The Knot Best of Weddings: Why I Quit!
The time has finally come (after building my business for 12 years) where I have decided I am no longer paying to advertise on The Knot and Wedding Wire. Simply put, it’s incredibly expensive (about $2600 per year) and it doesn’t bring in enough business for it to be worth it. Here’s the inside scoop on why my business (and many others at the top of the industry) have left, and why you won’t find the best vendors there.
The “Awards” Are BOGUS.
“The Knot Best of Weddings is an annual award that recognizes the top wedding vendors across the country. This prestigious honor represents the highest rated vendors on The Knot who are trusted, dependable, and deliver quality service. Only the best wedding vendors (top 5%) receive this award!”
If you do even 5 minutes of research, it’s easy to find the real qualifications for earning a “coveted” Best of Weddings or Couples Choice badge: All you need is (10) 5-Star reviews in a calendar year. That’s it. There’s no voting or polling or actual work done by the companies to vet any of the businesses that make the list. There’s also no vetting of the actual accounts that write reviews. So, there’s no way to tell if a company’s reviews came from actual clients. Of course, this can be said for most review platforms. But, sites like Google and Facebook, where businesses also tend to ask clients for reviews, don’t claim to have an Awards program that suggests there’s some kind of actual ranking.
What this means from a practical standpoint is that businesses have to literally beg their clients to write reviews by a certain date to make the list. It’s exhausting, feels spammy, and doesn’t mean a whole lot at the end of the day. Are reviews helpful? Yes. But if a company had 100+ clients in a year, as many do, and only 10 need to leave a 5-star review, that’s less than 10% of their annual business.
It’s Expensive and Outdated Advertising.
If you want to show up in search results, you have to pay to play. Sure, I’ll keep my free listing up there for as long as they’ll keep it free, but that’s just because I have quite a few reviews and it’s worth it to be listed if it’s free. BUT, to show photos, have a full profile, be able to communicate fully with clients, etc. you have to be a paying advertiser. The rates are all over the map, and are negotiable, but I’ve been paying a flat rate of around $225/month for a number of years to have a fully functional profile that shows up in search. (They re-up your contract and increase pricing annually with only a single email saying “if we don’t hear from you we’ll assume you’re moving forward”. No signature needed. UPDATE: I just received my contract for 2023, and it’s going up $625 for next year. NO THANK YOU!)
Web advertising has changed a TON in the last 10 years. Where you used to pay flat rates to show up in search results or lists, almost all platforms now charge you each time you show up or each time your link gets clicked. What this means is that it’s in the platform’s (Google, Facebook, Instagram, Etsy) best interest to show your ad more frequently to potential customers who are most likely to click your links. This is great for business because you’re literally only paying when someone shows interest, and therefore is more likely to hire you or buy your product.
Wedding Pro (The Knot & Wedding Wire parent company) is stuck in 2010. Their advertising model of flat rate pricing is unpredictable at best and a complete waste of money at worst. It’s modeled after old-school print advertising (remember when The Knot was just a magazine??) The lack of analytics (who is searching for me, who clicks on my ad, etc.) makes it even more useless.
It’s No Longer the Place to Be Seen.
5-10 Years ago, brides and grooms turned to places like The Knot and Wedding Wire to search for vendors, because that was the most aggregated list out there. And sure, it’s certainly a powerful search engine, they have decent filters, etc. From a client perspective, there is value there. But, from the business side, it’s no longer the best option. I used to feel when I was just starting out, getting my sea legs, battling my constant imposter syndrome, that if I wasn’t listed on The Knot, I wouldn’t be seen as reputable or legit in the wedding industry.
Nowadays Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook Bride Groups, and even TikTok have taken over in terms of where clients find their dream vendors. I get clients through Instagram who have been following me since before they were engaged! As a platform, The Knot is just too one-note and too niche to be the best place to find clients who feel that they can trust you.
The Most Successful Businesses Don’t Need to Advertise.
This speaks to why you won’t find the best of the best wedding vendors listed with paid advertiser accounts on The Knot. They We. Don’t. Need. It. I get most of my business these days through Instagram, Word of Mouth, and Google. I am able to track where my best leads come from, and IF I need a bit more business to boost sales in a given month or quarter I can very easily run some ads in the appropriate channels to bring more leads in. The Knot is not a switch I can turn off mid-year or adjust depending on what my workload looks like. Advertising is always an expense, and if a business is booming without it, why would they spend the money?
I always say that Word of Mouth is the best reference for a couple planning a wedding. Join a Facebook wedding or bride group, ask your local friends who have gotten married (recently, or not… if the business is still around 6-7 years later, that’s a great sign!) and read reviews for the vendors you know nothing about. Keep in mind that people are more likely to leave negative reviews than positive, so a company with 4-5 stars in this day and age, on a reputable review platform, is a great bet!