This is the Transcript of the #WeddingMarket Chat on June 24, 2015 with Marley Majcher from The Party Goddess. The answers were made on Twitter so responses will appear different.

Marley Majcher is the CEO of The Party Goddess! A nationally acclaimed full service event planning and catering company. Majcher’s client list has included Earthlink, Georgetown University, and Whole Foods Market and celebrities Sofia Vergara, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, Pierce Brosnan, Kelly Preston, Jenna Elfman, Britney Spears, Laila Ali, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Katherine Heigl, and Snoop Dogg. She has appeared on numerous shows including “Fox and Friends”, Fox Business, MSNBC, “Extra”, “Entertainment Tonight”, “Good Day LA”, Bravo, E!, MTV, HGTV, FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, and The Wedding Channel.

See more information at www.MarleyMajcher.com

Q1: How do you use social media in your business?

Answer

Marley Majcher: I use it to showcase our work, deliver great content and put a personality behind the brand. We try to create a convo w/ our target audience & build trust, try for expert status w/in our field.

Q2: What are the important elements in using social media that turns followers into customers?

Answer

Marley Majcher: You’ve got to provide great content, something sticky that makes them come back & that relates to your brand.

Q3: What type of social media content is important?

Answer

Marley Majcher: The most important content is what’s important to your audience. Give them what they want can’t get anywhere else, whether it be by opting to buy Tiktok followers to boost that platform, or creating a Twitter account that gives information your customer base wants. Come up with a plan and then adjust it based on what gets shared/commented on the most.

Q4: Are there certain types of post or images on social media that sells?

Answer

Marley Majcher: The data (taken from these internet statistics 2020) shows that images get #retweeted by a much higher % than without images. Which images depend on which social media channel though & what resonates most with the audience.

Q5: How often should you post on social media?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Our posting schedule depends on the medium. We post much less frequently to LinkedIn than Twitter. For Twitter, we have a set number of posts to go per day, then repost our blogs every 3 hrs or so, then spontaneous posts.

Q6: What are some of the mistakes that wedding pros make in social media?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Biggest mistakes are not having a strategy, constantly promoting or talking @ irrelevant stuff. Another mistake is not listening to what their audience wants to digest, talk about, engage with.

Q7: Can you give some examples of social media that works?

Answer

Marley Majcher: I think it all WORKS, but depends on your market, your goals, etc. It keeps going back to what your market WANTS. Make sure to concentrate on dominating one platform at a time, maybe 2 and then amping it up. You don’t have to hit ALL.

Q8: Many brides publicly discuss their wedding process on social media how can wedding pros get involved with those conversations?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Get involved by identifying certain hashtags, being consistent & providing valuable input. Definitely don’t just blather about how you can help. Social media is like any relationship, you have to build trust.

Q9: If you have limited time how should you manage your time for social media success?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Determine how much time you have to spend & what your goals are. Preplan the time into your schedule. I try and blow through each of my social media platforms once in the am and once in the pm to respond. We pre-post content, which is key to being productive in social media. It’s like anything else, you can’t be reactive. @Zapier is a great automater as is @IFTTT – Check my @Twitter names though for accuracy! If you’re looking for a Zapier alternative, you could check out something like PieSync to help you out.

Q10: Why is social media listening or finding out what others are saying about your brand important too?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Listening in social media is just like listening anywhere else. You get tons of clues @ how your brand is perceived.

When you listen, you find out @ what the customers want, holes in the market, where you can improve, etc.

Q11: When is buying a social media ad appropriate?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Buying an ad depends on your goals and your overall strategy. We would buy an ad when we want to achieve a specific result. Before you buy an ad, it helps to know your customer acquisition cost so you know how much a lead is worth.

Q12: Where can wedding pros read real-time analytics on the effectiveness of their campaigns or posts?

Answer

Marley Majcher: I’m not sure real time is the most important, just on time is the most important. The key is to track at all & then course correct. Most people don’t track, they just spew, don’t know what works and what doesn’t and don’t bother to course correct.

Q13: How can we be sure that we are targeting the right demographics with our advertising efforts?

Answer

Marley Majcher: You identify your target audience, find out where they “live”, start engaging in a convo, test & track your results.

Q14: Which social media platforms should wedding pros be using for brides?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Brides are historically all over @Pinterest & of course @Instagram. Brides want VISUALS. Period. Of course it doesn’t just stop w/ visuals, but visuals are key.

Q15: What special tools or apps are good to use to help with social media?

Answer

Marley Majcher: @Hootsuite is great. Hashtagify.me lets you try out hashtags to see what’s best. Google analytics. Regram, Latergram.me. Love @Zapier @IFTTT.

Q16: What would you like everyone to take away from this #weddingmarket chat?

Answer

Marley Majcher: To have a written strategy w/ specific goals, a plan to post, trackable outcomes that you track & then course correct. Better jump in now if you’re not already in social media because this train has massively left the station!

#WeddingMarket Questions From Twitter:

@EventPassion What strategies and tactics do you suggest?

Answer

Marley Majcher: I craft my message to talk to our specific target audience & then see what they pick up on & don’t.

@FrillsBridal Any tips for selling yourself/ your bran.d through social media without coming across too pushy/salesy?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Provide content first. Don’t smarm them. Build trust.

@sothisislov Are you pre-posting via automation or an automated app?

Answer

Marley Majcher: We do a combination. We have our baseline strategy automated & then we respond & post in real time. We managed to find a cheaper alternative to the Jarvee planner so we’ve been using it to make sure all our posts go out on time.

@DownTheAisleCT I’ve heard variations-is there a preferred time (lunch, eves, etc) that tweets or Fb posts should go out?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Each medium has best/worst times to post. You can get a concensus by Googling. Note most times given are EST.

@AGeventpainter I’ve seen studies saying best days to post on Facebook: Fri Sat Sun. Others say the opposite. Which is it?

Answer

Marley Majcher: There is some evidence that you can get good traction on wknds, but b/c there is much less noise.

@EventPassion What is a promising way to get your audience engaged?

Answer

Marley Majcher: By testing the waters. You respond to them, encourage them, answer ?’s & then see what gets shared the most.

@apriltwentyfive What is the best way to strengthen your brand with social media?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Determine your core messages 1st,then participate by always providing value &excite your audience w/visuals.

@FrillsBridal is there such a thing as too many social media posts in 1 day? don’t want to overload/annoy my followers!

Answer

Marley Majcher: You can definitely post too much. Watch your unfollows & new follows closely for patterns.

@EventPassion What are ways to successfully differentiate your business from your competitors?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Identify what your USP is, what the market already has too much of & what the mkt needs, then give it to them.

@Pea2Tree_events How do you come up with new and exciting contents, after providing so many?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Coming up w/ content isn’t an issue for me UNLESS I HAVE 2come up w/content. Create content when yr inspired.

@DownTheAisleCT Most of my followers are non-brides/non-couples so is there any “hope” to still attract clients this way?

Answer

Marley Majcher: You can find totally new ones by following convos w/ hashtags or “meet” current clients on another medium.

@DownTheAisleCT I keep various clipboards hangin on my wall (tips, style) and rip out of mag’s etc. 4 content inspiration.

Answer

Marley Majcher: A yes, like a visual horizontal swipe file. Love it!

@phxpartyexpo Is there a sure fire way to know what content your audience wants?

Answer

Marley Majcher: I don’t know of a sure fire anything except death & taxes, u just have to create a strategy & test/tweak.

@danieladegrassi Isn’t twitter more useful to connect with pros? perhaps @instagram is better for brides?

Answer

Marley Majcher: It depends on the market, but there probably are more vendors, but vendors can send clients!

@phxpartyexpo Is there any one method that yields higher rate of success when wanting to attract attendees to events?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Yes! Getting on the phone and calling them up & following up. Nothing beats it. Sorry.

@Wedbyjean How do you do geotags?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Ucan segment certain cities by following hashtags like #Pasadena & then create lists.

@EventPassion How do you feel about email newsletters?

Answer

Marley Majcher: I love email newsletters that have great content for the right audience and think they are essential 2 mktgplan.

@MangoMuseEvents Any specific advice on driving leads using social media to website?

Answer

Marley Majcher: Ucan drive them 2a hard squeeze page w/ a special offer or use the social media share buttons on newsletters.