help out<br />
at low/no cost. Not only will you get<br />
excellent images for your site, and<br />
a chance to cement your supplier<br />
relationships, but great quality<br />
shoots also get picked up by the press<br />
- meaning exposure for everyone<br />
involved.<br />
To get the professional website<br />
you’re after, you should be spending<br />
between £3,000 - £5,000.<br />
Now you’ve built your website,<br />
it’s time to get it out into the world.<br />
Directory listings are a great way to<br />
do this. Most authoritative directories<br />
which offer links to your website will<br />
charge a fee for you to feature so you<br />
can find the costs racking up if you<br />
aren’t careful, but if you research<br />
thoroughly and focus on the ones that<br />
fit best with your target market, it can<br />
be really worthwhile. Treat directory<br />
hunting like going to a casino or an<br />
auction – have a budget in mind<br />
and stick to it! If you find you’re not<br />
getting referrals in six to 12 months<br />
from the sites you chose, you can<br />
always change them.<br />
How about expenditure on printed<br />
materials? Luxury venues should be<br />
producing brochures and other take<br />
away material that is memorable<br />
and brand appropriate. As a farm or<br />
a rustic barn owner, it isn’t necessary<br />
to spend money on printed materials<br />
when a well-designed PDF with all<br />
the relevant information will do.<br />
Make this downloadable from your<br />
website and you’re good to go. It will<br />
need to be professionally designed,<br />
but you can always get your web<br />
developer to create this for you as an<br />
add on. You will, of course, need some<br />
business cards to match your brand,<br />
but these needn’t be expensive. The<br />
likes of Vistaprint offer great products.<br />
Think of it as like ordering wine in a<br />
restaurant; pick the next one up from<br />
the ‘house’. You’ll get quality at an<br />
affordable price. You really needn’t<br />
allocate more than £200 to £1,000 for<br />
printed/PDF materials.<br />
At this early stage in the business,<br />
you can also start thinking about<br />
these other marketing activities:<br />
› Testimonials – begin collating these<br />
from couples as they come your way.<br />
Add the kind words to your website,<br />
PDFs, social media content and<br />
LinkedIn page.<br />
› Social media – pick the social<br />
platforms which work for you (you<br />
don’t have to do them all) and get<br />
social. Tweet useful industry content<br />
and share your most impressive<br />
photos.<br />
› Networking – in addition to the<br />
network you have built within your<br />
preferred suppliers list and styled<br />
shoot, start mingling with other local<br />
suppliers to see how you might be<br />
able to work together. You can do this<br />
by simply attending local business<br />
events and wedding showcases.<br />
› Blogging – you either blog or you<br />
don’t. Google loves it, so if you do it<br />
well you can really boost your SEO.<br />
But it may not be relevant for you,<br />
so if you don’t have the time, don’t<br />
bother.<br />
You’ll be delighted to know that<br />
the costs for these extra activities is<br />
exactly £0. They can all be done inhouse<br />
by your good self.<br />
So, where does that leave us? By<br />
my calculations, you’ve followed the<br />
4 steps so know exactly what you are<br />
selling, who you are selling it to, how<br />
you want them to feel about your<br />
business and, crucially, how best to<br />
reach them. Put aside between £5,000<br />
and £9,500 to put the steps in place<br />
and you’ll soon be on the path of a<br />
solid strategy.<br />
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<br />
Isabel Smith has 10 years in the wedding industry behind her as<br />
one of the UK’s top wedding planners and business consultant<br />
to venues and other suppliers. Isabel’s expertise spans<br />
marketing, sales and operations as she helps new vendors<br />
launch as well as assisting established businesses should they<br />
find their sales falling. www.isabelsmithconsulting.co.uk /<br />
www.isabelsmithweddings.co.uk<br />
Realistic marketing<br />
start-up costs<br />
CREATE<br />
THE<br />
OFFERING<br />
No room for<br />
compromise<br />
here! The key<br />
features of<br />
your marketing<br />
activities<br />
must all send<br />
a consistent<br />
message.<br />
Work with<br />
a professional<br />
branding agency.<br />
SPLURGE<br />
£1-3k<br />
COLLATING<br />
TESTIMONIALS<br />
NETWORKING<br />
IDENTIFY<br />
THE TARGET<br />
MARKET<br />
LISTING<br />
Go for quality not quantity<br />
when it comes to signing<br />
up with directories.<br />
Look for longer-standing<br />
websites with good SEO<br />
authority and make sure<br />
you get a link back to your<br />
own site. Set a budget and<br />
stick to it.<br />
SAVE £500<br />
SAVE<br />
THESE ACTIVITIES SHOULD<br />
BE UNDERTAKEN IN-HOUSE<br />
ON A NO/LOW COST BASIS<br />
SOCIAL<br />
MEDIA<br />
BLOGGING<br />
DEVELOP<br />
THE BRAND<br />
WEBSITE<br />
IMAGERY - Your shopfront<br />
– it must be flawless,<br />
professional and creative<br />
COPY - Perfect spelling and<br />
grammar is a must but this<br />
can be a DIY project<br />
SEO - Read up on white-hat<br />
techniques and manage<br />
yourself until you can afford<br />
to outsource<br />
BUILD - Costs will depend on<br />
the functionality you require.<br />
Simple websites can be<br />
DIY, high functioning<br />
ones should be built<br />
by a professional.<br />
SPLURGE<br />
£3-£5k<br />
PRINTED<br />
MATERIALS<br />
Your business cards<br />
and brochures should<br />
be as luxury as your<br />
product is, but there<br />
is nothing wrong with<br />
certain materials<br />
remaining digital until<br />
funds allow for the<br />
high quality print-run<br />
you need<br />
SAVE NOW | SPLURGE LATER<br />
£250 - £1,000<br />
WRITE<br />
THE<br />
MARKETING<br />
STRATEGY<br />
TOTAL<br />
£5 - £9.5k