Adapting Your Marketing Planning to a Changing Market

A media colleague and I recently discussed a seemingly contradictory observation about our local wedding market: So far this year, we're seeing more activity by brides than ever, yet a number of wedding vendors report that their bookings are down. For example, in our case, more copies of our book were distributed during the first three months of this year than in any of the last three, our web traffic is up (as well as clicks through to vendors), and we've also received many more online inquiries. Yet, even with so much planning apparently going on, many vendors are reporting that they're having a "slow year."

Sound counter-intuitive? Maybe not.

Our local market of Greater Sacramento has been one of the fastest growing regions in the US for years -- with that growth exploding over the last five years or so. For a long time, this growth dramatically increased the size of the wedding market, to the benefit of local wedding professionals. During this period, many wedding vendors found they could grow their businesses substantially without changing their marketing at all.

However, the prosperity of this growing region has not gone unnoticed. Instead, it has attracted vendors from the nearby Bay Area and elsewhere to relocate, or to expand their businesses to include the Sacramento market. And that means that even though the number of brides has increased, the number of vendors looking to serve them has also increased -- and, probably at a faster rate.

If you're a wedding vendor in a market that is changing, it's critical to adapt your marketing planning to changing conditions -- even if those changes are not problematic in the short term. If you're in a growing region and currently enjoying increased business that seems to be coming "naturally," rather than being complacent, plan for what will come next. Because whenever there is an opportunity to easily increase business through market growth, that growth is going to attract new competitors.

Use the opportunity that market growth -- and "easier" new business growth -- provides to invest in marketing for the future. The surest way to protect your future business is to invest more in marketing when it seems like you least need to. Make hay -- and buy more seeds -- while the sun shines. Because expanding your footprint when it's easier will ensure more awareness among brides and fellow vendors, and more referrals in the future -- referrals that can provide a much-needed cushion during a future period of fiercer competition.