DV Info Net - the knot

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Just wondering if anybody advertises with the knot? Is it worth the money?

I would never advertise on The Knot. In my experience, Knot brides are usually looking for cheap video.

I think you'll find opinions vary widely on this and I think a lot of it has to do with the market you're in. I've heard guys say it didn't work for them and they would never use it again and I've heard others say that it was their best spent advertising dollars.

In my case...we decided to advertise with them last October and we have booked 12 weddings thus far half of which were our middle to top tier packages. My opinion at this point is that it was money well spent...YMMV. Sure, we have to field a few calls from brides looking for a deal but we were doing that even before we were listed with the knot.

Is the general recommendation to try google adwords first?

Use Wedding Wire. It has been our single-most important lead for weddings since we've signed up, and it's free. You create a profile, you can even put video samples right on their page. They do try to email you or call you and up-sell you to a paid listing every now and then, but they are not too pushy, and in my area, free has been working for us, so why should I pay?

On our website page contact form we have a "how did you find us?" question....I would say over 75% of our email inquiries say "weddingwire.com"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Fiske (Post 1659238)

Is the general recommendation to try google adwords first?

Google Adwords have worked reasonably well for me.

The Knot is over-priced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katie Fasel (Post 1659266)

Out of curiosity Katie, who is your target market and what is there budget? If you aren't comfortable sharing specific numbers, could you give me generic info such as "economical", Mid-level" or "high-end" customers/packages?

I am using the knot and find that most of the inquires I get are asking for lowest package I offer.
I do get some high end wedding from there as well.
I think if you are not in the business for long and need for some work, it's a great place to start.
It took me some time to find the sweet spot and build packages around it.
I hope with time I would not have to use the knot and get business from referrals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Kopec (Post 1659583)

I would say based on your three descriptions, we're in the "Mid Level" range. We try to be competitive with other videographers in our area that have packages similar to ours. Our all-day package - bridal prep, ceremony, reception - is our most popular package, and our price is very similar to others in our area, with one exception: we never charge for two videographers...My husband and I are both shooting most of the time...I say that lightly because I usually do bridal prep by myself, and b-roll is a free-for all...but for any major events, I just don't want the editing headache of shooting with one camera and something possibly going wrong...anyway, I think it's one thing we try to use to set ourselves apart from others in our area.

In all honesty, I never know what our brides budget for videography, because our prices are spelled out on our website...That really eliminates those looking for the "economical" level. People looking to pay little, should expect to receive very little, IMO. For the most part, our full-day is our most popular package, and most of our customers appreciate the time and work that goes into it.

The Knot is the single best marketing tool for me. I started advertising with them 5 years ago and now they account for 50% of my new bookings, the other 50% is referrals, mostly from brides who booked me through the knot! I pay for WeddingWire advertising and it does ok, but not great. I got the Knot Best of Weddings award for last year and in January, February and March I booked 22 weddings from that alone.

Hi Jeremy,
It depends on how much your packages are. I was getting inquiries when I was in the 1-3k range.
0 on 3k and up category.

I only booked one from them(2-3k package range), and it has been 4months. so it pays off.

you only need one bookings and youre break even.

If you charge 3k up, good luck on that.

hope it helps.

It's worked well for me. We don't book a ton from it, but every booking that has come from it has been over $7K. First gig booked from it payed for our listing for several years.