Do you hear wedding bells ringing in the distance? The holidays are just around the corner, which means many people will be saying yes! to their beloved partners.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day are the four most popular days of the year to pop the question. This means floral designers and wedding professionals have quite a busy season ahead!

Get Your Email Marketing Ready (Before the Busy Wedding Planning Season Starts!)

As many floral businesses seek to make up for the losses of event income during the pandemic, you may be reevaluating your marketing strategy to determine whether it effectively draws in new leads.

The time to be proactive and get your promotional strategy in gear is before the busyness of engagement and wedding planning season starts! Using a practical marketing approach to stand out in front of engaged couples isn’t rocket science, but it does take time and effort to get it right.

If you haven’t yet dabbled in email marketing—or your past experience has been less than impressive—I encourage you to give it a shot this year and watch the couples line up for your help with floral design. 

Below are the steps to build an email marketing funnel to see you through (and beyond) engagement season.

Step 1: Know Who You Intend to Reach

Many entrepreneurs feel more comfortable painting their audience with a broad stroke.

Still, the reality is that magic happens when you begin to dig deeper into your ideal client. If you try to sell to everyone, you will sell to no one.

Consider the type of client you love working with as well as the products and services that excite you most. 

Do you love working with brides who want an upscale, classic look, like an overflowing all-white cascade bouquet or sleek, monotone centerpieces?

Or do you have the most fun with couples who love artfully wild arrangements bursting with wildflowers?

As you explore your own preferences, you’ll begin to flesh out a profile of your ideal client and how to serve them best.

Step 2: Set Up Your Email Service Provider (ESP)

It’s time to meet your new best friend: Your email service provider (ESP). Whether you’re using ConvertKit, Flodesk, Mailchimp, or another platform of choice, an ESP streamlines your email marketing funnel, so you don’t have to perform every step manually. 

Skip your inbox and forget the spreadsheets—your ESP will gather contact information and build lists that you can later break into segments for curating more specific email campaigns.

Once you load in your email content, set it up to run automatically when you get a new subscriber to welcome them into your marketing funnel right away. 

Bonus: Your ESP will track analytics about opens, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes, so you can audit and adjust your strategy based on real, data-based feedback. 

Step 3: Provide Valuable Information to Prospective Wedding Clients

A great email marketing strategy is nothing without a list of interested prospective wedding clients (or leads) to market to!

Whether you’re starting from scratch or simply want to grow your audience, your next step is to create a free lead magnet (simply a free educational resource) full of compelling information that appeals to your ideal client. 

The purpose of a lead magnet is to make your ideal client think, “Hey, I need that!” when they see it. It could be a quiz that reveals their floral design style, a downloadable PDF guide to blooms by season, or a masterclass about planning and budgeting for wedding flowers.

Get creative and step into your ideal client’s shoes to determine what would win them over!

Once you’ve put together your lead magnet, then you need to create a landing page on your website to collect email addresses in exchange for the educational resource (lead magnet) you created.

You may also be able to do this through your ESP, keeping your email marketing organized in one place.

Step 4: Establish Trust Through a Nurture Sequence

Imagine someone signs up to your email list to get your lead magnet.

The truth is, if they don’t hear from you again, they’ll forget you exist and move on.

You need to grab their attention right away with an automated nurture sequence that is triggered by a new sign-up. The idea is not to sell, as that may lead them to click the unsubscribe button.

Instead, show them that you have a lot more knowledge to share with them! Over the span of three to five emails, introduce them to your brand through thoughtful content that builds the Know, Like, and Trust factor you need to close a sale.

Consider the challenges engaged couples face when sourcing flowers for their wedding, then turn your solutions into short, impactful emails that demonstrate your expertise. (And, ultimately, how you can solve their problems!) 

Step 5: Attract New Wedding Client Leads by Promoting Your Lead Magnet

Now that your email marketing funnel is set up for success, it’s time to send people to your landing page to start building your list!

Social media ads are pretty effective at increasing brand awareness and earning more views on your website. Make sure to highlight the value of your lead magnet free education piece and include the word “free” somewhere in the ad. After all, people love free stuff!

You can also promote your lead magnet in your blog posts, email signature, guest articles, podcast episodes, or wherever else you show up in front of your audience.

The more you talk about it, the more people will wonder what it’s all about—and the more your list will grow.

Engaging with Engaged Couples Is Key!

When you focus on engaging with your audience through email marketing, you will establish stronger, more personal relationships with people inclined to do business with you—in this case, engaged couples that have began the wedding planning process. They’ve already let you into their inbox. So keep up the communication, and they’ll soon let you into their wedding plans.

Are you looking for more email marketing support? I’ve got you! Check out my free Email List-Building Roadmap Implementation Guide for more list-building strategies to build a passionate audience that trusts and respects your brand. 

Photography by Lovelenscapes Photography.