In a statement made Tuesday, the parent company of The Knot, XO Group, announced that WeddingWire, Inc. and The Knot would be merging. The two companies are maintaining separate brands, but some fear the two monster companies joining may create a monopoly.
For wedding photographers and other wedding professionals, The Knot and WeddingWire have been essential tools for advertising and reputation-building throughout the industry. For any seasoned wedding photographer, they know that either site is a mainstay for brides searching for a photographer, and because of the review systems on both sites, WeddingWire and The Knot both have the ability to make or break a potential lead.
The news that both companies are merging could create an excellent opportunity for the wedding industry and professionals, or it could create a monopoly.
Advertising Cost
Both WeddingWire and The Knot offer differing advertising tiers to wedding professionals based on the type of advertisement and the local market where each professional is based. With the two companies merging and becoming a privately held company owned by two equity firms, Permira Funds and Spectrum Equity, advertising costs now have the potential to rise. As the (arguably) two largest wedding advertising websites, the two sites merging has the potential to create a new advertising cost standard.
Opportunity for Expanded Audience Reach
Now that WeddingWire and The Knot are merging, the two can combine their networks to offer wedding professionals expanded reach to a larger pool of potential leads. So, though there is a chance the two merging will create higher advertising costs, wedding photographers may get a better ROI when advertising through either brand due to their combined expanded network of potential brides.
The merger won’t officially happen until early 2019, and both companies have been general when addressing what changes are to come when it happens. Time will tell how this merge actually affects the wedding industry and wedding photographers alike.
Lead image by rawpixel.com via Pexels, used under Creative Commons.
In my view, control and monopoly are the same. Regardless of what a company writes in their PR rhetoric, raise prices and lessen competition. If you have been in sales and marketing, its all about feature and benefits. If I miss these two elements, I have nothing to offer. Anything else is BS.
Yeah, I was going to advertise with The Knot but opted not to after hearing about this merger. When two companies merge I have yet to hear customers cheer about it. Why? Cost will rise because there is no competition. Good ole' fashioned word of mouth referrals are still my best advertising tools.