Case Study: Quarter 2 for Katharine Marie Weddings
Okay, it’s time for another case study update! You can read the “Getting Started” post here. It breaks down the first questions I always ask my coaching clients and how I answered them as Katharine Marie Weddings.
For today’s post I want to update you on what I’ve been doing on both the marketing and admin sides of the business and where I stand on my goals.
Where are you now? (Goals Update)
The Bridal Shop
Location - Shortly after our last post, I did find a temporary location for the bridal shop! It was a crazy few days getting it open, but on February 26, 2019 I opened the doors to the first location. The funny thing is I was hoping to be in our permanent location in June and that didn’t happen, but we are moving again next week to the same street as our permanent shop.
Appointments - Since then I’ve had 6 official appointments and sold 2 dresses, and know I have one bride returning in a few weeks. There have also been several walk-ins and lots of women asking about mothers’ gowns. I decided to pursue a small line of mothers’ dress which should arrive by August 2, 2019.
Workshops - I have hosted two “creative experiences” in my shop and have one more on the books for June 29th. The first one was a candle making workshop and I sold 2 tickets, the other was a calligraphy class and I sold 4! Those may seem like small numbers, but I think a steady increase is great. And just getting them on the calendar and promo’d has been a great project to work on.
Wedding Planning
On the planning side, things seemed slow going for a while. I finally received some photos back from the photographers for a few weddings and have been working on getting those blogs out. The first two have done really well, so I need to get that 3rd one up ASAP! haha
My goal was to have 3 month-of weddings booked for the fall and I’m happy to report I officially have 2 booked for Fall 2019 and 2 for Spring 2020!! I had told someone my overall goal was to have 5 weddings booked by the end of the year, but I didn’t clarify that they needed to be 2019 weddings haha. I’m one away from reaching 5 and I’m over the moon!
I don’t have any full service planning brides right now, and although I am okay with that, I am still working on promoting this service as well.
Also, for the admin side of wedding planning, I’ve been working hard to keep my Aisle Planner and my Asana workflows up to a high standard.
Where do you want to be in 3 months?
The Bridal Shop
I would love to have an idea of when we’ll be in the permanent shop come September. I doubt we’ll be in the shop by then, but a better idea of when would be great! Also, I need to decide if I want to do a small “opening” event for this second location or continue to wait until the new shop is ready. Would love to make this decision by August 1.
I also really want to at least have a local wedding vendor sip-n-see at the new location. It’s been on my powersheets for several months, but I haven’t done more than gather email addresses. This needs to be a July priority.
Wedding Planning
Even though I am close to my 3 and 5 wedding planning goal, I would really like to book a few more weddings either for late 2019 or 2020. I am also working on a true styled shoot (not just for gowns) at a local venue for July and I cannot wait! I think this will be very beneficial for booking 2020 brides.
What has been working marketing-wise?
Blogging - I’ve posted 3 blogs and the one with a wedding obviously has done way better on Pinterest, so I need to figure out how to keep pinning the others without using the same graphics over and over.
Live videos 2x/week - In 2018, I was trying to do a video on Facebook each Wednesday and while I have been trying to keep up with that (sometimes content is tough!), I have also been going live on Friday’s on Instagram to show a new dress for #fridayintroductions. I think people are loving that! I also cross post it to Facebook once it saves to my phone. Both types of videos are beneficial and I plan to keep it up.
Newsletter - I have sent at least one per month in April, May and June. Keeping them all in-the-know for gown arrivals, appointment openings, and creative experiences. I created a newer opt-in for how to have a successful wedding dress shopping experience and it has done okay (4 subscribers). I need to work more at promoting all three ways to get people on my list.
Social Media - I have definitely been way more consistent in posting to social media. I use Later* to schedule them and have a little bit more of a schedule, at least for Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.
Monday - Quote
Tuesday - Boutique Hours
Friday - Gown introduction
I tend to post the same thing on Facebook as I do on Instagram, but know I need to post a few more things that are a bit different on Facebook.
Networking - I spoke at a local networking event on April 24th and presented my business. Local networking has been so great for my business! I also joined an accountability group just for wedding professionals, and although we discuss a lot of these same topics, it has been really great to get specific advice and get out of my own head!
Paid Advertising - This quarter I have tried 3 avenues for paid marketing - Facebook ads, The Knot, and Bustld Upstate (gowns and planning). I do have one appointment later this month from The Knot, but other than just traffic to the site or my Facebook page, I haven’t seen too much ROI. I am willing to give it all another quarter to figure this all out. Although I think a Facebook ad will work, I’m wondering if it will be best to run in Q3. I also started paying for Tailwind* to keep my content constantly on Pinterest and right now it is slow going, but I’m going to keep at this too.
Give me the numbers
Instagram: 567 followers / was 434
Facebook: 333 likes / was 250 likes
Email List: Main Updates - 4 / was 2. Event list - down to 235 from 247 / Dress Shopping (new list) - 4
Web Traffic: 726 Q2 / 662 for Q1
Pinterest Followers: 23
Pinterest views: 12.2k Q2 / 632 Q1overall
I hope you enjoyed this breakdown and if you’re a wedding professional, I’d love to help you create your own business/marketing plan! Book a consult with me today!
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