The Knot is the # 1 wedding website.
According to their website, The Knot “has inspired an estimated 25 million couples to plan a wedding that’s uniquely them.” Their parent company, The Knot Worldwide, merged with WeddingWire, becoming the largest wedding planning firm online.
Their brand continues to grow.
Wedding professionals often earn most of their money seasonally (during wedding season), so it’s important to invest in the right place. Is The Knot a worthwhile investment for wedding vendors? We’ll take a look.
Today we’ll cover:
Table of Contents
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Why The Knot is important to your business
The Knot attracts more than 13 million unique visitors monthly across the US via their platforms, tools, and resources. Their properties include TheKnot.com, their mobile apps, The Knot national and local wedding magazines, and The Knot book series.
Wedding vendors have access to customers via their subsidiary brands which include:
- The Knot
- WeddingWire
- Bodas
- How They Asked
- The Nest
- The Bump
- The Bash (formerly Gigmasters)
- Lasting
What makes their network significant is the fact that wedding vendors have access to customers beyond their wedding date. If you’re a professional, each of their sites gives you access to customers at their various stages of life.
Get married, buy a house together, start a family, plan for the future, etc.
They have more than 40 years of combined history and expertise and more than 6 million pro reviews on their platform.
Here’s why you need The Knot.
- Government data shows there are 2.1 million marriages each year in the US.
- Customers using The Knot have access to more than 300,000 local vendors across the country.
- 88% of couples do their wedding planning online.
- On average, the bride completes 67% of the planning, followed by 14% by the groom, 13% by parents, and 6% other.
- 81% of parents are involved in the decision making for their child’s wedding.
If you’re not using The Knot and their network of sites, you’re losing business to your competitors who are. This is more complicated than it sounds — according to The Knot’s Small Business Study, “70 percent of wedding businesses offer more than one product or service, with 89 percent serving other events in addition to weddings.”
Ignore The Knot, and you lose future business as well.
Who visits The Knot?
The obvious answer is, couples!
Couples of all stripes visit The Knot to plan their special day. According to their Newlywed Report:
- 1 in 4 couples met online
- 27% own a home together
- 49%have a pet together
- 71% of couples date 2+ years before getting engaged
- 27% grew up in different regions or countries
Breaking the couples demographics down further, we see that certain similarities emerge:
- The average age of couples is 32
- Couples engagements last approximately 15 months
- 65% of couples asked for their parent's blessing
- 77% lived together pre-wedding
- 72% had a wedding shower
- 77% of couples changed their last names
- The average number of guests is 131
- The average number of wedding party members is 10
Who are your competitors? In a nutshell, your competitors are other:
- Venues
- Caterers
- Bands and DJs
- Photographers
- Videographers
- Florists
- Planners
- Cakes
- Bridal Salons
- Calligraphers
- Beauty Pros
- Beauty
- Florists
- Wedding Planners
- Jewelers
How The Knot compares to other review platforms
The Knot may be a niche platform, but its following is large, growing, and fiercely loyal. Both couples and vendors rely on The Knot and their platform. Here’s how their platform compares to large, mainstream outlets.
Does this mean that The Knot is a poor resource for wedding vendors and professionals?
Absolutely not.
Their service is specialized, but it’s also incredibly popular. If you’re a local wedding professional, you need to be on The Knot. As a review, rating, and local listing platform, The Knot is too is simply too important to couples, your target audience, to ignore. Where do you start if you’re looking to get started with The Knot?
Let’s take a look.
What should your goals be on The Knot?
Your goals on The Knot are similar to mainstream platforms. These goals have their own set of requirements:
- Online visits: Look at your visits referred from your Knot profile to your website, landing page, or social media profile. Customers are less likely to leave the platform to visit your site and more likely to engage with you directly on their platform, but this is still important. This is more beneficial for vendors with traditional advertising campaigns on The Knot.
- Reviews: Building a strong review portfolio has an off-site impact. The stronger your reviews are on The Knot (and their affiliated sister sites), the better your profile performs in Google, via local search listings and local packs. Building a strong review portfolio on both The Knot and WeddingWire is an indirect way to boost traffic to your website and profiles.
- Conferencing: Customers can initiate video chats with wedding vendors and professionals. This gives you the chance to sell customers on your business before they've made a final decision. This also maximizes the value of the leads you generate on The Knot.
- Bookings: It's customers choosing to work with your business. It's the promise of future business, and it's driven by couples who have the budget for your products or services and are actively planning their wedding. The stronger the review portfolio, the easier it is to attract bookings. This also allows you to disqualify customers who aren't a good fit for your business.
- Leads: This isn't simply your customer's contact information. It's contact information from a motivated prospect who's willing and able to buy. A common mistake brands make is assuming that contact information = leads. Experienced wedding professionals realize garbage leads are a problem for those who do not qualify their audience.
- Sales: Customer derived cash flow. You provide customers with the outcomes they're looking for in exchange for money. A strong review portfolio directly correlates to increased sales and revenue.
It would be best if you determined what your goals are ahead of time, before advertising on the site. Let’s take a look at how you go about creating your profile on The Knot.
Creating and advertising your profile on The Knot
Claiming your profile on The Knot is easy. Here’s how you do it.
1. Head over to WeddingPro.com
2. Fill out the form on the left, and a WeddingPro Strategist will contact you
3. You’ll see a confirmation message letting you know a rep from The Knot will be in touch.
Once a WeddingPro Strategist vets you, you’ll be given access to your vendor account. From there, you should be able to customize your vendor account. With your account you’ll be able to:
Add pictures about information, details, and reviews about your business.
You can also add contact info and information on your team.
How do you go about optimizing your profile on the Knot?
You complete the information on your profile fully. You fill out each section, focusing on the details that will provide your customers with the information they need to make an informed decision.
Customers can create a Knot account free of charge, but wedding professionals have four account options they can choose from:
- Limited: This is The Knot's free account option. You're allowed to upload a few photos and your contact information, but the amount of data you can share on their platform is small; hence the name, limited.
- Lite: This is The Knot's cheapest paid option. While pricing isn't confirmed, other professionals state that the pricing starts at $50 per month. At this level, you receive space for a few more photos, and you receive the opportunity to respond to reviews.
- Standard: They list this as their most popular profile. You're able to post unlimited photos, social media links, your bio and about content, and a personal message. This profile level starts at $120 per month.
- Featured: This option places your profile ahead of all others in search. You also receive the opportunity to be featured in The Knot's print publications. If you'd like the price for this profile level, you'll have to ask. We recommend you verify that this is worthwhile for you before making the switch.
You’ll need to determine which option is best for your business based on your locale, sales volume, and industry. The stronger your review portfolio, the better your results will be.
Requesting, tracking, and responding to reviews on The Knot
If you’re part of The Knot Pro, you can request and respond to customer reviews directly via your account dashboard via your website or the mobile app. Here’s a quick overview showing you what that looks like:
You can request reviews via the web or mobile app. If customers want to write a review for your business, they can take the initiative. Using this page, they can look you up and write their reviews on their own.
What’s neat about your reviews on The Knot is the fact that you can choose the top three reviews you’d like to feature first in your profile.
You’ll need the appropriate profile, of course.
There’s something you can do to amplify your business on The Knot. Vendors with strong review portfolios can qualify for “Best of Weddings” and “Couples’ Choice” Awards. This attracts even more customers to your business. The Knot tells you how you do it.
“In order to qualify for the 2020 Best of Weddings Award, you will need to collect at least 10 4- or 5-star reviews on The Knot between November 1, 2018 – October 31, 2019.
In order to qualify for the 2020 Couples’ Choice Award, you must collect at least 5 4- or 5-star reviews on WeddingWire between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019.”
Request reviews consistently, and you’ll have what you need to qualify for these coveted positions. Focus your attention on making couples extraordinarily happy, ask them to share their story, and you’ll have what you need to qualify.
Not sure how to request reviews from your customers?
Take a look at our comprehensive guide. I’ve created four review request templates you can customize for your industry, product, or service.
Your point-of-contact on The Knot
The Knot makes it easy for vendors to contact a Wedding Pro or customer support representative. Here are several ways to get in touch.
Are you a Local Vendor and have questions about your account? (vendors only please!)
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 877-331-7752, press two at the prompt
Are you a Local Vendor who is interested in a listing on The Knot? (vendors only please!)
Email: [email protected]
Have questions about submitting or editing a vendor review?
For more information, visit Review FAQs.
Email: [email protected]
You can also contact The Knot on social media.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theknot
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theknot/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theknot/
Goal tracking via The Knot Pro
You can track your profile performance via your account dashboard. All of the same options available to you on the mobile app are available via your account dashboard.
Using this dashboard, you’ll have a clear idea of the traffic, clicks, and leads your profile generates. You’ll be able to monitor visitor activity as it comes in.
Use The Knot reviews content to grow your business
The Knot is the #1 wedding website. They’ve inspired 25 million couples to plan a wedding that’s just for them. If you’re a wedding professional, their platform is a must-have tool to grow your business.
But the emphasis should be focused on reviews.
More than 300,000 of your peers and competitors use The Knot to attract new customers to their business. This is good news as the vast majority of customers use online research to find, reserve, and retain the customers. You can do it too.
Build your reputation on their platform, and you’ll find you have the tools you need to grow your wedding business on and off The Knot.
