Did you know that this year there are projected to be 2.5 million weddings in the U.S this year?
That’s a record high, mostly because people have put their weddings on pause for a couple of years due to Covid.
In addition to that, their bank accounts are relatively full, they’ll soon be ready to buy a house, and the average couple spends about $9,000 on furniture and mattresses when they move into a new home.
So let’s say the average guest list includes 129 people. If you could get just one of those guests to buy a mattress for the bride and groom and spend an average of $400—and let’s say 2.5 million people get married—that’s a billion dollars in revenue sitting there waiting for the mattress industry.
While mattresses may not be the first thing you think of when you think of a gift registry, the opportunity it offers the industry is too lucrative to pass up.
So how can you message around this? First, make sure you have a registry set up, especially if you have a furniture store where people can come in and get all the goods they want and get registered—because that’s what they do.
You could also scan the wedding announcements on Facebook and Instagram. A lot of people use the hashtag #justsaidyes on their Instagram posts, and there’s no need to be hesitant or scared with your marketing messages.
Creating a full campaign around something like this might seem a little niche, but it cuts through the clutter, especially if you do it during the times of year when the weddings are most likely to happen.
We’re getting into that season. The data from wedding website The Knot shows that 17% of all weddings are actually going to take place in October. And for the sixth year in a row, October is the most popular month to have a wedding. So one idea is to dial up your spending and create a campaign that is focused on October.
Think about a TV or radio spot that has key messaging you can apply in social media display ads to help get guests to come into the store.
You can even take it a step further and instead of marketing to the bride and the groom, market to the parents in a fun way.
What does every parent of an adult want? Grandkids! Market to parents that the quicker they invest in a mattress for their son or daughter after they get married, the quicker they’re going to get that grandbaby.
Kinsley takes that idea to the next level with a promotional idea: If they have a grandbaby within a year, that mattress is free.
Also, think about this: The $1 billion we referred to comes from mattresses, but that doesn’t even get into sheets, pillows, protectors, and all the products in the accessory space.
And as The FAM has talked about many times, the sleep sanctuary, and health and wellness in the bedroom, are a big deal. If you can position yourself in that conversation and be more surgical, so you can cut through the noise there’s a chance for you to grab some solid revenue. If nothing else, people are going to look at your business differently.
This also isn’t just an opportunity centered around weddings. Registries are used for nearly every type of event you can think of, from baby showers to graduations, retirement and more.
As an industry, we can change our messaging to break the mattress category out of its shell and impart the importance of sleep—and therefore the true value of a mattress—to consumers in every sector.
Dos Marcos also recently did a podcast about this subject, so be sure to check it out for more insights.
