Did you know that 84% of customers are more likely to purchase a product or service after watching a video? Did you know that 79% of consumers would rather watch a video than read about the product or service? Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google?

The Desi Bride is proud to announce our latest product launch, the ability for vendors to embed videos on their profile page. After speaking to multiple brides, we noted that brides want to see reference videos that show the venue or vendor at an Indian wedding, exhibiting the range of wedding styles. Video builds trust and credibility and increases the chances of a bride reaching out to you and selecting you for her wedding. We are excited about this new feature and hope you use it to showcase your portfolio and grow your business.

In our fast-paced, digital world, video has risen in significance, as you've seen with the proliferation of recent tools, like Tik Tok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Stories. A picture paints a thousand words, but a video shows a thousand words. If you still don't believe that video is important, please read below as we highlight the growing trends of digital video and why vendors should post videos showcasing their work on their Desi Bride profile for brides to watch and ultimately to grow their business. After you read this article, make sure to use The Desi Bride’s new video feature and embed videos, showcasing your Indian wedding portfolio, to your vendor profile page.

Videos build trust and credibility

While images are notorious for filters and showing an optimal angle, videos can provide a 360-degree and 3D glance in what the experience of working with you really would feel like for the Indian bride / couple / family. Video is the ideal way to create a personality for your company or brand and enable wedding clients to connect with you and earn your trust. The higher caliber videos you have showcasing the range of your work and the authenticity, the more trust you’ll build digitally, which will lend itself to business growth.

Videos boost conversion rate

HubSpot’s research indicates that video on a page can increase conversion rate by 80%+. Forrester’s research shows that clients are 6x more likely to convert if they watch a video compared to reading text. There is a reason why Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat and other social platforms are investing in video today – video increases conversion significantly. If a bride watches a beautiful wedding with gorgeous wedding décor at a unique wedding venue catering to Indian weddings, she’s much more likely to reach out and message the vendor than if she just reads about the venue’s banquet halls and the decorator’s wedding décor inventory. If you have a goal for each video (read about this below), and compelling and high-quality content, videos can be a powerful selling tool and help you get more high quality and paying brides and grooms!

Videos give the potential client a sneak-peek into an Indian wedding

The difference between an empty Marriott banquet hall and a wedding banquet hall with a mandap, wedding guests showing off a Bollywood number, or live Indian food stations is huge. It’s challenging for clients to envision what an Indian wedding will look like through text or even a handful of images. Video is immersive and can show the Indian bride or groom what it might feel like to have their wedding at your venue or captured by your camera. Clients are more likely to reach out to you if they can picture what it would look like and feel like to work with you. While photos as a view into your portfolio, videos can be a way to truly internalize the range of experiences in your wedding portfolio.

Videos encourage social sharing and virality

Video tells a story that can be emotional, informative, or entertaining. Wedding videos elicit emotion, and emotion is something that sticks with your client or potential wedding client. Brides, grooms, and potential clients are much more likely to share a video than send over a piece of text or sometimes even an image. According to Builderfly, 92% of mobile video consumers are likely to share videos with someone else. While you might get lucky and have one of your recent TikTok videos go viral occasionally, even moderate shares of videos help grow your brand’s awareness and elevate your credibility in the digital world in a sustainable way.

Videos help websites and pages rank higher in search

Google and other search engines have optimized their algorithms, so if you have video content on your Desi Bride profile page, your page is more likely to be higher ranked on Google, which means Indian brides are more likely to find you on page 1 of Google and reach out to you. The average internet user spends 88% more time on a website if it contains video, and a higher dwell time means an improved ranking on Google. Research from Forrester shows that companies who effectively use video on websites are 53 times more likely to show up on page 1 of Google. The summary here is that video content helps you get discovered by Indian brides!

What are the best types of videos to post on your Desi Bride profile page?

Video can be a great way to promote your business, but it’s important to make sure you’re using them properly. To get started, think about what value you can provide to your audience, and how you can make the video relevant to them. For example, a wedding venue may want to provide a tour of their venue and how areas like the driveway cater to a baraat, whereas a caterer may want to create a video highlighting their chefs' experiences and how they bring rich North and South Indian food to life through live food stations.

It's also important to think about the intent of the videos. What is the goal of each video? Are you creating informational videos to talk about the wedding décor design process or how you, as a photographer, became an expert Indian wedding photographer to help the bride understand why you? Are you creating an aspirational video with scenes from destination luxury Indian weddings to capture a bride's attention?

Once you've answered these questions, below are the types of videos that you may want to post on your Desi Bride profile page to improve the chances of a bride wanting to work with you. Please note that these videos must be publicly posted on YouTube, Vimeo, or another video platform for you to be able to embed them in your Desi Bride profile.

• An introductory video highlighting who you are as a wedding vendor, how you started, and why you are different
• A tour of your wedding venue, highlighting how Indian weddings have made the most out of your venue. From the baraat to the mandap and the reception dance floor
• An informational video talking about your process (e.g., how do you work with the Desi couple to design wedding invitations, or how do you work with the couple to design their dream Indian wedding décor looks by event)
• A portfolio video showcasing your venue, products, or services at an actual Indian wedding. We recommend embedding links of professionally shot videos from a wedding videographer at an Indian wedding, showing off your venue, bridal hair & makeup, an assortment of food, or other products / services.
• A testimonial from a bride or groom (or parent) talking about their authentic experience of working with you

We hope this article was helpful in illustrating why video is so important for wedding vendors to grow their companies in today's digital world. Vendors, please make sure to embed videos on your Desi Bride profile through your Vendor Dashboard.

Cheers,

Arjita | Founder of The Desi Bride

P.S. We touched on video testimonials from previous wedding clients in this article. If you are interested in learning more about how to get positive, 5-star reviews, which are also very important in today’s digital world, please refer to this article.

If you are not a vendor on The Desi Bride today and cater to the luxury Indian bride, we would love to learn more about you! Please fill out this form and visit our homepage to learn more.