Social Media Groups Are Marginalizing Top Wedding Vendors

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I've always been a savvy business owner for close to 14 years. My goal from Day 1 was to portray my business with class. One of the most disturbing things I've done recently is actually "join" a Facebook group. About 4 1/2 years ago, when I launched my wedding DJ podcast, there were some Facebook groups who were run by people who did not want me to advertise my podcast in their group. Perhaps it was because they were jealous of my creation and they felt intimidated that it might actually take business away from them? Silly, Eh? That was 2019 - I have a feeling it's even worse these days. I never got offended that I was kicked out of those groups because to be honest with you, I would prefer my name not ever be tossed around any social media group. If you asked me how I've made all of my revenue since I've been DJing, I would tell you that less than 1/4 percent has been generated on social media. And I might be a little on the generous side in that estimate. You are going to want to read on so I can set you straight about why modern brides and grooms should NEVER book any of their wedding vendors from social media groups.

Let me get back to that disturbing thing about joining that Facebook group. The only reason I joined this group was to see if there were any discussion about lead generation in Charleston. After reaching out to another top wedding DJ in Charleston and discovering numerous vendors had seen a decline in leads, I decided to dig a little deeper and what I found was horrifying. First, the amount of members in this group was disturbing.  People tend to forget that despite all of it's accolades, Charleston is a small city. So when I saw the membership of this group on or about 7,000 members, my jaw dropped. Now, if the group were comprised of 7,000 brides who were looking for vendors, I wouldn't be as alarmed. There were so many amateur wedding vendors in this group who did not even live in Charleston. Modern brides and grooms should beware of someone driving from Atlanta to Charleston and charging such a low rate. The first thing that came to mind was "Are they even going to show up?" I saw one post looking for a photographer with a $2,500 budget. Are you serious? So I clicked on this post and there were about 48 comments, all of which were from photographers I was not familiar with.  Seriously, would you really trust a photographer or wedding DJ for that matter who did not even live close to Charleston to drive to your wedding venue and do your wedding on the cheap? You might just want to take a look at this archived post about What Happens When Your Wedding DJ does not show <---Click HERE. Weddings are serious business. Professional wedding vendors have made it their life to provide an excellent service for brides and grooms wanting to have the best day of their lives. For those looking for "cheap" or "affordable", your best option might be to elope. 

It gets even worse. I saw a post about a bride looking for hair / make-up for $250.00? Then another was looking for a wedding DJ for less than $600.00, and a day-of coordinator for $1,000 or less. Now, I'll warn you of this. If the price sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Seeing the ultra low price for a day-of coordinator, I remembered a conversation I had with a bride a few years ago who says she answered a Facebook ad for a day-of coordinator. She paid her deposit and then never heard from this coordinator ever again. I can assure you that this was not an isolated incident and that this type of fraud and theft runs rampant in these types of social media groups. Being a part of hundreds of weddings over the years, I could tell you about some of the top hair and make-up artists. And I'm sure those hair and make-up artists probably charge $250.00 per HOUR or more. So, unless you want an amateur applying a little bit of lipstick and foundation they picked up at the drug store on the way to your wedding venue, you should probably stay clear of those prices for hair & make-up. I could tell you a thing or two about the top wedding planners and coordinators; you'll be hard-pressed to find someone making a living for under $2,500. Some of the best wedding planners may run upwards of $7,000 - $9,000 easy.

Why Do These Social Media Groups Exist In The First Place?

As a savvy business owner, I have always been completely transparent about my wedding DJ style and pricing.  My prices are posted to my website for you to see. I don't hide anything from anyone. You can go over to my Pricing page right now and take a look if you like. If you don't like what you see in terms of pricing, you are certainly free to shop around and book another wedding DJ.  Modern brides and grooms may get sticker shock if they accidentally ventured into a social media group before doing a Google search for the best wedding vendors.  This is exactly why those modern brides and grooms should avoid social media groups when making decisions for their wedding day. Look, I know what I am worth and I know how much time I put into a client's wedding day.  I do know that my track record among past clients justifies me in charging what I do.  Every wedding vendors dream client is one that judges them on their website and reviews, not price. You do get what you pay for. As a wedding DJ, my dream clients have always been the ones who are passionate about their music. Luckily over the years, I've managed to book those music lovers that I truly love to work with. These clients are true music lovers who avoid the line dances and other overplayed wedding songs. These clients are looking for something "different" for their wedding, not another average wedding DJ offering add-on after add-on. Most ALL of my past wedding clients have never judged me for NOT offering the add-ons, because it's the MUSIC that truly matters for your wedding day. To see these social media groups eclipse 7,000 members is an epic failure of the Admins of the groups. Most of the time these groups start out with good intentions, but balloon into something out of control or become very dense with below average wedding vendors. 

Google Is STILL The Best Choice For The Best Wedding Vendors

I did have one more point to add about why social media groups exist. And this theory of mine falls in line with my next point.  When you are starting a business which includes a professionally designed website, it's important to put yourself in the best position possible so that modern brides and grooms can find you. This means an investment in SEO with a quality digital consultant.  So many business owners just dive in and build a mediocre website and don't take in consideration that clients don't normally go to Page 2 or 3 or 4 of Google. Since these businesses want to make money, they go the route of these social media groups to get the word out to make a quick buck. Once again, you do not see the top - tier wedding vendors in these groups, and if you do, it might be to provide a comment, not generate revenue. While posting URLs in these social media groups might garner some clicks over to their website, they are only hurting themselves and the rest of the wedding industry by "marginalizing" and "cheapening" everything that is associated with planning a wedding.  For more information about Finding Your Wedding Vendors On Google <---Click HERE

Modern brides and grooms should know that the best wedding vendors they hire for their best day ever ARE NOT going to succumb to advertising in social media groups. I remember years ago my name became the 26th comment in a Facebook group as to a great wedding DJ to hire. While I certainly appreciate the thought, it's no surprise I was never contacted seeing the first 20 or so comments included DJs that were at least half of my price. Throwing the names of professional wedding vendors out in a social media group oftentimes promotes "calls", which generally result in price shopping. Price shopping generally results in a search for the lowest prices. I get it. Lots of people are hurting right now because of inflation and the economy. Unfortunately, true professional wedding vendors also get hurt too when booking them becomes a "price haggling" event. The best wedding vendors will not negotiate pricing. They've built a reputation and standard over the years that justifies them in charging what they do.  This is the primary reason why pricing information is on my website. It's my belief that all wedding vendors should publish their pricing information on their website. Why not? What are you hiding? If your image, content, and brand are relatable to the modern bride and groom, you should have nothing to worry about. The problem is most people are planning a wedding for the first time and don't exactly know how to go about finding the best wedding vendors for their big day.

Social Media Groups Attempt To Level The Playing Field

After having a nightmare recently about what I saw in this group, I began to thank the group may have been created to also size up fellow wedding vendors. I cannot stand hearing the term "level the playing field" because it sounds like we are all supposed to become the same in pricing and quality of services. I will never succumb to this type of marketing technique. Simply put, there will always be vendors that are not as good, and then there will be vendors who will exceed in the services that they provide.  It is my belief that if the highest priced wedding DJ or planner advertise in a social media group, they become just as cheap as the lowest priced type vendor. No thank you. I'm going to continue creating the best content to raise awareness on this type of activity to try to help out my current and future clients.  I know my worth as a wedding vendor and I also know that brides and grooms who want the best wedding vendors for their most cherished day won't bat an eye at price. I don't ever lose sleep at night knowing that I might not book every client. That's just part of life. I have lasting memories of all my past clients for the rest of my life. Even though we're all in the same boat as it pertains to finding the best clients to showcase our talents for their wedding, I do not want my name tossed out in a social media group.

Set Up A Consultation With DJ Mike Bills NOW
I wanted to thank you for making it all to the end of this post. After seeing some of this horrific stuff over the past few weeks on social media, I had to take the time to vent a little, and I must say that putting this post has been quite therapeutic. All you need to think about is this. YOUR wedding day is most likely only going to happen one time in your lifetime. YOU want it to go off without any issues.  Congratulations on your engagement! I would love to speak with you about being your wedding DJ. If you are truly a music lover who wants to hire a wedding DJ whose sole focus is helping modern brides and grooms put together a mix of music who best identifies them as a couple then please click the link up above and let's set up a time to talk about your wedding music. Thank you so much for finding my website and blog. I look forward to hearing from you.