Whether you have an existing wedding related business or have an interest in selling or writing about a new niche market, demographic predictions* related to the wedding industry point to strong potential growth.
Couples spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year getting married … and that number is about to get bigger.
Regardless of your current business, you may be able to position products or services for the predicted wedding boom.
U.S. Average Wedding Cost By Year 1945 - 2009/Q3 ~ Graph provided by TheWeddingReport.com
At least 3.8 million children have been born each year since 1987 in the U.S. Because the average U.S. woman marries at 25 and these women start turning 23 in 2010, they will start planning their weddings soon.
Graph of U.S. Weddings by Year 1945-2008 in Millions - Attribution TheWeddingReport.com
Weddings mean huge opportunities for wedding clothing, accessories, catering, wedding planners, flower shops, honeymoon planners, travel and gifts. There is also a visible increase in sales related to gay weddings as more states legalize same sex marriages.
A huge wedding boom will start soon and last for at least 22 years.
The good news is there is much available wedding market research and many strong existing online markets you can use to greatly increase your visibility now to be positioned during this wedding boom.
Estimated Median Age at First Marriage - Click image for full Bridal News Network Wedding Trend Report (PDF)
The bad news – which is actually good for some including destination weddings and wedding DJs – is the economy is changing spending patterns so to maximize your results you will want to stay ahead of these wedding trends.
Wedding planners are consistently reporting an increase in the number of weddings but a decrease in the amount spent and more interest in bargain shopping, requests for discounts, and brides trying to save using do it yourself or having friends take on some responsibilities.
According to The Wedding Report, wedding spending is estimated to be down about 6-8% across the board in 2009, then grow by about 6% by 2014. Number of weddings is estimated to grow by 1.2% in 2009 and 5% by 2014. These numbers will vary by market. [I believe they mean geographic area.]
UNIQUE GIFT IDEA for the WEDDING COUPLE: Oil Burning Stone Candles
The fastest way to grow wedding related business is through identifying and using some of the very strong wedding niche sites that already have the lion’s share of the traffic.
Top Wedding Sites by Compete Traffic - TheKnot, WeddingWire, MyWedding and Wedding Bee - click to enlarge
According to traffic numbers from Compete, the top Wedding sites by traffic are TheKnot, WeddingWire, MyWedding, WeddingBee (shown above) and ProjectWedding, OneWed, WeddingMapper and 1WeddingSource (below).
Compete Traffic Comparison for Wedding Sites ProjectWedding, OneWed, WeddingMapper, 1WeddingSource and WeddingIMC - Click to enlarge
Although the graphs above reveal wedding niche sites with more current traffic, of these wedding sites the one we feel is most promising is OneWed. They have an excellent reputation and are very creative and active in Social Media.
Advertisers will find them very pro-active in following up and collaborating and their knowledge of the wedding industry is exceptional.
Did you know that January is the top month for wedding planning because so many get engaged over the holidays?
OneWed is the force behind Matrimony Monday, Kicking Off the Prime Wedding Planning Season on the Second Annual Matrimony Monday. Their Press release includes this quote according to TheWeddingReport.com:
“Approximately 35-40 percent (550,000-650,000) of engagements in the US take place during the winter holiday season between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day*. Thanks to the romantic nature of the holiday season, the majority of proposals take place between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, making the first Monday back at work the peak time to start searching online for planning ideas and inspiration.”
Now is the time to get moving in your wedding related promotions. We will be writing much more about OneWed and why we will be working with them and also about Bridaluxe, an exceptional wedding affiliate program that allows any blogger to add a fully stocked Wedding Store with one line of code.
Read how much easier Bridaluxe is for affiliates in Derek Semmler’s excellent review of the Bridaluxe wedding affiliate program.
BACKGROUND RESEARCH:
[NOTE: *Some demographic predictions data used in this post came from http://www.ideablob.com/posts/366 which is no longer available due to the bankruptcy of their parent company.]
- ClickNewz on Issues with StomperNet
- Inside The Internet Marketing Mind – see comments about StomperNet
WEDDING AFFILIATE PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Derek Semmler (Twitter) How the Bridaluxe Wedding Affiliate Program Hits the Affiliate Network Nail on the Head
- Weddex (Twitter) Bridaluxe: Wedding Affiliate Program for Wedding Pros
- GrowMap (Twitter) How to Evaluate a Gift Affiliate Program
- ExecGiftsBlog (ExecGifts) Executive Gift Shoppe Gift Affiliate Program
AFFILIATE MARKETING for AFFILIATES:
- Derek Semmler (Twitter) Case Study: Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing
- AffiliateXFiles (Ron Cripps) How to Become an Affiliate Marketer
- AffiliateXFiles (Ron Cripps) How to Create a Product Review Site That Sells
- Derek Semmler (Twitter) Building Affiliate Stores
- Adam Riemer (Rollerblader) How to Pick Merchants to Promote
- Derek Semmler (Twitter)How to Add Affiliate Products to Your Site
- AffiliateXFiles (Ron Cripps) Affiliate Marketing Tips For Long Term Results
- AffiliateXFiles (Ron Cripps) Affiliate Marketing FAQs – Ask your questions here and get answers from successful affiliate with 9+ years experience
AFFILIATE MARKETING FOR MERCHANTS:
- Murray Newlands (Twitter) Affiliate Marketing for Merchants
- Adam Riemer (Rollerblader) What You Should Expect from your Affiliate Management Company aka OPM
- Adam Riemer (Rollerblader) Common Mistakes When Hiring an Affiliate Manager
- Adam Riemer (Rollerblader) How to Select an Affiliate Management Company
- Adam Riemer (Rollerblader) How Small Businesses Can Compete for Affiliates
- Adam Riemer (Rollerblader) Why Merchants Should Offer Affiliate Commissions on Gift Certificates
Related articles by Zemanta
- Wedding Boom Predicted for Next 22 Years (growmap.com)
- How to Evaluate a Merchant Gift Affiliate Program (growmap.com)
- How to Attract Affiliates to Your Program (marketersdaily.com)
- The Way I See It: State of Affiliate Marketing Part 1 (revenews.com)
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This is a great article about Weddings. I may get married in about two years. I have bookmarked the site so that I can keep track of your progress in the future. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Twitter: GungNdra
June 10, 2010 at 3:01 am
Twitter: @GungNdra
Wow, that is a very high growth every year for the wedding. But, I liked this blog with a very complete information. Thanks
Bali Villas
This is music to my ears.This is really a great post! Thanks for sharing. A blog really owes its success to its loyal readers and faithful followers.
More wedding dresses,,please clickwedding dresses
wedding dresses it is so good
wedding dresses, a very good wedding dresses website!
I’d love to hear from any brides to be who are using OneWed and am working on another post about what I know about them. These types of sites often have so many features that they are not immediately obvious.
Welcome and congratulations on the success of your business. Destination weddings are a hot new trend (as those who check the trends link I shared in this post already know) and a Web site that describes the benefits a business offers is a great way to pre-sell potential clients before they ever contact you.
Interesting information’s. More and more people are getting marriage in their near 30. Good niche!
Twitter: free3gmobiles
April 26, 2010 at 4:21 am
Twitter: @free3gmobiles
hay thanks for the post, US girls have some tradition now to marry before 25 years, I think its good for the coming generations. Good markets survey.
Sadly, my first thought was that weddings are increasing because people are getting divorced and remarried, so maybe it’s a combination of first time marriages as well as remarriages? I really would expect to see a decline in marriages, honestly.
.-= Lisa@Custom Wedding Favors´s last blog ..Personalized Wedding Magnets =-.
Hey!
It’s a very nice blog.
hey thanks admin for this wonderful suggestions i appreciate that you share useful post with your readers.great work.keep it up.
Twitter: GrowMap
April 13, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Jinnie,
There are numerous blogs for wedding planners such as the Bride Attraction wedding planner blog that could be useful to you.
Other very popular, high quality wedding related blogs are the OneWed Bridal Blog and The Man Registry’s Groom’s Advice blog.
.-= Gail @ KeywordLuv´s last blog ..Social Media Marketing Monday – SMM Overview =-.
Hello, I have browsed most of your posts. This post is probably where I got the most useful information for my research. Thanks for posting, maybe we can see more on this. Are you aware of any other websites on this subject
everything is presented very nicely!
I like to see the wedding budgets are coming up hehehe! as a Wedding Photographer I see different wedding occasion that really struck me to its beauty.
thanks for the stats!
Twitter: GrowMap
April 13, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Karen,
Be sure to read the information in the trends link in this post. It is specific to how couples are cutting back on using professional photographers. You will want to be proactive at addressing that trend.
It is important to ensure you explain the risks of making friends and family responsible for preserving the wedding and the skills photographers use in posing people that can make a HUGE difference in the quality of the photos.
Few non-photographers would know that how the feet are turned, where each person is placed, and what the subjects do with their hands all greatly impact the attractiveness of the photos.
If I had a photography blog I would compare real photographs side-by-side and point out these differences so that potential clients could clearly see the importance of experience and specialized skills.
Few would want to invest the time to truly learn it themselves and the more you share the more others will appreciate the complexity of what you do.
Every business including wedding photographers needs to maximize their visibility online starting with getting their free listings in major Local Search Directories like Google Maps, Yahoo Local, Bing, SuperPages and 72+ others.
How to do that and why it is important is explained in the post I’ll feature in CommentLuv in this reply.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Businesses´s last blog ..Free Business Listings in Local Search Directories =-.
Twitter: mobilerainbow
March 8, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Twitter: @mobilerainbow
Thanks for 0the posting, Yes! the Wedding markets is getting high day by day. Its a very fantastic market survey on Wedding, its true that the US girls are getting married before 24 to 25. good target.
Twitter: GrowMap
April 13, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Wise bloggers who create niche sites will be targeting this niche. Those who collaborate with each other will benefit the most. Anyone who is interested in how best to do that can contact me using the information in the contact tab.
.-= Gail @KeywordLuv´s last blog ..Why Marketing is NOT Evil =-.
I was looking for crucial information on this subject. The information was important as I am about to launch my own portal. Thanks for providing a missing link in my business.
Twitter: GrowMap
April 13, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Jinnie,
You’re very welcome. I hope you consider joining the excellent Gift Affiliate Program offered by Executive Gift Shoppe. That post explains why their store converts very well so affiliates can make more money.
They are perfect for any wedding related site seeking a Wedding Affiliate Program and have a huge selection of groomsmen gifts.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Businesses´s last blog ..Verifying What is Do Follow versus No Follow =-.
Couples will always get married but the money spent on the wedding may be adjusted. I hope the newly weds don’t put so much into the wedding that they start off in the hole.
I notice that you make a thoughtful reply to each comment. How do you do that? You have a great site. Thanks
Twitter: GrowMap
April 13, 2010 at 11:59 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Chuck,
I, too, hope that couples spend more time planning their life together than their wedding and focus on what is truly important.
I do my best to answer all comments although that gets more challenging as my blogs become more popular. One blog you definitely should visit is our Golf Blog because you and it are in the same niche.
All of our blogs including NoBogies are part of the DoFollow CommentLuv KeywordLuv community.
.-= Gail @ Support Small Businesses´s last blog ..Why Marketing is NOT Evil =-.
I think that this is the motivation of the successful of my website.
I have a website about my activities of wedding in Italy and this year i have more customers then last years. I think that the wedding planner are the best practives for make a marriage.
Twitter: GrowMap
February 9, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome and congratulations on the success of your business. Destination weddings are a hot new trend (as those who check the trends link I shared in this post already know) and a Web site that describes the benefits a business offers is a great way to pre-sell potential clients before they ever contact you.
Combining a wedding with a honeymoon destination would be a fun way to get married for those who have few guests to invite (or those whose family and friends are able to travel abroad).
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Recommended Wedding Affiliate Program: Bridaluxe =-.
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