Today’s couples have more options than ever, which means your venue needs more than stunning views and top-notch amenities to stand out.

Attracting the right couples doesn’t happen by chance. It takes a thoughtful marketing strategy that puts your venue in front of the people who are looking for it.

The most successful venues have a plan that consistently draws the right couples, fills their calendars, and makes strategic use of every dollar to ensure a strong ROI.

Ready to create a marketing plan that works for you? Here are a few strategies to get started:

1. Optimize your website (SEO)

According to wedding industry SEO expert Sara Dunn, “Venues are the most searched category in the wedding industry. That means venues have the most opportunity to be found on Google!” 

She emphasized that “SEO is about investing in your own website and online authority. Too many venues don’t invest in their own brand and the content they actually own and control.” Optimizing your site for search brings engaged couples directly to your venue, not another platform or site.

SEO can deliver impressive results. Sara shared about one of her SEO Fix clients, a venue in a suburban market outside Charlotte, who went from not ranking at all to Page 1 for local keywords in just weeks. Four months later, they were in the top three spots for multiple Charlotte search terms, increasing their discovery traffic by over 820%.

Sara said, “Like most things, the outcomes from SEO for venues depend on how much you put in. Some of our wedding venue SEO clients get 20,000-30,000 website visits per year from search (from local searchers, not random people looking for information) and 100-200 pricing inquiries per month.”

She also noted that getting to Page 1 for a really broad, competitive keyword (like “Austin wedding venues”) isn’t the only path to success.

“In our SEO practice, we make a point to explore more specific, lower competition keywords too, to find what’s really realistic to get results. Getting to Page 1 for something like “Lake Travis wedding venues” or “unique Austin wedding venues” is often a lot easier and can bring in more qualified, excited couples who truly want what you have to offer.”

And you’ll want to make sure that once clients land on your site, their experience is seamless and user-friendly. My Honeysuckle House website template is designed to help you do just that (plus, it’s got plenty of space for your testimonials and SEO-focused content)!

2. Invest in paid ads

Paid ads can deliver a great ROI for wedding venues. According to venue consultant Tirzah Caffee, “Hiring a company to handle all your meta ads and automate your client inquiries is a game changer for most venues. Whereas some smaller wedding pros get 10-20 inquiries a month, a well marketed venue may get 250-350 leads a month.”

Marketing agency owners Daniela and Whitney from Wedding Industry Ads shared why paid ads can be such a great strategy for venues: “Because venues are usually one of the first bookings in the planning process, paid ads give you a powerful way to show up early: right when couples are searching for their dream venue.”

Strategic targeting is key. Daniela and Whitney shared, “You can target by geography, search intent, wedding interests, and even retarget visitors who’ve already interacted with your website or social content. It creates multiple touchpoints that build trust and drive action.”

Wondering where to start? Daniela and Whitney recommend advertising on both Meta and Google, as these two platforms can complement each other in your marketing efforts. “Google targets couples actively searching for a venue, while Meta helps you stay top-of-mind and build trust through repeated exposure,” said Daniela and Whitney.

Daniela and Whitney shared about one of their venue clients who invested in paid ads in conjunction with the launch of their new brand and website: “In just 90 days, their ads brought in 59 leads and converted 9 of them into booked weddings. With an average booking value of $10,000 and only $2,454 spent on ads, they saw a Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) of 3,667%. That’s the power of pairing a strong brand and website with a smart ad strategy.”

And having a website ready to showcase your space makes ad campaigns far more effective. When couples click over from an ad, you’ll want to make a strong first impression and highlight everything your venue offers. Honeysuckle House is an image-forward website template designed specifically for wedding venues to do just that!

3. Leverage Organic Social Media

Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are completely free places to market your business and build a relationship with your audience!

According to Serena Waller of The Dande Agency, “When leveraging all of the various posting types on social, you can reach existing, past and prospective clients regularly. That visibility not only keeps you top of mind, but helps you build a fan base and community.”

Wondering what type of results you can expect from investing in an organic social media strategy? Serena said, “Typically, our clients see a follower growth rate anywhere from 3-6%, and an engagement rate anywhere between 5-15%. But visibility numbers can be in the thousands. Results are really based on what the goal is, as the content that you create needs to correlate to that goal.”

But, keep in mind that while “posting on social media feels like it should be a ‘quick win’ (and sometimes it is), long-term consistent posting is where the magic really happens,” according to Serena.

In fact, she shared about one venue client who had a bride book based on a social media post she had seen two years prior to even getting engaged! It just goes to show that social media is a long game that can grow your audience and pay off big time!

4. Host an Open House

An open house is an opportunity to bring both couples and vendors together in your venue. Some couples might already have booked at your venue, while others might be taking the opportunity to check it out for the first time. Either way, an open house can drive sales, increase your exposure, and build your network.

Cassie Kraft of The Allen Farmhaus (a past ACD client!) shared a bit about how her venue leverages open houses as a marketing strategy:

She said, “We do not charge our vendors to participate in our Open Houses, but do expect and require them to promote it on their end as well. Successful Open Houses are a culmination of a lot of collective team effort. We all win if a lot of people show up, so we all need to work together as a team to promote the event.”

This is a great marketing tactic because it gives you the opportunity to leverage other vendors’ audiences and expose more couples to your venue! While open houses are a lot of work to coordinate and market, it helps that participating vendors can do some of that marketing as well.

One key component to a successful open house is choosing the right vendor participants. Cassie shared, “We do try to be selective with who we choose. We evaluate their social media reach, their uniqueness, their level of professionalism, if we have had great experiences working with them, etc.” Cassie also recommends limiting how many vendors per category participate, as well as keeping things fresh with at least a few new vendors each year.

Cassie’s venue has seen great results from hosting open houses. She says: “Open houses definitely drive sales and help couples to commit to actually signing on the dotted line and paying their deposit to reserve the space. It also helps gain exposure to the venue.” An added bonus is that it can help deepen your relationships with other vendors and give you a peek into what it’s like to work with them!

5. Network with Vendors

The wedding industry is built on relationships, and networking with other vendors can help build your referral network and earn you a stellar reputation in your local industry.

Attend local networking events and workshops or educational events for wedding industry professionals. You’ll meet the pros who make up your local network and whose clients are looking to them for guidance on where to host their wedding! Sponsoring events can also be great for visibility, but nothing beats real, human connection!

You might also consider hosting networking events, whether pro bono or for a nominal fee. As a former Rising Tide Society leader, I was always so appreciative to venue owners who hosted our group for monthly meetups. It was a win/win: a place for us to host our meeting, and a way for venue owners to meet local wedding pros and show off their space!

Another way for venues to connect with local vendors is through hosting a styled shoot. These styled editorials can bring together florists, planners, photographers, and more to showcase your venue in its most beautiful light. Styled shoots can be a huge win for wedding venues because you’ll get gorgeous imagery showcasing your spaces, and other vendors are likely to feature them on their social media as well (of course always be mindful to credit, tag, and compensate other professionals)!

No matter how you go about it, building your network is an invaluable way to keep your venue top of mind for word-of-mouth referrals.

6. Update your Google Business profile

Every venue should have a Google Business profile—it’s completely free, and goes a long way in increasing your visibility. In fact, Google itself says that “You can use your Business Profile to improve your business’s local ranking.”

Google also states that “Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results.”

That means you’ll want to make sure your business profile is updated regularly with images and videos, up-to-date contact information, and other information like wifi and parking details. Venue consultatnt Tirzah Caffee said, “I’m also a huge fan of building out your Google My Business listing because it’s something you can do for FREE!” Her suggestion to help keep things fresh is to copy all of your well-performing social media content, including images and video, over to your Google Business profile.

Something many venues overlook is the importance of Google Reviews. According to Google, “Prominent places are more likely to show up in search results. This factor’s also based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. More reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking.”

For that reason, Google is the first place I recommend linking to when asking for an online review from couples! Google also states that responding to reviews is best practice, as it shows that you value feedback and helps you stand out.

Ready to put these marketing strategies into action while showcasing your venue in its best light?

Whether you’re focusing on SEO, social media, or paid ads, having a beautiful, functional website makes all the difference.

Honeysuckle House is a website template built specifically for wedding venues, so you can implement these strategies and start connecting with more couples right away.