COVID-19: Why reviews are more important than ever during the covid crisis

While couples stuck at home and showrounds are off the cards, it’s essential to focus on what you can do to sell your venue and get future bookings. Sharing reviews from your real weddings is one of the most effective ways to continue generating interest from new prospects and secure future bookings during the pandemic. Bridebook have pulled together some advice to demonstrate why your reviews matter and encourage you to share your hard-earned feedback.

Why your reviews are so important

While anyone can get a good photographer and fill their website with beautiful pictures, it’s what your real couples say about you that will have the biggest impact and make you stand out from the crowd. With couples currently unable to meet you and your team and experience the showround in person, they will be relying much more on trusted reviews to narrow down their search for the perfect venue. Your couple content will therefore be more valuable now than ever in providing a real and authentic insight into your wedding venue.

Need more convincing? Read the opinions of four award-winning UK wedding venues who share their thoughts on the power of reviews

How to use your reviews

Be proud of the special days that you and your team have created and be sure to share, share, share! The more widely accessible you can make this content, the more couples will be able to envisage their dream day with you. We’ve written an article giving tips on the best channels to share your content during the pandemic, so have a read for some inspiration and make sure you’re covering all the bases.

For more information on how to make the most of your reviews, Bridebook CEO Hamish Shephard shares his thoughts in this short Bridebook Business Live video:

Next Steps for you and your team

1. Ask – do you have a process in place for asking your couples for reviews? Why not create an email template ready to send after each wedding – send a link to the Bridebook reviews page where your couples can leave you a review directly: bridebook.co.uk/reviews. Also consider whether you have any reviews on paper that you could manually add to your online collection.
2. Share – start making those reviews visible as soon as possible, update your Bridebook testimonials and share across your marketing channels. 
3. Promote – you worked hard for this feedback so continue to use over again and reach as wide an audience as possible. Share on social media, add to your email signature, create testimonial videos, the opportunities are endless!
4. Collaborate – connect with the suppliers you know and create a network for yourself. Couples will talk to a lot of other suppliers on their journey, and if they mention you it will give the couples extra confidence. Similarly by reciprocating the favour and recommending suppliers to your couples you will establish trust in your business.
5. Learn – get feedback not only from those who book you, but follow up with those who don’t – find out why and what you could change.

For more business advice and support do have a look at the information available in our COVID-19 resources for wedding professionals. If you have any questions at all or need any help then please do reach out to anyone in the Bridebook team. You can also join the UK Wedding Venue Slack group to chat with others who are in the same boat, and if you have any thoughts or tips yourself then please do share – we are in this together!