Social media is a powerful and inexpensive marketing tool for wedding and event planners. You can build a following of potential clients and network with other wedding professionals. If your content is exceptional, you can even position yourself as an expert in your field.

Before you start a social media marketing plan, there are some things to keep in mind so that you do not get burned out, spend too much time on social media, or spin your wheels. You want results from your efforts and the best way to get those is to follow a few simple guidelines.

Brand Consistency – When you are planning your social media posts, keep your audience in mind. For example, if your clients are high-end luxury couples; you do not want to share articles about planning a wedding for under 10K or great DIY projects. You want to share and create content that your target market will be interested in and that will reflect the kind of weddings you plan.

Creating Sharable Content – When posting content via social media you want the majority of it to be original content that you are creating. It is fine to repost things you find interesting, but you want to be seen as an expert so you need to show your expertise. I follow the 80/20 rule, 80% of my social media content is original and 20% is reposted. The other benefit to creating content is that other people will share it, so you can be exposed to all of their followers with a simple repost. So make sure what you are creating is worthy of a share.

Choosing Social Media Outlets – There are SO many social media outlets out there; it can be overwhelming to decide which ones to use. Many people just jump into all of them at once. Unless you have people to run your social media marketing campaign, you will not have enough time in the day to use all the outlets in an effective manner. So, choose a few outlets and do them REALLY WELL. I used to be on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram, and I was driving myself crazy trying to keep up. So, I decided to evaluate my results and go with those. Now I only use Facebook and Pinterest and I am very satisfied with my results.

Scheduling Posts in Advance – Often when people first start a social media marketing plan it can become VERY overwhelming. Once you have decided what outlets you will be using, I recommend pre-scheduling your posts using a program like Hootsuite. These types of programs allow you to write all of your posts and select a date and time that they go live. I try to schedule a month in advance. It takes the day-to-day stress of coming up with something to post off your plate.

Sharing Curated Content – Think of all of your social media posts as a collection. If a couple likes you, they will likely comb through all of your social media sites to learn more about you and your services. You want your content to be consistent with your brand and with the image you want to portray. For example, if you share something funny on your Facebook page make sure it is tasteful and not going to offend anyone. Also, remember that if you have a personal Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest, etc, they are very easily seen by potential clients. So even if your business pages are managed with perfect content and appropriate messaging, if couples can click over to your personal page and see lewd/offensive/insulting content, they are going to keep looking.

Looking for personalized guidance on creating a marketing plan and strategy for your event planning business? Learn more about one-on-one strategic coaching sessions for wedding and event planners.

This is a guest post from Amber of Cheers Wedding & Event Planning in western Washington. She has a Masters Degree in Integrated Marketing Communications and previously worked as a marketing consultant for wedding industry professionals. Amber is also the co-founder of the Skagit Wedding Society.