How to Use Video Storytelling to Make Your Wedding Business Stand Out

written by

Jac

How to use Video Storytelling to Make Your Wedding Business Stand Out

This week it’s been my pleasure to be involved in the Book More Weddings Summit hosted by Evolve Your Wedding Business.

My topic was Storytelling using Video Marketing which is probably one of my favourite subjects.

The biggest thing to come out of this session was that many wedding pros are stuck when it comes to actually telling a story about their wedding business. One that will actually resonate with their ideal couple and emotionally connect with them.

The images and the content itself wasn’t a problem it was how to weave that content into a story.

What is storytelling in business?

What I’d like to do is give you some tried and tested examples of things you can do to help you really create that story using video as your medium.

Before I do that though I want you to understand that storytelling in our business isn’t all about the visuals. I know that’s hard to get your head around when the wedding industry is such a visual industry.

However, storytelling is about the full picture. It’s about getting your clients to build the know, like, trust factor with you.

Think about your clients for a second here. When they first met the chances are they went through the whole dating process. They started off with those first few tentative dates where they were at the ‘getting to know you’ phase.

Then they moved on to the more relaxed phase where spaghetti was back on the menu again and they weren’t quite so much on their best behaviour.

Then of course, it’s onto meeting each other’s friends and family and so the dating process continues.

‘Don’t try to propose marriage on the first date’

My point here is they didn’t propose marriage or a lifelong commitment on the first date. They got to know each other, fall in love with each other, and trust each other.

Being in business is exactly the same as dating. You have to woo your client, get them to fall in love with you and this isn’t going to happen after seeing your brand once or twice.

Create the story around what you do and make them see their wedding through your eyes. Get them to want to be a part of your story.

So when I talk about storytelling using video marketing we’re talking about creating your business story as a whole and not just images of the weddings you’re a part of. Of course, the images are important but so is the rest of your story.

You have to showcase your personality and let them know the person behind the brand. Let them connect with you on a more personal level – after all that’s all part of the dating process. Remember? It’s time to let them see you eat your spaghetti, get to really know you, warts and all.

‘You are an expert at what you do’

Then of course there’s you as the expert. How are they going to believe in you and what you do if they have no idea how much you know?

And before you say it, yes, you’re an expert in what you do. You already know more than you think you do and it’s down to you to let everyone in your audience know that.

Repeat after me, I am an expert Wedding Planner, Cake Maker, Photographer, Videographer, Wedding Stylist, Stationer, Celebrant etc.

Get out there and show your expertise. Build that trust factor by showing your knowledge, being helpful and giving value. This is all storytelling about your brand.

How do you tell a brand story with video?

You need to stop thinking of storytelling as just being those gorgeous videos you see that have lovely emotional music playing in the background and have the couple staring into each other’s eyes. Storytelling through video in 2020 is about so much more.

Storytelling about your brand is about the whole story and not just the part where you show the wedding itself.

I know for those of you who offer a service rather than a product you find this harder, but there are still plenty of things you can do to tell that story.

The first part of this comes down to the good old ideal client or avatar. What do you really know about your clients that they would connect with?

It’s time to create content buckets

At the Wedding Academy I teach my students about having content buckets or content categories. I usually suggest 5 as that seems to be the magic number and one of those should always include you selling what you do. That leaves you four categories and then you put your topics into each content bucket.

So let’s say you’re a wedding planner, your 5 content buckets could be as follows:

Your wedding planning service

What does a wedding planner do, how does a wedding planner save the day etc. There should always be a CTA (Call To Action) with anything here that leads back to booking a consultation with you or downloading a brochure or freebie eBook.

The person behind the brand

This is your chance to really connect with your ideal client. Are your clients people who are passionate about the environment? Is this something you resonate with? If it is this might be where you share your passion for being sustainable, tips about having an environmentally friendly wedding or just anything that helps you connect with them over a common passion.

This is also where you’d do little videos of you just leaving a client consultation and talking about how excited you are to work with this couple. Or maybe you’ve just finished doing a site visit? Shoot a quick video on your phone so it’s there in your library for you to use later.

Concepts and Inspiration

Showcase where you find inspiration, how you take a couple’s ideas and turn them into reality, mood boards you’ve created etc. A sneak peek of you working on the planning of a wedding. Anything that shows the process of what you do.

Your Wedding Dream Team

Interviews with vendors, top tips on each type of vendor etc. This shows off the people you work with on a regular basis and is great for getting more eyeballs on you if you also tag them in each time you post about them. And don’t forget, it’s also building trust that you know what you’re doing and work with some amazing people.

On the Day of a Wedding

All the things you do as a planner on the big day itself. From timelines to cake cutting, putting out fires, laying out place cards, doing a final walkthrough. All these things are video worthy and showcase you doing what you do.

I know it’s busy on gameday but if you’re serious about your wedding business then why not take someone on site with you just to shoot you doing what you do. Remember these don’t have to be professional videos. We want raw and real that show how good you are at what you do.

What about a floral designer? Now at first glance you might think this is literally just all about the flowers. Not the case. We want to tell the story of you as a floral designer and showcase everything you know that’s going to capture the imagination of your ideal client.

And don’t forget you always need to have the Personal Content Bucket and the one that actually sells you as a floral designer.

I’m a big believer in that if you give enough value then every 5th post needs to be a reminder of what your product or service is. Don’t forget there will be new people coming across you every single day on social media and they don’t know what you do so you have to remind them.

So what other content buckets could you have as a floral designer that would allow you to make videos that put you out there as an expert but also build the know, like, trust factor?

Flower types

Roses aren’t just roses they have names, you could do a different flower type per video showing the individual flower and talk about how to use it.

Colour Palettes

Flower colours and combinations of colours and how they work together.

Ceremony & Reception Flowers

Bouquets, corsages, buttonholes. The different types of centrepieces such as tall, long and low, flower walls, etc. This lends itself to some great ‘how to’ videos or sneak peeks of a centrepiece you’ve just designed or bouquet you’ve just created. Before and after is another no brainer here too.

Working with Flowers

Understanding seasonality, conditioning of flowers, prepping, taking a flower delivery, a visit to the flower market. All of these topics position you as an expert and are fun to watch.

So what do you do once you’ve got your content buckets sorted out? This is where you plan out your content. Nothing ever happens without a plan.

So now it’s time to think about all the different types of video you want to create and I’m going to give you ten to get you started:

No 1 – Turn your blog post into a video

Not everyone will read your blog post, period. It sucks I know but don’t let all that hard work go to waste. Take the key points from your blog post, write them on a post-it note so you don’t forget them, then shoot a video talking about those key points.

No 2 – Client Testimonials

There is nothing like getting it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Once the wedding is over, and if you know it’s a client who’ll be happy to do this, ask if they’d like to give you a video testimonial for you to use on your social media. You’ll be surprised how many people will say yes. You could offer to meet for coffee and shoot it whilst you’re with them.

Top Tip – pre-prepare 4-5 questions that you ask your client off screen so they don’t get stuck.

No 3 – FOMO Videos

When you take on a new client let people know. Good old FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) definitely exists. Tell your audience how excited you are about Alex and Mandy’s wedding and you can’t wait to help their plan their June wedding. You might want to go into a bit more detail and talk about how you just love the story behind their wedding or the theme they’ve chosen or the colour scheme etc.

No 4 – Behind-The-Scenes

There’s a reason we love reality TV, and this is your chance to be the star of your own reality TV program. Let people into your life as a wedding pro. If you’re a photographer then a quick video as you’re about to edit some pictures could be fun, you setting up for an engagement shoot, getting ready to send out a client questionnaire and maybe two of your favourite questions that you always love hearing the answers too.

No 5 – Tutorials or a ‘How To’

These always go down well as people love to learn something new. As a wedding planner could you do a ‘how to’ on what to look out for when visiting a potential wedding venue? As a caterer could you do a tutorial on creating a signature cocktail? Honestly, the ideas are endless here.

No 6 – FAQs

It doesn’t matter what business you run there will always be the questions you get all the time. Why not answer each one as a video? These don’t need to be dry and boring you can always weave them into a story by including one of your previous wedding clients. Talk about the fact this was one of their questions when they first started working with you and how you answered that question for them.

No 7 – Love Stories

Who doesn’t love a great love story? Tell the story of your couple and include how you were an integral part. Remember, every good product or service solves a problem. So think about what your couple’s problem was and how you and your product or service was the solution.

No 8 – Go Live at an Event

We’re in a very sociable industry, maybe not right now when we’re in lockdown, but usually we are. If you’re attending a networking event, wedding fair or even if you have a 5 second breather when you’re at a wedding, shoot a quick video.

Last year, I was speaking at the Karen Tran Floral Workshop at the Savoy in London and I did a couple of live videos. The first, was of me actually speaking to the group. I asked one of the helpers to shoot some of me and stream it.

The second was at the gala dinner event showcasing the amazing florals and design in the ballroom.

Both these went down a storm and far outperformed my other videos. People are nosy by default and love to see what you’re doing.

No 9 – Interview another Wedding Pro

Shoot an interview with one of the vendors you work with or another wedding pro you admire or who has a similar audience to you. Prep in advance and keep it to no more than 10 questions and make sure they always come back to your ideal client. Remember to keep in mind and ask the question, what’s in it for them. Why would they want to watch this and what will they get out of this?

No 10 – Before and After

We all love seeing this on home renovation shows and weddings are no different. It doesn’t matter what you do. If you’re a cake maker, you could do a video of the different stages of making the cake so your ideal client can see just what goes into it. Then of course the final stage would be the finished masterpiece. This might include a little bit of editing but there are some really easy to use Apps now that allow you to collate it all together.

As a Wedding stylist a before video of the space and an after video once you’ve finished. As a photographer a before editing look at your images and an after edited look. This also helps you to hammer home the importance of hiring a professional photographer and not using Uncle Tim to shoot your wedding.

So hopefully that’s helped you to kickstart a plan for your video marketing in 2020.

But if you’d rather have some company and a little help along the way then I’m doing a 5 Day Visibility Challenge starting on Monday, May 4th and I’d love to have you as part of it.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER and let’s get you visible with video.

Search

Our Friends

Aisle Planner Logo
Shop Bride and Bridesmaid Robes at Kennedy Blue!
Give the gift of choice
Thoughtful Gift Baskets from Baskits

David Tutera

Leading Wedding & Entertaining Expert, David Tutera is hailed as an artistic visionary whose ability, uniquely creative talents and outstanding reputation have made him a tremendous success in the lifestyle arena. Tutera has created a name for himself by taking his passion for designing spectacular events and transforming it into a lifestyle.

He continuously exceeds the expected with an unmatched level of inspiration, imagination and innovation to create the latest trends in entertaining. Tutera’s grandfather, a successful florist, first noticed his grandson’s artistic ability at an early age and encouraged David to pursue his destiny. At age 19, with the sound advice of his grandfather and only one client, David opened his own event planning business.

Today, David Tutera presides over an award winning company built from experience, dedication and Tutera’s natural talent for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. His name has become synonymous with style, elegance, creativity and vision. David Tutera has a natural talent for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. His name has become synonymous with style, elegance, creativity and vision.

Honored by Life & Style Magazine as “Best Celebrity Wedding Planner,” David’s impressive client list includes Jewel, Star Jones’ wedding, Real Housewife Taylor Armstrong’s wedding, Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul’s wedding, NY Giants Antonio Pierce’s wedding, Shannen Doherty’s wedding and events for Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey, Brandy and Ray J, Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Lil’ Kim, the Official Post Grammy Parties in New York City, Elton John, Barbara Walters, the Rolling Stones, Nancy Reagan, Prince Charles, The White House, private events for the Vice President, Kenneth Cole, Tommy Hilfiger, Susan Lucci, The John F. Kennedy Center, as well as countless film premieres and celebrity parties for royalty, politicians and socialites.

Tutera has also designed events for several charities including the Prevent Cancer Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Association, DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids) and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. David has made guest appearances on Today, Extra!, Good Morning America, The View, CNN, The Rachael Ray Show, The Talk, Steve Harvey, Wendy Williams and many more. In addition People, USA Today, In Touch, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, In Style, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Bridal Guide and Town & Country have all featured his work.

Tutera has also made special television appearances in the popular daytime soap, The Young & the Restless and TV Land’s The Exes. David lives in Los Angeles with his husband Joey, daughter Cielo and their rescue dog Lucy.