Marketing Strategy for Wedding Professionals & Businesses: The Evolve Your Wedding Business Podcast · Heidi Thompson | Wedding Business Coach, Marketing Strategist, & Consultant

Advertising on The Knot and WeddingWire: The Hidden Costs No One Talks About

·27 min·1 clip

80% said advertising on these directories was not worth it.

The question is direct. Heidi starts with wedding pros who pay The Knot and WeddingWire, wait for bookings, and end up disappointed by the results. She treats those listings as a dependency problem. If a business is waiting on paid directories to send the right inquiries, it does not really own its marketing. Her fix is practical: build assets that keep working after the first push, like blog posts, referral relationships, and clearer messaging. That matters when energy is limited. Instead of rebuilding momentum every month, she wants wedding pros to use a system they can repeat, measure, and improve. She is careful about fit, too. More inquiries are not much of a win if they come from people who do not value the offer. The planner example makes that easy to picture: full-service planning clients and design-forward couples, not just whoever clicks through. Then Heidi brings in Katherine Hunter, an officiant who had been spending thousands every year on The Knot and WeddingWire and felt frustrated by what came back. That example gives the episode some bite. Paid directories can create activity, but they do not automatically create confidence, control, or demand that feels easier to manage. The coaching thread is steady throughout: stop renting leads, build your own marketing plan, and act more like the CEO of the business. There is a sales close for a free class and the Wedding Business Collective, but the useful core stays simple: own the system that brings clients in.

As heard by us

A practical look at whether The Knot and WeddingWire still justify the spend for wedding pros.

Heidi Thompson uses the episode to test whether The Knot and WeddingWire still justify the cost for wedding pros. She treats directory ads as a business choice, not a simple yes-or-no, and keeps the focus on lead fit, the time needed to follow up, and the appeal of a marketing…

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Why you'd press play

If The Knot feels expensive and uncertain, this will help you rethink the math.

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