How to Track Your Bridal Show Efforts

One of the many complaints I hear from wedding professionals is they don't know if they got brides from a bridal show; they don't know if it worked. You may ask a bride where she found out about you and oftentimes, her reply is, "I don't remember." Of course you are frustrated because how do you know if your advertising dollars are working for you if the reply is often "I don't know."

So what can you do to avoid this frustration if anything at all? Today's article is about ways to know if brides came to you from the bridal show. Now please keep in mind this is not fail proof. A bride could see you for the first time at a bridal show, then find you again on a site that you advertise on like Wedding Wire, and when she does a Google search for, how to word wedding invitations, an article you wrote comes up in the search and she clicks on it to read it. After seeing you three times, she decides to call you. When you ask her how she found you, her reply is, "I found an article that you wrote on the internet." She actually found you at the bridal show, but that was awhile ago and she doesn't remember. She remembers the last place she saw you. Please keep this in mind before saying the bridal show didn't work. It actually did.

Here are 5 Ways to Track Your Bridal Show Efforts:

1. Specific Domain Name. You can purchase a separate domain name, different than your website domain and use it only for your bridal show marketing materials. Since this domain is only being used for the bridal show, you have a good idea of knowing if brides even bothered to come to your site to learn more about you and your services.

2. Landing Page. A landing page can be used for several purposes. For a bridal show, you can have a landing page created that speaks specifically to the brides at that particular bridal show. Let's say you are going to the Arlington Bridal Fair. Your landing page can have a home page with a special offer addressing the Arlington Bridal Fair Brides (not a complimentary consultation if that is something you offer to everyone, everyday. She needs to feel special), a page on the site with a variety of pictures from past weddings, and a contact page with your information and a form. Sometimes going to your website can be overwhelming and distracting. This allows her to have a sample of you.

3. Phone Number. When I go to bridal shows and look through the program of the vendors, I see everyone is using their regular phone number. I wonder how they know if someone is calling them from the bridal show or not. There are companies that provide what are called tracking numbers. These numbers allow you to find out who is calling and when. This number can be used solely for when you attend a bridal show.