WeddingWire IS A TRAILBLAZER
“Marketing Cloud allows us to be really focused on the experience of our community.”
WeddingWire makes a commitment to personalized, customer-focused marketing.
A decade ago, planning a wedding meant calling vendors, physically visiting a venue, and announcing your engagement in the newspaper. Now 30% of engaged couples plan their wedding from a tablet or mobile device, and one in four couples use at least two apps for wedding planning, inspiration, organization, or connecting with other couples.
As the leading technology company serving the $200 billion wedding, corporate, and social events industry, WeddingWire has built its success on innovation and meeting the changing needs of its customers.
The key to this strategy is a forward-thinking business model focused squarely on customer preference, education, and communication. WeddingWire employs Email Studio to create customer email journeys. They are also a heavy user of Mobile Studio, producing SMS campaigns, and dynamically generated content based on user behavior, giving the company the ability to maximize user experience while providing personalization tailored to the needs of its customers.
“We’re constantly trying to get better because every engaged couple is different,” said Email Marketing Specialist Bethany Mulcahy.
When users joins WeddingWire, they provide their email address and wedding date. With the wedding date as the starting point, the company can predict, for example, when an engaged couple might be ready to pick a venue.
The same experience is repeated for other key planning milestones, such as selecting a wedding dress or photographer. This predictable customer journey gives WeddingWire the opportunity to provide relevant and engaging content for its customers. WeddingWire also uses email to onboard vendors and offer education and information tailored to their specific industry. An advertising program gives the vendors additional opportunities to showcase their services to WeddingWire clients.
“We send a lot of emails to vendors about educational opportunities, as well as a biweekly newsletter that relies on a lot on AMPscript to personalize for region, advertising package, and industry,” said Bart Thornburg, Senior Manager of Email Marketing.
Since launching the WedSocial email series and MobileConnect campaign, adoption of the WedSocial app among WeddingWire users is up 74%.
Finding the right match
WeddingWire has parlayed the focus on user experience to successfully integrate mobile technology. At its vendor conference, WeddingWire World, the company uses MobileConnect, found in Mobile Studio, to text attendees information on Wi-Fi passwords, meeting locations, and swag giveaways.
WeddingWire also uses MobileConnect to drive adoption of its WedSocial app. The app allows wedding attendees to upload personal photos taken during the wedding to share with all attendees and also provides wedding information, such as rehearsal dinner and reception location.
Adoption of the WedSocial app is driven through a series of promotional emails directed toward the engaged couple. Critical in the series, which begins 30 days prior to the nuptials, is a table card email, sent to the couple 17 days prior to the event. The email encourages them to print custom table cards to be displayed at the wedding.
The table cards include an SMS shortcode and keyword generated by MobileConnect, making it easy for guests to simply text in for a link to download WedSocial. The link they receive is customized for the device, directing them to either Google Play or the Apple App Store.
The table card emails solved for a common pain point. “It’s always a challenge to connect people from something in the physical world to something in the digital world,” Thornburg said. “It’s a jump from one medium to another and SMS proved a really good way to bridge that gap.”
The results speak for themselves. Since launching the WedSocial email series and MobileConnect campaign, adoption of the WedSocial app among WeddingWire users is up 74%.
“Marketing Cloud allows us to be really focused on the experience of our community,” said Thornburg.
Keep exploring stories like this one.
Vitality Streamline its Distribution Processes with Salesforce
What can 20 million rows of data help you do? Boost sales by 50%.
How do you provide premier education at scale? ASU goes cutting edge.
Questions? We’ll put you on the right path.
Ask about Salesforce products, pricing, implementation, or anything else — our highly trained reps are standing by, ready to help.
