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Jemma Palmer on Falling in Love With Social Media

Jemma Palmer of Halo & Wren offers her top tips on embracing the benefits of social media platforms such as Pinterest

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Social media for most people is a love/hate relationship, but I sit firmly on the love side. Without social media, how would you reach the new generation of brides who have the whole wedding world in the palm of their hands? Now is definitely not the time to be in a hate relationship with social media.

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So, how do you fall in love with social media? Firstly embrace it, it’s not going anywhere. In fact, as a bridal boutique owner, I am already looking and asking ‘what’s next?’ I want to know how brides will be planning and sourcing for their weddings in five years. One thing is for sure, social media will play a big part, so you have to be a part of it!

For example, I actively encourage photo taking in my boutique – not just encourage it, but I ask brides to do it, share it, tag it and geo-located it! From my point of view, this is the very best free promotion of your business. Here are real-life, happy brides-to-be as well as their loved ones sharing shopping success at your boutique.

I also maintain open communications with brides across various sources, such as Facebook and Instagram, through direct messaging and commenting on their posts. This is the start of an online relationship which means that when a bride is married in one of your gowns, you are far more likely to see the pictures and will be able to share these on your page.

Read More: Improving Your Social Media Strategy

Brides inspire other brides and I have so many ladies visit because they saw another bride in one of my gowns. This online relationship also means that communication goes far beyond the dress. I now get to see the very first Halo & Wren babies, new homes and job promotions from past brides!

Why Pinterest Works For Us

Pinterest, isn’t it just the most amazing yet painfully confusing thing in the whole wide world? I got married six years ago and I used Pinterest to plan my wedding, it’s actually where I found my own gown!

If that isn’t enough of a reason to be using Pinterest, then what is? Pinterest is still the number one wedding planning app, with one in three couples using it to plan their big day, despite unstable links. I have found wonderful dresses, amazing venues and the most beautiful stationery suites but click on them and it’s a broken link to a website that has nothing to do with the original post.

Although this may seem a reason to avoid the platform, it’s one of the reasons why you and your boutique should actually be on there.

Read More: How to Use Pinterest for Your Bridal Business

Posting on Pinterest, especially through the app is incredibly easy. It allows you to link a website address to each post, which means that if a bride is searching for a specific gown and you have it in stock and you have posted in on Pinterest, you can guide that bride directly to your booking page.

Pinterest is such a huge portal that if you type anything into Google, the image page will be filled with links to Pinterest – it’s almost always in the first page of a Google search.

The platform is also a great way of showcasing your brands and gowns by using images from all over the world. We all know that bridal gowns look different on each and every bride and different still depending on how each individual bride styles their look – so simply using the image from the designer isn’t enough.

Brides searching for gowns on Pinterest will be after every possible image of their favourite dresses, giving you the opportunity to promote your gowns and your boutique – you can post pictures of dresses in your boutique, of your brides wearing them, or even of you and your staff modelling them from different angles.

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Finally, Halo & Wren prides itself on being an inspirational bridal boutique, which means it’s not all about the gown. We use Pinterest to share jewellery, flowers, venues, inside and outside of H&W, fashion, memes, humour and much, much more.

Brides need reasons to come back, even if they’re not ready to buy their gown, or already have it, our Pinterest is more of a community of wedding planning. The key to Pinterest is to share, share, share and offer a diverse selection.

If you enjoyed this feature keep an eye on the next few issues of Bridal Buyer magazine as Jemma will be back with part two of her social media advice and top tips.

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