just reed the research paper and answer question 1)What do you like about this research project?2)What would you suggest improving for future research?Running Head: INSTAGRAM MARKETING IN THE WEDDING VENUE INDUSTRY
Instagram Marketing in the Wedding Venue Industry
Jayla Bain, Melissa Javorsky, Sahirah Alhashim, Katrina Wichert
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
INSTAGRAM MARKETING IN THE WEDDING VENUE INDUSTRY
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Abstract
In the last decade, the wedding industry, specifically and especially venues, has been
growing more popular and profitable, a huge reason being social media. This is mostly because
couples can now see examples of those in the industry have to offer which gives the couple more
ability to perfectly visualize their “dream day” with more accuracy. Southwind Hills, Rosemary
Ridge, and Spain Ranch are three examples of successful wedding venues in Oklahoma. The
different marketing strategies each venue uses on their Instagram accounts can be evaluated to
determine which types of posts are most successful. General engagement and captions are
variables that determine how new posts perform. Many 18-34 year-olds use Instagram to
chronicle their lives and a large part of their lives could be a wedding. Therefore, potential
venues can use Instagram to increase interest, showcase different wedding styles, and create a
positive reputation. This research can be used for both new and old wedding venues, as well as
other vendors in the industry, by potentially sharing the best practices for Instagram use that can
result in increasing profits, clientele, brand, and popularity.
Introduction
The wedding industry has drastically changed in the last ten years. Couples are spending
more money on their weddings than ever before. The rise of this industry can most likely be
credited to the social media craze of generations Y and Z. Platforms such as Pinterest and
Instagram enable girls to obsess and fantasize over picture-perfect wedding details. From the ring
to the honeymoon, the 2019 average amount spend on wedding expenses was $38,700. That’s
only a few thousand dollars short of the average American annual salary for the same year! Most
often, the majority of the wedding budget goes toward the venue. The following research was
targeted on three popular wedding venues in Oklahoma and their marketing strategies through
Instagram. The results were based on the evaluations from the chosen venues’ different forms of
posts based on content, likes per post, and comments per post to see which types of posts are
most effective.
Literature Review
“Instagram is one of the main social platforms for business promotion. Millions of
potential customers and endless visual marketing opportunities makes Instagram a perfect place
to increase online sales” (Jaderlund, 2019). This is mainly due to it being an image-based
platform which allows consumers to see before they buy. This particular project investigated
“natural language processing techniques applied to users’ comments on Instagram in order to
determine a new algorithm that [would] include content analysis to the list of feed ranking
factors” (Jaderlund, 2019).
Today’s world is flooded with social media use. This has brought about the rise of
“influencers,” and the wedding industry is no exception. “The data shows that each year, newly
engaged folk are increasingly turning to social media to help plan their special day” (mediakix).
Therefore, a wedding venue’s strong Instagram presence is crucial to its success.
The effects of social media can be seen throughout the American economy. This is
especially true within the wedding industry in particular. “It’s nearly impossible to separate the
wedding industry from social media. The former has become so influenced by the latter that it’s
difficult to see a future without this relationship” (Micmohen, 2018).
INSTAGRAM MARKETING IN THE WEDDING VENUE INDUSTRY
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Social media is one of the fastest growing industries in the world with more than 100
different platforms at this time with Instagram being one of the top sites. This particular research
used Michael Porter’s Five Forces to conduct an industry analysis along with a thorough
evaluation. It includes a “detailed analysis of the environment and organization of Instagram and
its users, financial details and unique marketing strategy used by the company to gain more
advertisers. With 700 million active users and one million active advertisers, the target market
for additional customers is already front and center” (Musonera, 2018).
Social media in general has changed the way that many engaged couples plan their
weddings. Therefore, it is important for wedding vendor business to be present across social
media websites. This is because it gets the vendors in front of those engaged couples as they are
gathering and sharing ideas for their big day. “Instagram is now one of the largest social media
sites with over 800 million active users. 50% of those users follow at least one business
account” (Wed Safe, 2020).
Methodology for Content Analysis
A content analysis was conducted by looking into the Instagram profiles of three different
Oklahoma wedding venues to evaluate the different content of their posts. This is to determine
which types of posts had the most interactions by comparing the number of likes and comments.
The data is separated by the different content of the posts into 6 categories with ten posts in each:
photos of the venue, couples, detail shots, group shots, styled shoots, and ads and graphics. The
majority of the posts on each profile fall into one of these categories. This information is
averaged out into the number of likes and comments for each category per page. The averages
for each venue are compared to the others to identify any trends.
INSTAGRAM MARKETING IN THE WEDDING VENUE INDUSTRY
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Findings
We recorded how many likes and
comments for 10 posts of each kind of
picture. Our picture content included the
Venue, Couple, Details, Group Shots,
Styled Shoots, and Ads/Graphics.
INSTAGRAM MARKETING IN THE WEDDING VENUE INDUSTRY
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Discussion
Once the data was collected, clear conclusions were determined. The first thing that was
noticed was that pictures of venues received the most likes across each venue. At Rosemary
Ridge the venue pictures and couple pictures tied for the most likes. These kinds of post also
received the most comments. It was concluded that people go to these social media pages to see
pictures of the venue. However, traditional marketing would say that the “people” category
would do best. Another clear finding was people do not like ads. The posts with added graphics
on the picture seem to cause a huge decrease in interactions. For example, their average likes and
comments were the lowest out of all the posts. Another observation noted was with styled shoots.
Spain Ranch and Southwind Hills have hosted styled shoots for content to post. The average
likes and comments for this category reached around the middle range of interaction. This
finding could encourage venues like Rosemary Ridge to host a styled shoot for extra posting
content.
Suggestions for Future Research and Conclusion
The next step in this research should be going back through each of these posts and
seeing who is tagged or involved in the posts. This may influence how many interactions the post
will receive. The time of day the images are posted could also be recorded. This may influence
the interactions as well if it is fresh on people’s feed when they are most busy on Instagram.
With this research, venue owners can now see what works for their Instagram page and
what people like to see. This could influence the content they post and change their marketing
strategies. Other businesses can use this research as well. They can see how the data was
collected and run their own analysis on social media. With social media becoming increasingly
popular and weddings becoming more elaborate, having an Instagram page to market is key in
the wedding industry.
References
Jaderlund, M. (2019). Wed 2.0: improving customer experience with wedding service providers through
investigation of the ranking mechanism and sentiment analysis of user feedback on Instagram .
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1323771&dswid=4238. Digitala
Ventenskapliga Arkivet.
mediakix. (n.d.). How Instagram Influencers are Changing the Wedding Industry. Retrieved from
mediakix: https://mediakix.com/blog/wedding-instagram-influencers-industry-trends/
Micmohen, J. (2018, September 22). Understanding Social Media’s Role in the Explosion of the Wedding
Industry . Retrieved from Social Media Explorer: https://socialmediaexplorer.com/social-mediamarketing/understanding-social-medias-role-in-the-explosion-of-the-wedding-industry/
Musonera, E. (2018). Instagram: A Photo Sharing Application. Journal of the International Academy for
Case Studies, Vol: 24 Issue: 4.
Wed Safe. (2020). 10 Important Instagram Tips that Every Wedding Vendor Should Know . Retrieved
from Wed Safe: https://www.wedsafe.com/Pages/10-instagram-tips-for-wedding-vendors.aspx
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