How are you currently marketing to brides? Do all brides receive the same email? The same marketing newsletter? If so, read on. Not all flanges are the same. Some brides have wedding budgets as low as $5,000, while you will find brides who have budgets of $200,000 or more! There is a big difference there and how you earn your business will be different too.

Bride segmentation strategies are a way to market discrete groups of brides who share similar characteristics. Bridal segmentation can be a powerful way to identify unmet customer needs. Wedding providers that identify and understand underserved brides can often outperform their competition by creating new ways to serve this industry that has a 15-month turnover rate.

Bridal targeting gets the most results when wedding vendors create personalized offers for brides that will earn them the most money for their time spent. For example: A bride living in Beverly Hills should receive emails and marketing material for honeymoons in Tahiti or the Maldives through a travel agent instead of the Caribbean or Mexico. If she’s going to send out marketing materials by mail or email, why not hit the target with honeymoons that will earn her the most money? For a wedding caterer, it could be as simple as emailing the bride with lobster served with organic candied vegetables instead of grilled chicken breast with rice pilaf. For the high-end bride, she would be much more inclined to read the email and contact the supplier. She doesn’t take much more time or effort, but in the long run, she will make you much more money.

This prioritization can help wedding vendors develop wedding marketing campaigns and pricing strategies to get the most value from both high-end and low-end brides.

To implement a bridal segmentation strategy, you must first understand the market you are in. Are you dealing with high-end brides or low-end brides? Are you in a prosperous area or not? Do you have what it takes to market the couture bride? Do you understand what the high-end bride in your area wants? Brides in different areas of the country have different ideals as to what is tall or short.

First, divide the wedding market into measurable segments based on the needs of the bride. This is based on the results of your previous encounters with girlfriends. Second, calculate the potential benefit of each product/service she offers. You’ll need to analyze the revenue and service cost impacts of each bridal segment. Third, determine your potential benefit and your ability to meet the bride’s needs. Don’t forget that working with high-end brides means spending more time with them, as they are known to be a more demanding bunch. Lastly, you will need to invest resources in creating new marketing materials and ways to reach your target group of brides. Some will decide they prefer to service the bottom end flange and do bulk but less hand grip and others will want to service only a few flanges but will have a much higher return on investment.