Before we dive in, we have to talk about the elephant in the room. You know, the “running a wedding business is hard work because you’re pulled in 50 directions at any moment in time” one?
Okay—I said it, and now we can move on.
But here’s why that’s so important to acknowledge: it’s hard to objectively wear all the hats you do and be responsible for so many things when it comes to your business. Because the hat you wear as “wedding planner” for your couples is just as important as the “bookkeeper” hat you wear for your business. But swapping hats all the time is tricky—one of them is bound to fall off your head at some point!
And one of the hats that falls off for a lot of wedding pros is the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) hat. But it’s a super important one to pick back up when you’ve figured out you’ve misplaced it. So it’s time to step into your role as CMO.
Read on to learn about the impact you can have on your business when you become its CMO.
What is a CMO?
A CMO is a Chief Marketing Officer, and the person in this role definitely has a seat at the decision-making table. In fact, you can think of them as the “marketing boss” for the company. And like a lot of boss-roles, the job isn’t to be a “doer.” The job is actually to set a direction and make sure what needs to get done, does.
And there is an important distinction to make here. Because even though you might be the only person working on marketing in your business, you might only be looking at marketing from the “doer’s” perspective. Which is why you might feel alone, confused, and overwhelmed by marketing.
This is exactly why stepping into the role of CMO is important for every wedding business owner, regardless of whether you are a solopreneur or have a couple team members tasked with marketing. So, how do you become a great CMO? Let’s talk about it—because you totally can be!
Create a Marketing Strategy
The first step to being a great CMO for your wedding business sounds like a big project, but we promise it isn’t anymore! (More on that in a bit). And the reason this is step one is because this is where you set your course—because you’re not trying to market your services in every direction! You’re trying to market your business towards your goals. And here is a quick rundown of what your marketing strategy should include:
- Your big-picture business goals
- Your objectives (these are more measurable steps you need to take)
- Your customer personas
- Your marketing channels
Pro-tip: Remember how we promised it would be easy to create your marketing strategy? We weren’t lying. You can customize a marketing strategy to your business in just minutes with Enji! Start a free trial and create yours today.
Project Manage Yourself and Your Team
Once you’ve created your marketing strategy, the next (very important and maybe the most challenging) responsibility you have as the CMO is to project manage yourself and your team in order to achieve it. This is crucial because this is where you are holding yourself and team accountable to doing the marketing—we all wish it would just magically happen, but it doesn’t.
And one of the best ways to make sure your marketing tasks are getting done is to write them down. Now this can be a physical marketing calendar that you keep, but that isn’t the most efficient way (plus, it can accidentally get thrown out!). The best way to have a clear understanding of what needs to get done and when is by keeping a digital calendar that is dedicated to just marketing tasks.
Side note: Why just marketing tasks? Why not use your Google calendar? Because how many things already live in your Google calendar? I’m guessing a lot. And, in my experience, makes it easy to overlook your marketing tasks.
Track Your Marketing Metrics
When you have a seat at the decision-making table, it’s inevitable the others will make you justify what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and the resources you spend on it all. And this is one of the things most wedding pros never sit down and do. They just spend a lot of time on Instagram without understanding if it’s actually bringing in leads. So, when it comes to being the CMO of your wedding business, you should be tracking your metrics in a way that gives you the information you need to justify what you’re doing to market your business. Especially when the only person you’re answering to is yourself.
Learn as You Go
The last thing you need to do as a great CMO is learn as you go. Because, the reality is, marketing is an experiment, and you can learn a lot from the mistakes you make.
And mistakes are totally normal in marketing! But when you have a strategy, you manage (read: commit) yourself and your team to completing your tasks, and track your metrics, you are in a great spot to make smart decisions for yourself and your business—and reach your goals because of it!
A marketing consultant and small-business builder, Tayler Cusick Hollman is the Founder of Enji—though you might recognize her from one of her other companies: TAYLRD Media and Designs and Sourced Co.
