Renewal time for the directory listing
The wedding directory listing is up for renewal and the invoice is not small. You think it brings enquiries, but you are less sure it brings bookings. Meanwhile you have spent time getting onto the recommended supplier list at three venues, you post on Instagram most days, and a good number of couples say they found you through a friend.
When you try to work out which of these is worth your money and time, you scroll through your studio software and emails trying to remember where each booked couple came from. For half of them, you are not sure.
The source is lost at the first message
The information usually exists at the moment of enquiry. A directory email has the directory's name on it, a venue forward has the venue's, an Instagram DM is obviously Instagram. But it is rarely written down in a consistent way, and once the couple move to email and then to booking, the link is gone.
- The 'how did you hear about us' field on your form is optional and often blank or says 'Google'.
- Couples who found you on a directory then contact you directly through your website.
- A venue recommendation and an Instagram post both played a part, and neither is recorded.
- Your studio software has a lead source field, but it is filled in on some couples and not others.
What guessing costs
Without this information, marketing decisions are made on feel. You might keep paying for a listing that brings plenty of enquiries at the wrong price point, or drop one that brings fewer enquiries but a high share of bookings. You might put effort into a venue relationship that has never produced a wedding, while neglecting one that quietly sends you your best couples.
It also shapes how you spend your quiet months. Knowing which sources book tells you where to put your time in winter.
How we build lead source tracking that follows the couple
- Enquiries from directories and venue forwards are tagged automatically from the email they arrive in.
- Your website form records the page and link the couple came from, including tracked links you use in your Instagram bio and directory profiles.
- The 'how did you hear about us' question is kept, but it becomes a short list of your real sources plus a free text box, and both answers are stored.
- When a couple books, the source travels with them into your studio software and your booking record.
- Where more than one source played a part, both are kept: the first one they saw and the one that led to the enquiry.
- A simple report shows, for each source, enquiries, calls, bookings and booked value, by season.
| Source | How it is captured | What the report shows |
|---|---|---|
| Wedding directory | Tagged from the forwarding email or tracked link | Enquiries, bookings, booked value |
| Venue recommended list | Tagged from venue forward or form choice | Bookings per venue |
| Tracked bio link and DM channel | Enquiries and bookings | |
| Past couple referral | Form answer with their names | Bookings from referrals |
| Search | Landing page on your site | Enquiries and bookings |
The report shows what your records say. It cannot know what a couple did before they got in touch, and we say so rather than presenting guesses as fact.
What you can decide with it
When the directory renewal arrives, you can look at how many of its enquiries became weddings and what those weddings were worth, and decide on that. When you choose which venues to visit and send a thank-you print to, you can see which ones actually refer couples who book.
Over a couple of seasons, the picture gets clearer, and your winter marketing time goes where the bookings come from.
Signs you are marketing on guesswork
- You are not sure which source brought most of last year's weddings.
- You renew directory listings without checking what they booked.
- The lead source field in your studio software is often empty.
- You thank venues for referrals without knowing which ones refer.
- Couples' answers to 'how did you hear about us' are mostly 'Instagram' or 'Google'.