Wedding Pros,
Unless you were under a rock this week, you should have heard the BIG NEWS that “rocked” our industry: WeddingWire & The Knot announced a “merger”…kind of.
Here’s what we know so far: “XO Group Inc. (NYSE: XOXO ), the operator of The Knot, a leading digital marketplace connecting engaged couples with wedding professionals, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement whereby XO Group will become a privately held company and merge with WeddingWire, Inc. in a transaction valued at $933 million. The combined company will maintain both brands, The Knot, and WeddingWire, as separate consumer products so that couples can continue to enjoy both offerings while delivering enhanced value to wedding professionals and partners across the globe. Following closing, XO Group CEO Mike Steib and WeddingWire CEO Tim Chi will serve as co-CEOs of the combined company.”
So…yeah. Parent companies are merging. The separate brands, as we know them, are staying as they are now. As far as we know. Do I sound suspicious? Yeah, I am.
I’m also not at all concerned about this, really. Both The Knot and WeddingWire have been making decisions that are not in the best interests of their advertisers FOR YEARS NOW, so I haven’t considered them a vendor advocate in quite some time. I also haven’t ever given The Knot any advertising dollars, and I quit WeddingWire this year.
I have a lot of other thoughts about what this means for Wedding Pros, so Mindy & I recorded a bonus episode of our podcast, Rock Your Wedding Biz. There are many tips, a few rants, and some honest to goodness homework.
Check it out here:
Action items:
- cut and paste your reviews into a Google doc
- research smaller blogs as advertising partners
- plan a styled shoot
- do the math on what you’ve spent on advertising with these big companies, and figure out your ROI. Like, right now.
To continue the conversation, join us in our private Facebook group Rock Your Wedding Biz Podcast Insiders – click here to join!
Tell me how you’re feeling about the Knot & WeddingWire merger in the comments! Let’s talk about it!
