WeddingWire Doesn't Want You To See This! (& The Knot Marketing) (My Thoughts)

This is a very, I mean very, candid and unfiltered video about my first month of WeddingWire and The Knot's marketing plan. I discuss how much I am paying, what kind of ROI I am getting from it as well as the quality, frequency, and buyer intent of the leads. In summary: At this point I feel it's not worth the money, but plan to keep you updated each month.
To ensure you see the videos for coming months, make sure to subscribe to my channel, turn notifications on, and like the video.

[@Leahraem]

Thank you so much for your transparency ! I've had it for about 3 months and have 24 leads on Knot and 10 on Wedding wire. To be honest I've booked more weddings through Instagram/direct email, with clients being much easier to get in contact with and the process is smooth sailing.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

If you are booking weddings thru ig then I definitely wouldn’t have reccomended Ww since you are clearly a master of the social media platform.

[@lukej7758]

@Leah Rae, what is your wedding service? As a DJ I'm planning on starting to use an IG for my business in 2021 but I can't imagine getting that many leads through it, what is your secret?! :P

[@donnamaddox7023]

Fake leads.

[@TheTylerRossmann]

Dude! I am wedding videographer, and WW/knot reached out to me about signing up...The lady I talked to was super convincing that this was the best ROI I could get...After seeing your video and looking up other reviews, I am not going to invest with them. Thanks for helping me save my money!

[@DJALEXBROWN]

I can tell you its definitely not worth it in the middle of the pandemic! I’ve been doing OK but they have half the traffic of usual and in the next video I’m gonna show how. Their salespeople are slimy af and darn good at blowing air! Glad you stayed away.

[@BillyLlamaProduction]

Thanks for taking the time to make this! Very helpful as I was starting to look into getting on these platforms.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed!

[@cakedecor8]

This is so incredibly helpful for small businesses. I'm trying to figure out how to get out of my listing too. Its been 6 months and zero bookings, zero cake tastings, and zero consultations. Going to bindge the rest of your series now!

[@DJALEXBROWN]

I’ve figured out a hack! Call support and ask for a discount since you have no work right now, don't tell them anyone told you this though (wink). They will give you half off a months payment, or at least they did for me, and you have to call like every month while they offer it!!!

[@itsjohnthomas]

Thanks for sharing! Was helpful upon considering this

[@hahacreationz]

Thanks for the review am about to pay and thought to do some reasearch before paying and thankyou for the genuine reviews

[@DJALEXBROWN]

RUN

[@missyae2]

I feel you on this! I signed up a few months ago and at first I thought it was a horrible mistake. Most of the leads were crap. But now it’s actually paid for itself with a ROI. I expect as the year goes on that there will be even more bookings. To date I’ve booked 3 clients between the two platforms, which doesn’t sound like a lot but all totaling about $5K in revenue. Every market is different though so hopefully it gets better for you.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

All depends how you value your time and a single booking, its not worth $200 a month to me to book MAYBE 1 wedding per month and its also not worth paying that to waste so much time responding to the crap leads.

[@spectaculartravels4613]

I am currently on WeddingPro/WeddingWire also. And I didn't say anything to them until 6 months so that they could 't say to give it enough time. I found it to be exactly as you have discripted it. I am a Destination Wedding & Honeymoon Travel Specialist. I barely get 1 lead a month. For the price with is the same as quoted in the video. I started checking these so called "Leads" and many of them are not real! I am very upset and am also trying to see a way to get out to this contract! This is a scam and I am thinking of going to the BBB! Can't wait to see your other video, lol

[@reynaldohernandez1425]

How much are you paying at the knot and wedding wire?

[@myoniepayton3929]

How did you find out the leads were fake?

[@Ms.Mimi.Speaks]

@@reynaldohernandez1425 I did a reverse Google search.

[@hilaryzee4724]

My first impression is that they seem like extortionists, I signed up and got an email telling me if I didnt sign up for an expensive plan, my listing could take up to six months to validate. I told them I valued integrity and this was a poor first impression and seemed predatory. Personally, I will not give these companies any of my money, instead I am going to build a wedding vendor site for my local area. I would focus on other avenues.

[@innastateStudios]

Same feelings about that site , I was even under the impression they have their staff reach out to the new accounts to make it seem like you’re getting engagement . I was lucky to be able to get out of my contract because they didn’t have my city in their searchable database for the 2 months I was on there, I lived in Kona,Hi and the search would only bring other islands in Hawaii. Ended up helping out their software team ! Also it’s all just pay to win , doesn’t matter how many good reviews you have if you’re not paying 250$/ month you won’t get seen .

[@DJALEXBROWN]

All Very true, you're lucky to have gotten out of it! I think people often sign up not understanding that you can pay the $250 a month but get very few bookings or leas because you have no reviews.

[@djjoeykmusic]

Great video! Thank you

[@RussellGuthrie-ht5yr]

Fully agree! I signed up in June, advertising a DJ service in the east area of Louisiana. I haven’t booked one event off the many leads I replied to, I tried to replay as soon as I could too. I don’t plan to use them further, unless the price comes way down. To me this platform should cost $50.00 a month. It does have potential, just too high for no more returns. Thanks for the post!

[@flashmemoriesphotoboothco]

they send you fake leads

[@deniseg4741]

its happening to me.i just want to finish this contract. Now recession is coming and I dont how to pay it. I've been paying like 8 months and no leads yet. All my leads come from Facebook Marketplace.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

I hope you harass them about it LOL. Ask for a free upgrade or something. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way out. I'll be posting a video on this very soon but I actually booked 2 weddings from it this month kinda surprised tbh. Anyway, would you be interested in doing a collaboration video telling your story?

[@DJALEXBROWN]

Here's the latest one!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5S7q2lsja2ojpo

[@austinwilson3]

Been on WeddingPro for 4 months, no bookings. Plenty of fake ass leads tho

[@eddyrobertson2723]

Bro, i wish i had done my homework. this is a big hell no.......... everything you said is so true.... they are not getting anymore money for me. i cancel my card and having a new sent out to me. $300 something a mo. and not leads. $3,596.64 contracts. na i'm not pay this. just giving away money.......

[@DJALEXBROWN]

I recently spoke to a band who was paying $6000 a year

[@lukej7758]

I'm interested where your market area is? I think that could have a big impact, but it could be other things as well. I started WW/Knot at almost the exact same time as you as a DJ and had a mostly positive experience. I do get a fair amount of the "spamlike" leads you mentioned, mostly on WW. But I have had enough legit leads that decided to book to make it worth it for me. I DJ in the greater Seattle area so not sure if the market I'm in is a part of that, but sorry to hear you haven't seen a return on your investment because it really is EXPENSIVE :/

[@DJALEXBROWN]

I’m in Rhode Island, I think if it wasn’t the middle of a pandemic I would have seen it as more viable.

[@annerobb4767]

I am a venue in Charlotte NC. Have been with WW and The Knot for years, it was expensive like $600 mos for both. Last December they went to charging per lead, my bill was over $3000 for the month 0 bookings. $2200 for January and still 0 bookings. I have cancelled my marketing but after I did another $800 bill because it takes them 2 weeks to cancel you!!! I don't know how they keep vendors.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

I wonder if they have rolled this out everywhere, I would dispute the charge that is ridiculous, without changes to the way weddingwire qualifies couples I don';t think pay per lead would ever be worth it, but they don't care they just want to squeeze money out of vendors

[@theviswherewebe]

I I'm beginning to think they make up the ads just to get your money and to make you think people are reaching out! Zola too! hmmmm grrrrr and Gerber 3k! damn I am piss over the $80 bucks.

[@ramvisionmedia]

Does anyone know how to cancel a subscription once pay to get on the platform?

[@DJALEXBROWN]

I think you can either pay a hefty cancellation fee or pause the charge on your credit card, but if you do that youll probably be banned for life

[@samueljones9363]

Me too nobody never respond to me and I’m wasting all my money every month and they don’t tell me where the place is.

[@shanethedj]

read review after review from DJs who plunked down big dollars for any of these services. I've wondered if most of these were bots or fake leads generated. And the initial request for service is so generic. Like I'm interested in more information on your services. Very few actually say something specific like we are looking for a dj.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

Ive heard the same as well, unfortunately I was stupid enough to fall for their sales ploy... I hope this video helps keep other DJs from falling for it.

[@samueljones9363]

I feel the same way too and to top it off I almost got scammed come to find out that they want me to cash a check and that was nuts to make a long story short I told them to send me the check so I can scan it but he didn’t respond so after this is over I’m tearing my profile down and going elsewhere

[@DJALEXBROWN]

scammers do come around on weddingwire , I get 1-2 obviious ones a year on a lite listing

[@BillArmington]

im on weddingwire and when it first started 10 years ago it was exspensive but i was getting about 7 to 10 leads a week real ones and booking 3 avg over the years though more djs less quality leads way more money not so good anymore went to the listing price of 135 also sliding scale pricing not fair

[@DJALEXBROWN]

and the thing is, weddingwire doesn't care how good their leads are only that they get your monthly payment. I hope it bites them in the ass

[@apoorvarao2845]

I just signed up this morning. Do you think the people in weddingwire/knot are the ones messaging you to say that you got leads? just a thought :/

[@JordiVallsribas]

I think it might be an automatic message the users are offered to say

[@candicewilliams1264]

that was my thought..lol

[@brucepurcell1432]

So, how do you get the reviews you say you've gotten on Wedding Wire if you're a month in and haven't had any gigs yet from the sites?

[@DJALEXBROWN]

Back in my day they offered lite/free listings I was collecting reviews on ww five years before I paid for ads on there

[@getoffthecouch6919]

Wish I had been warned about them before I got locked into a contract. My contract was up several months ago, and they are still trying to keep me on the hook for an extra month of fees before I cancel. They aren't worth the price.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

They are super slimy about that contract!

[@teamzombiemode4129]

Its been almost 3 years - how do you feel about WW / The Knot now ?

[@DJALEXBROWN]

If anything they have gotten worse. Obviously I don't advertise on there any more but if you look I do have 2-3 other videos about it. This does make me think I should consider an updated version for this year

[@rigobertoencisoiii7142]

Same issue I'm experiencing with Wedding Wire as a Caterer in San Diego I'm paying $450 a month. I closed my Debit card.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

Basically the only way out

[@rigobertoencisoiii7142]

@@DJALEXBROWN they said that supposedly they are going to send it to collections if I don't start making my payments. But I asked them what do they have of mind the box me in besides my name and address. Because they do not have my EIN number nor my social security number. I'm thinking of contacting a lawyer to see if they can actually pursue to force me to complete the 12 months.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

@@rigobertoencisoiii7142 I think a free consult with a lawyer would probably answer your question, please keep us posted in the comments on how it plays out.

[@TezzTezz11]

Man How do I get out wedding wire contract without fees

[@DJALEXBROWN]

Unfortunately I dont think you can

[@duaasayed4206]

I’m getting all fake leads! I don’t know how to get myself out of the contract. It’s a scam!

[@DJALEXBROWN]

their contracts are pretty tight

[@paulchristopherlittle]

make an updated video. How did you end up?

[@DJALEXBROWN]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYqUpKKeqt-aZpY

[@NonRandomName]

hey! do you have a website?

[@DJALEXBROWN]

yes why?

[@I_Am_Jos_A]

any updates on this brother?

[@DJALEXBROWN]

I believe I have 12 months of updates on the channel

[@bkearnaghan]

I stopped it and my leads have gone down a lot.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

They aren't gonna be sending you many leads if you stop paying them but, leads don't matter if half them are fake and the other half aren't "your client", thats what I have seen on weddingwire for me.

[@bkearnaghan]

@@DJALEXBROWN How often do you think they inject fake leads? You are right though, it does seem like a low closing percentage for leads they provide. I am trying direct Google Ads right now. It is pretty cheap if you don't let one of those Google marketing partners try to take over.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

@@bkearnaghan I think they inject them randomly. I'll be trying google ads once ww is over I also just spent some money on seo

[@laurieryan9886]

Been with them 10+ years, once the company merged they renewed and added $75 without notifying. The whole advertising is bs I agree. You get crap leads, spam and they send an inquiry to all others in your industry. A total joke!

[@DJALEXBROWN]

This is a great perspective to add, thanks for commenting!

[@laurieryan9886]

@@DJALEXBROWN here’s another funny thing I went through all the vendors in my category for cake in my region. Yes I was on the first page, not at the top. Guess you have to pay more. Of the 97 listings 57 of them were not bakeries actually people that baked out of their house and provided no address. Some of them had closed permanently. So we are paying but all the others are not and have a so called free listing and don’t pay anything. Another thing is that it takes five reviews to get the couples choice, I got three and still got it ironically. such a joke.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

@@laurieryan9886 Thats very interesting

[@laurieryan9886]

Funny I also got the couples choice award, needed five reviews only got three. You cannot take your account off auto renew, never heard of that. My storefront received 378 views, 178 leads which equals 4 per week if it’s a lead. Plus any that come through my site and I can tell you I in no way received four leads a week from weddingwire! Such a scam

[@DJALEXBROWN]

@@laurieryan9886 I think they force you to call before your billed to cancel right, its really ridiculous

[@ericfsmith3742]

Wedding DJ from Chicago. Agreed to an initial 12 month period, then renewed. After 12 months they jacked up my rate 27%. Total scam of a company.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

WOW thanks for sharing

[@kirksurber7262]

Spent over 4k, couldn't get the top tier as there were no openings and had to wait, 0 closed leads. Waste of money, they are a joke.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

In total I think I spent around $2500-$3000, did close about 10 bookings but still very not worth the price tag

[@Luke_0]

2 years later wedding pro still sucks

[@djrickyb]

I did 3 paid years with Wedding Wire. First year was 2011, and back then I was paying $90 per month for a professional listing. Honestly, I thought it was a bit high at $90 per month LOL. However, that first year I had 2 weddings booked from the ad, and they talked me into another year. The following year I only booked 1 from Wedding Wire, and I was paying like $116/month. I decided to not renew after two years. Then about a year and a half later their pushy sales people talked me into another year. It was 2014, and the year was slow coming off of a Awesome 2013. I was paying even more money...I think like $145/month. I could only confirm 1 single booking from wedding wire. So I ended it after that, but 2015 was a very profitable year for me. BIG year actually, but I was getting far more from Referrals, and Google clients, and even GIg Masters was yielding more bookings compared to WW that year. I also tried The Knot, and I booked nothing on TK. TK is weak sauce in my area. I am researching Wedding Wire again because I am thinking of what to do after the effects from COVID. 2020 was a terrible year, worst ever! 2021 is better, but still a slow year compared to Pre Covid. I'm not going to drop $265/month on WW though, screw that.

[@DJALEXBROWN]

They are ridiculous, I booked a good amount of gigs but had to put so much work into getting them. 90% of my gigs come from google now and are prequalified and ready to book me when they do contact, if you're going to spend that much money, spend it on SEO, that's what I did and it paid off big time for me.