The Knot Shares Social Media Tips and Steal-Worthy Strategies for Event Profs

American media company The Knot is synonymous with “wedding planning,” offering brides- and grooms-to-be with all the know-how they’ll need in every step up until the “I dos”—and all for free.

However, in a COVID-affected world, The Knot’s social media team took on the additional responsibility of “acting as a connector to make couples feel less alone,” explained Whitney Little, The Knot Worldwide’s director of social media. In order to do so, The Knot implemented some new social-centered tactics into its strategy. “We’ve built off that sense of community to lean into authentic, relatable, and even humorous content via short-form videos versus our previous strategy of mainly serving up inspiration via glossy, professional wedding photography.”

Little pointed to TikTok, where she and her team are “crowd-sourcing our couples’ opinions on all things—from bridesmaids’ pet peeves to inappropriate first dance songs, and then leveraging those answers for short-form video content.”“We view the influencers as consumers themselves,” said Susie Diharce, the senior director of experiential marketing at The Knot Worldwide, supporting Little’s point on just how important it is to utilize live events like this one to “better understand the people behind the work.”Photo: Afrik Armando

Little also stressed the importance of influencers, telling BizBash that they “are crucial to amplifying our reach to increase brand awareness and provide an endorsement of our products.” However, it’s not always about blue check marks and an “M” in their follower count.

“It’s a common misconception that the influencer with the most followers will be the most impactful,” Little said. “In reality, it’s about who is building the most loyal community. A micro influencer (someone with 10,000-100,000 followers) can sometimes drive more conversations than someone with a million followers due to the trust they’ve built with their audience.”

To further engage the influencers it works with, The Knot hosted 18 influencers—nine couples—at Port Jervis, New York’s Cedar Lakes Estate this past summer.Photo: Afrik ArmandoFor event profs looking to better market their brand, Little advised them to keep micro influencers and the “very specific audiences” they speak to in mind. Is this the audience you want to get in front of as a brand? For The Knot, Little explained how it's all about giving a face to the company and therefore looking to people that “help us follow through on our mission to help every couple plan a wedding that is authentic to who they are.”

She added: “The good news is that you can still have a successful influencer strategy with a smaller budget if you take the time to identify the right micro influencers who speak to the audience you want to attract.”

To take this even a step further, The Knot hosted 18 influencers—nine couples—at Port Jervis, New York’s Cedar Lakes Estate this past summer. The day included excursions, a themed dinner, and product demos of The Knot’s new offerings and initiatives, including The Knot Savings Program, where couples get access to more than $250 in exclusive discounts across save the dates, invitations, registry stores, thank-you cards, and more.

At the live event, the influencers were introduced to all-things The Knot, including excursions, a themed dinner, and product demos of The Knot’s new offerings and initiatives.Photo: Afrik ArmandoEvent profs can get inspired by Susie Diharce, the senior director of experiential marketing at The Knot Worldwide, who said: “We view the influencers as consumers themselves," supporting Little’s point on just how important it is to utilize live events like this one to “better understand the people behind the work.”

“The events industry is built on celebrating relationships and life milestones,” Little said, noting that it’s “inherently an emotional business,” which is why it was important to The Knot to engage influencers with a live event.

From there, it's easier for influencers to relay their positive sentiments around a brand online. "Having a social media presence allows customers to see the emotional moments and better understand the people behind the work," Little added.

To know how your social strategies are doing, Little emphasized the importance of “daily social listening on and off our owned social media channels.” This can be “as basic as reading the comments on an Instagram post, to a more thorough deep dive on off-channel platforms such as wedding planning subreddits,” she said. 

And, of course, Little gave a shoutout to surveys, which she said give her and her team a “more holistic” view of The Knot audience’s feedback. 

“This year more than ever emphasized the importance of being nimble, whether it’s quickly jumping on a trending meme like Little Miss or responding to the ever-evolving algorithm," she said. "Meta’s battle to keep up with TikTok has led to so many platform changes across Instagram and Facebook, and the ability to pivot strategy as needed has been key to remaining relevant."Outside of having a strong community of influencers, Little and Diharce stressed the importance of event profs being on TikTok, plus using tactics like social listening to understand audience needs and wants.Photo: Afrik Armando

Top Takeaways for Event Professionals:

• Ensure your content is “authentic, relatable, and even humorous,” Little said.
• Be on TikTok, “especially with the rise of people using the platform as a search engine,” Little enforced. Plus, “there’s constant opportunities for discovery.”
• Leverage influencers, but not always the ones with the most followers. “They come with their own audience that maximizes the reach of our brand messaging,” Diharce said. Little mimicked the sentiment, adding that influencers “help provide a face to the brand.”
• Listen to your audience to meet their ever-changing needs. How? Daily social listening (like reading comments and subreddits), conducting surveys, and leaning on your influencers for their expertise.