COVID-19: Content advice for wedding professionals during the pandemic Part 3 - How to build and implement your content strategy

With couples now at home and spending more time browsing online, it’s the perfect time to maximise the impact of your content and keep engagement levels with your venue high.

With the ever-evolving COVID-19 situation not only providing enhanced opportunities to connect with your audience, but also demanding a more considered and sensitive approach, the Bridebook team have put together a 3-part series of articles with our top tips on content creation during this time. While part 1 covered what type of content you should be creating, and part 2 gave advice on where you should share it, here in part 3 we look at how to build and implement your overall strategy.

How do I approach and implement my overall content strategy?

Research

There’s no point producing content for the sake of it – you need to be thinking about providing value. Do some keyword research to see what couples are typing into the search engines right now – get a view on their pain points and topics of interest. Keeping an eye on the news and joining discussions in the UK Wedding Venue Slack group will keep you in the loop with industry updates – this awareness is super important to ensuring your content is relevant and engaging. 

Think holistically

Take a step back and think about the wider plan for your content. This overall view will ensure you cover all of the most important and relevant topics, that you don’t repeat yourself and that you can prioritise the most important content. Set aside a chunk of time at the start of the week or even month to plan your content, saving yourself time in the long run and making the process feel manageable. Advanced planning will also ensure you’re able to maximise on important milestones, for example you might create a content campaign in preparation for when lockdown is lifted and you’re able to open your doors to couples again. 

Be SMART

Set goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely for each piece of content. This approach will ensure that your time is well spent on valuable content, that the message is clear throughout, that you don’t waste any time on topics that are no longer relevant, and that you maximise the impact on the audience. It also enables you to take learnings from previous content performance and use this to improve your approach going forward. 

Consider your audience

Every time you start a new piece of content think ‘who is this for?’ – put yourself in their shoes and adapt your style accordingly. The tone and language throughout should reflect how you would communicate the message in person. 

Your audience should also inform which channel you choose to share each piece of content on. Important updates are most likely best shared directly in email, social media might be the best channel for inspiring potential prospects and collaborations could be a great opportunity to share advice and establish yourself as an industry expert. 

We hope these tips, along with part 1 & part 2, provide guidance for how to approach your content strategy over the coming weeks. For more business advice we’ve collated all of our COVID-19 resources for wedding professionals to help you easily find the support you need. If you have any questions at all or need any help then please do reach out to anyone in the Bridebook team. You can also join the UK Wedding Venue Slack group to chat with others who are in the same boat, and if you have any thoughts or tips yourself then please do share – we are in this together!