In March my business friend, , and I were invited to visit The Lake Como Wedding Planner, our clients based in yep, you’ve guessed it; the gorgeous Lake Como, Italy.

This fantastic business, owned by Rachel Birthistle Cooke, provides fairytale experiences for couples wanting a special wedding in one of the most picturesque and romantic destinations in Europe.

Keren and I met Rachel and her daughter, Taimar (who’s also on the wedding planning team) when they attended our Social Media workshop in London. They loved the workshop and felt that they could do with some extra in-depth help with their online marketing strategy.

So off we went to help Rachel, Taimar and the rest of the team map out a social media and content plan in time for the busy wedding season ahead (and provide a system that will serve their marketing planning long into future).

For us to fully understand the business Keren and I had to visit the location, meet the team and experience it first hand. D’you think we needed our arms twisted?!

During our 4 day visit we were introduced to the busy workings of a thriving wedding planner business, as well as the cultural delights of the area.

It was a real family affair as we were staying with the owner, Rachel, and her family in their amazing villa with a view of the lake. Even my husband was invited to join us!

We worked with the entire team to develop a 6 month blog and facebook content strategy through managed brainstorm sessions, and training workshops. This gave the team the tools and systems that will enable them to continue sharing their expertise, passion and experiences of organising exceptional weddings in Italy through social media.

We felt strongly that we should avoid the continual stream of case studies found on most wedding planner blogs. Instead, create a journal of articles that include wedding inspiration; tips on marrying abroad; real life stories; an insight to the Italian culture and unique service the business provides, with a pinch of what really goes on behind the scenes…

The aim of a business blog like this is to show the personalities behind the business, and build trust with their customers and prospects while demonstrating the very unique ways they serve and assist their clients. When done well, the blog visitor should think ‘I want to have my wedding planned with them!’.

This is what we covered during our sessions

• Blog headline creation
• Blog content and theme brainstorm
• Blog editorial calendar planning
• Important blog formatting tips including how to edit and upload images
• Facebook page redesign and optimisation
• Facebook training and strategy
• Facebook content planning
• Using cloud based tools (like Google Apps, Dropbox, Buffer) for team collaboration and managing projects

It was really important to provide the team with the knowledge and tools to easily build on our sessions after our visit. It’s one thing understanding how to blog or use a Facebook page, another being able to keep up with it on a consistent basis. This learning is crucial for success.

The entire team fully embraced our ideas and it was hugely rewarding for us to see their passion for the business and excited to get started sharing their stories through their blog and Facebook page. They got stuck in immediately with their first blog post: The best Tiramisu I ever ate in my whole entire life

Since we’ve been back it’s been great seeing their regular blog posts and Facebook updates – we love it when a business understands how powerful social media marketing can be after a little help from us.

It wasn’t all work and no play. We experienced the beautiful scenery, ate delicious food at some of their chosen wedding venue restaurants (wow – amazing!), went for morning runs beside the lake with Guinness the dog, and spent time with Rachel and her family. Not only was the experience hugely rewarding for us professionally but we made some new friends too.

You can read more about the adventures of The Lake Como Wedding Planner on their blog, and on .