Marketing

How to Match Your Pricing to Your Marketing Strategy

By LaRhonda Sparrow

The longer you are in business, the more you hear about the different strategies you need to have. You need a marketing strategy, a sales strategy and a pricing strategy (just to name a few). And while it might seem like each of these is a different silo for your wedding business, the fact of the matter is, they are all very much linked—and need to work together. 

So, we’re going to focus on two business strategies we see a lot of wedding pros approaching as completely separate plans—marketing and pricing—and dive deep into why they should work together for your business. Read on to learn how your pricing and marketing strategies are actually connected as well as how they influence each other. 

Why you need to know your pricing before you start marketing 

Perhaps the biggest reason you need to think about your pricing before you start marketing your wedding business is the fact that your marketing strategy should be based on your ideal client persona(s); a big part of defining those is knowing how much they are able to spend on your services. Even though it is not the main driver of your marketing, it does influence what marketing channels you might pick, how you message things to potential clients as well as what blog and social media content you create. 

Pro-tip: If you haven’t created your ICAs yet, read this article to learn how to define your ideal client. Then be sure to brush up on how to create your marketing plan.

Another reason it’s important to know your pricing before you really dive deep into your marketing strategy is because it supports how you’ll position your wedding business and services. Here is a great example from Michelle Loretta of Be Sage Consulting.

“Rarity breeds deep value to the client. The more you can differentiate your services (either by niching or by specializing), the rarer you are to the market. That rarity will allow you to price more exclusively. It’s the basic law of supply and demand. If what you offer is so rare that you are the sole supplier, your offering becomes extremely premium. And, as a result, your premium price will reflect that rarity.”

Pricing is a marketing tool

You may not think of your pricing strategy as an actual marketing tool, but it definitely is! It’s one of the levers you have to pull, it’s one of the driving parts of your marketing (and sales) process and it is something you can test (which is the giveaway for it being a tool in your marketing toolbox). And Michelle has a lot of helpful thoughts on the subject:

“People think pricing is a math equation—but really it’s a marketing strategy that you test financially. Your pricing should be a reflection of your experience, your reputation, the services you offer and your exclusivity (or what sets you apart from your competition). All of that needs to match what your ideal client is looking for. You can set your fee at $1M, but ultimately that needs to align with the value you bring to the client and what that client is seeking.

Once you’ve established a pricing structure that is a match for the market you want to work with, you can test it financially. Will this pricing structure adequately cover costs and expenses? Does it provide earnings for the owner? It’s not unusual to see newer wedding business owners have a pricing structure that does not fully provide a living wage. That is only sustainable for a short time. If there is a large mismatch between pricing and earnings, it’s time to go back to square one. Revisit the ideal client, your services, and your pricing structure. Work to align those with your ideal earnings. 

This is a process that you’ll be fine-tuning at least annually for the rest of your business life. As you gain more knowledge and experience the pricing strategy process does get easier. But it always requires reflection on the market and testing financially to find that sweet spot.”

Pro-tip: Don’t know where to start when setting your prices? Here’s more expert advice so you know how to price your services as a wedding pro.

Engaged couples want to see your pricing

Whenever we’re talking about pricing strategies, we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you of this very important fact: on average, 69% of couples say pricing is the most important factor when deciding which commonly hired vendor they’ll reach out to.

So, when you are thinking about what things your Storefronts, social media content, and website copy need to communicate to your potential clients as a part of your marketing strategy, your pricing is without a doubt one of those things. 

Pro-tip: Here are 5 more reasons to share your pricing as well as sales email templates to help you answer the question “How much do your services cost?”.

With the help of Michelle’s expert advice, we hope you feel more confident about how you’re going to use your pricing as a positioning tool in your marketing! And if you want more support on this topic, here’s our latest guide, Increase Bookings with Upfront Pricing.

Photo Credit: Iris Mannings Photography