Show notes:
This week I’m chatting to Elizabeth Marberry. We discussed the critical role of social media in modern business, particularly focusing on Instagram marketing strategies that are essential for wedding professionals. Elizabeth shared her journey of growing her brand through use of social media, transitioning from traditional marketing methods and using platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Simple & Proven Ways to *Finally* Make Money on Instagram
Chapters:
- 00:00 – Building Connections Through Storytelling
- 03:42 – Starting the Journey into the Wedding Industry
- 20:27 – The Power of Storytelling in Social Media Marketing
- 29:21 – Transitioning Through Life’s Seasons
- 44:43 – Exploring New Places: Elizabeth’s First Trip to Ireland and London
Transcript:
Elizabeth
00:00:00.320 – 00:00:14.160
That storytelling is how it’s going to give that post more legs and it’s going to do what I need it to do for my business, which is build connection with my audience. Right. People buy from people they know, like and trust.
Becca
00:00:15.919 – 00:01:10.360
I’m Becca Poutney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker and blogger and you’re listening to the Wedding Pros who Are Ready to Grow podcast. I’m here to share with you actionable tips, strategies and real life examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you love, then you’re in the right place. Let’s get going with today’s episode.
Today I’m chatting with Elizabeth Marbury, founder of the Wedding Dance Coach, a business she grew into a multi six figure brand. Elizabeth is also a visibility and Instagram strategist who has built a combined social following of over 140,000 on TikTok and Instagram.
I adore her and I could not be more excited that she’s coming to speak at wedpros Live this in both Ireland and London. You are going to absolutely love her. Elizabeth, welcome to the podcast.
Elizabeth
00:01:10.600 – 00:01:24.440
Thank you so much Becca. I so appreciate that warm intro and I’m such a fan of yours too.
So I every time we get to connect and meet in real life, it’s just the best highlight ever. So thank you for having me on the show.
Becca
00:01:24.440 – 00:01:46.440
Well, I’m thrilled to have you on the show and I’m so excited to introduce you to my audience both on the podcast and and in real life. But before we get there, let’s go back in your journey because I like my listeners to understand who they’re hearing from on the podcast.
So take me back, way back. Pre Wedding Dance Coach, what did life look like? What was your career and how did you take that first step into weddings?
Elizabeth
00:01:46.519 – 00:03:03.470
I took a very windy path into weddings and marketing. I never would have thought I would have landed here. So I in my former life I was a professional dancer.
I fell in in love with dance at a very young age. I told my When I was 11 years old I am going to be a professional dancer. That’s what I’m going to do for a living.
And thank goodness they believed in me, didn’t think I was crazy. And I ended up going to college in New York City at Marymount Manhattan College on the Upper east side where I studied dance.
That is where I got my bachelor’s degree and Started really auditioning for companies. I was able to dance all over the world. I traveled to India, France, Japan.
I got to perform in really beautiful places and went after my dream of becoming a professional dancer, moved to Chicago, where I transitioned into more choreography and teaching of dance.
Because as you may or may not know, you know, at some point, as you’re aging, becoming a, you know, being a professional dancer, at some point, you have to find a new path. And so choreography and teaching were always just a passion of mine. And I was the person at the dance studio that loved working with adults.
Becca
00:03:03.540 – 00:03:03.980
Adults.
Elizabeth
00:03:03.980 – 00:05:18.960
Like, when people would come in and be like, who is good at working with adults? Like, no one wanted to work with them. And I’m like, I love working with adults. Like, they’re so fun. I love teaching them.
I love helping them, you know, build their confidence on the dance floor. Then I was living in Chicago when I re met my husband. He was living in Boulder, Colorado, and we did long distance for a while. We were high school.
Like, we were friends in high school. We knew each other from elementary school, if you can believe it. And. But we reconnected. And long story short, he proposed.
I moved back to Colorado, where I am from. I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. And it was when I was planning my wedding with him in 2010 that I really fell into the wedding industry.
Like so many of us, right?
Um, and I discovered that the pressure that brides felt of like, oh, my gosh, I have all these people flying in from all over the country, and they’re gonna watch us dance together. And I felt nervous for my first dance. And I was ser thinking, like, wait a second, hold the phone.
If I’m nervous for my first dance, how are non dancers doing this? Like, seriously, how are they doing it? So I ended up doing my husband and I. So keep in mind, this was 2010.
We ended up doing one of those surprise first dances because my husband has two Lefty. He does not dance, okay? He’s always like, that’s your thing, girl.
And so we started off really slow, and then we surprised our guest and busted out into a dance of the decades.
We did a song from the 80s, the 90s, and I kid you not, the reception erupted, the energy was elevated, and I realized that was like my aha moment of I had brought in my background of hip hop, contemporary, ballroom. This was not a dance that you could go into a ballroom studio and get right. It was very custom. And I said, oh, my gosh, there’s.
There’s ballroom studios. But there’s not a. There’s not a company that exclusively focuses on really unique and fun wedding dances.
And that’s when Wedding Dance Coach was born. And I. I would never have thought that in a million years that I would end up in the wedding industry.
And so that is how that company was launched back in 2010. So we’re starting our 16th year in business, if you can believe it. That is incredible.
Becca
00:05:18.960 – 00:05:21.480
Do you have that first dance from your own wedding on video?
Elizabeth
00:05:21.960 – 00:05:23.720
I do. I really do.
Becca
00:05:23.720 – 00:05:24.160
Yeah.
Elizabeth
00:05:24.160 – 00:05:27.560
The video quality is not great, but, yep, I’ve got it, girl.
Becca
00:05:27.640 – 00:06:08.530
I think that needs to make an appearance on Instagram one day. I would love to see it. You’re probably like, absolutely not.
No one can ever see it, but I just think it’s great because Even then in 2010, that wasn’t a thing. Like, people weren’t doing that. I got married in 2010. I feel like we’ve lived this kind of parallel life.
I got married in 2010, and I always say to people, when I got married in 2010, most of the stuff that happens at weddings today did not exist. It was literally just a standard wedding. There wasn’t a photo booth. There wasn’t a fun thing. So I love that you were ahead of the curve.
And even then, you bought your personality into your first dance, so you did it for your own wedding. You realized you wanted to help other people. How did you go about getting set up, finding your first couples? Tell me about that piece of the picture.
Elizabeth
00:06:08.530 – 00:07:48.620
Oh, my gosh, what a fun story. I just have to say, I haven’t told the story in so long, so it’s just fun for me to talk about this. So thank you for asking.
So I just bootstrapped everything myself. In the beginning. I did everything right. I. So essentially, how I leveraged and set up my business was I knew that I needed to build clientele, right?
And I was. It wouldn’t have been a smart investment for me at that time to rent a space. That would have been way too early in the process. Success.
So what I did is I rented space in an existing dance studios where they had space just sitting open, and I negotiated really low rates because I was like, I. I don’t know how many clients I’m gonna have. I’m just starting this business. Can you help me out?
And they were more than happy to give me their space because, you know, it’s sitting empty for, like, six or eight hours on a Sunday. And if I’m willing to pay them for a chunk of time, they’re you know, happy to. To let me use it.
And so that’s really how I started the business is just renting space in existing dance studios. And how I made it on the map is I, first of all, wedding dance coach wasn’t wedding dance coach at first.
My URL was Elizabeth Marbury.com and I positioned it as I was the wedding dance coach. Okay. So at that time, I was teaching all the lessons and really how my company blew up. It was our big break. Cause I had, you know, no money, no ads.
I just had a website and a prayer. Okay, is I. There was this little thing back in 2010, 2011 that was huge called Groupon. Do you know about Groupon?
Becca
00:07:48.620 – 00:07:52.300
Yeah, we had Groupon here in the uk. We don’t hear about it anymore, but yeah, it was huge.
Elizabeth
00:07:52.540 – 00:08:19.400
Okay. So back in like 2011, it was very exclusive to get your business on Groupon. Very exclusive.
And it was so I remember our big break was like getting a deal on Groupon. And I remember it was like a live selling thing where you would see like the number growing up of how many lessons, like how many couples you sold.
And we sold to over 200 couples in one day. For my business, I was running by myself.
Becca
00:08:19.960 – 00:08:26.240
That sounds both very exciting and very stressful at the same time because you’re thinking, how am I going to fit all of these couples in?
Elizabeth
00:08:26.240 – 00:08:46.059
Well, luckily at that point, I was selling I.
Because I had thought, even though it’s funny telling the story, I was literally just the most baby entrepreneur learning as I went, which, thank goodness, thank goodness, that’s how we learn, is we learn as we go. I had set up a scheduling system and what I was selling through Groupon was group classes. Thank goodness.
Becca
00:08:46.939 – 00:08:47.899
Yes, I could know.
Elizabeth
00:08:48.139 – 00:11:05.940
Yes. They weren’t private lessons.
And then my plan was to upsell people from those group lessons into my private lessons, which were, you know, more high ticket at that time. And so that drove so much visibility to my business and really built my funnel of clients. And year after year, I kept raising my prices.
I kept really building that brand credibility.
And then I got pregnant with my first kid and I thought, oh dear, I can’t teach for eight hours straight without a break and have a baby that I need to nurse. Right. Or like, it was a moment of like, okay, I need to hire someone to help me. And that’s when I hired my first instructor.
And that is when I realized, oh, dear, I have branded my company as myself. That’s a huge problem. All of my testimonials Say, Elizabeth is great. Elizabeth is the best dance coach ever. Hire Elizabeth.
I realized that, oh, my goodness, I need to pivot.
And luckily this was earlier on in my pregnancy that I need to pivot my brand into an overarching umbrella of a brand where you work with a wedding dance coach and it doesn’ have to be Elizabeth. And thank God I did that. I. I thought of the name and by the way, Wedding Dance Coach came to me before. Like, coaching was such a big buzzword too.
It’s kind of funny that that came to me at that time.
And so I rebranded my whole company as Wedding Dance Coach and I hired my first instructor and I just started talking about them and I started using their name. And as I. I brought them in, we would get testimonials that would mention his name. Oh, Dennis was great. I loved working with Dennis.
And I was able to quickly pivot in time and essentially step away from my business for like, three months, where my instructor was able to take on the full workload so I could be at home with my baby. Fast forward years down the road. I have multiple instructors. I don’t teach at all anymore. It’s 2026. I’m in the CEO founder seat. I run the business.
I’m the visionary of the brand. But I don’t do any of the delivery deliverables anymore. I have a small team of instructors. They’re incredible.
I have a leadership team and the business just runs on its own. But it was like brick by brick building up to that point.
Becca
00:11:05.940 – 00:12:13.050
That’s a fantastic story. I love hearing how people get to where they are now because it doesn’t happen overnight.
And there’ll be people listening who are, like, laying those first bricks. And I actually had an emotional moment this week.
Elizabeth, I’m going to be very honest with you because as we’re recording this, the crazy, like, 2016 trend is going on on social media where people are looking back and going, here was Elizabeth in 2016, and I looked at yours, and again, we lived this parallel life because I also, in 2016, was just starting this baby business. I had two tiny toddlers. I felt like I’d lost myself. I thought I was never gonna be me again.
And 10 years later, look at us, like, on stages doing our thing.
And so I know there’ll be people who are like, 2016 us right here in 2026, and you’re laying that first brick, or you’ve got these toddlers or you’ve got all this chaos going on, and you think, how can I ever get out of this. Well, just know, as you just heard Elizabeth describe her journey, and we haven’t even got to the end of that. You know, there is hope.
There is a future. You will find yourself again. And it’s a season, and. No, it’s a season. So I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on that.
Elizabeth
00:12:13.050 – 00:14:12.080
I have chills.
Thank you for saying that to me, because, yeah, this 2020 season, 2016 trend that is resurfacing, it brought up so much for me because I went back and I looked at my camera roll, and I was pregnant and I had a toddler, and I gave birth, and I just felt so lost. I had postpartum depression. I felt like I’ve always loved my work.
I’ve always wanted to be a mom and a career woman and build my own brand, and I felt like I had to put so much of that on hold. And I’m glad, of course, you know, you want to be there for your kids and.
But it was definitely a moment of just, you know, postpartum depression is no joke. First of all, if anyone out there has experienced it or is experiencing it, I’m sending you so much love.
It will not stay dark forever inside of your heart. Like, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re a good mama. But truly, like, to go from that place of, like, I know I have so much capacity.
I know I have a big vision for my life and my career and my impact and the money I want to make and all the things, and to feel like I had to put it on hold and. And deal with just, like, health issues, essentially, it was just so devastating.
So I. I’m so happy, Becca, that you brought this up, because what Becca’s referring to is I posted a carousel post on Instagram about this. My version of this 2016 trend where we look back at where we were, and it’s a great opportunity for storytelling in your content.
It’s a great opportunity to build a bridge with your audience.
And you all just witnessed how that piece of content that Becca liked on Instagram, I would have never known how much that activated Becca in consuming that piece of content, right? Where she was like, oh, my gosh, me too. Me too. And so just a beautiful reminder to everybody, like, your content can be of service to your people.
And even though I don’t talk about pregnancy or being a mom or kids, like, that’s not my current business, but that part of me is important. It’s a part of my story. And people, you know, connect human to human, and that’s why I love social media so much.
Becca
00:14:12.080 – 00:14:34.640
Yeah, it’s so true. Well, that brings us beautifully on to the other side of your business. So Wedding Dance Coach was how you entered the wedding industry.
You’ve grown it into this fantastic business.
But as I said in my introduction, you are now also working as an Instagram marketing strategist mentor for both wedding industry and other creative businesses as well. So explain to me how that happened. Where’s the gap?
Elizabeth
00:14:34.640 – 00:15:40.200
Yeah, absolutely. So for the first 10 years of growing Wedding Dance coach and I grew Wedding Dance coach to a six figure brand with no social media. Okay.
So I was focused on search engine optimization, optimize, you know, making sure our website was phenomenal, lots of social proof. Every time a couple would work with us, hey, we’re really working to grow our small business.
I’m going to send you a follow up email, but if you could leave us a review on Google on the knot. I’m going to give you all those, those direct links that really helps me to grow this business and reach more incredible couples like you.
So we really dialed in those processes of getting that social proof website optimization. And then of course, happy customers refer. Happy customers. So, you know, engaged couples, no other engaged couples.
So they would essentially become super fans referring business. So that really got us, you know, referrals from other wedding vendors that got us to our first six figures.
I still knew that I was just scratching the surface of what was possible for my company. And so in 2020, when we were all locked in our homes, there was this app called Clubhouse. Do you remember Clubhouse?
Becca
00:15:40.200 – 00:15:43.560
I do remember Clubhouse. I spent way too many hours on it for a while.
Elizabeth
00:15:43.560 – 00:17:50.840
Yes, yes, yes, yes, exactly.
So Clubhouse was this invite only audio social platform where you would go into rooms and you would be, you would go into rooms where people were speaking on virtual stages. And I spent a lot of time in there too.
And I’m so glad I did because what I did is I went into all the social media marketing rooms and I didn’t even know. I guess I just was, I don’t know, gravitating toward those rooms.
It’s not like I even had this like grand plan in my mind, but I got to learn from some of the best of the best Instagram marketing experts for free in Clubhouse. And I was taking notes and I was learning and I was running and I was going to, to implement all the stuff I was learning.
And they were talking about Instagram, they were talking about TikTok and they were talking specifically about short form video okay. Which was still pretty new, like to really leverage short form video. And that is when I. I just started to fall in love with it.
I so fascinated by the power of like, how does this video rack up all these views and get your brand in front of more people? And I just really fell in love with the modality of video. As a former professional dancer, it felt like another stage for me.
It felt like a way for my brand to come alive and I just, I just loved it. And side note, I was always that person that like would edit random videos in imovie. Cause I just thought it was kind of fun.
So I guess I’ve always kind of like geeked out on like video editing. Even though I had no formal training or anything. I just, I was. It was intuitive to me to like edit the video with the music.
And again, it was like dance. It was art. It was choreography for me. Expression, personal expression. And so what I did is I made a decision in 2020. 2021, beginning of 2021.
Because Instagram launched Reels at the end of 2020 is essentially right when they launched reels, I said, okay, I know that I’m scratching the surface of what’s possible for firm my company. What if I went all in on our social media marketing?
Because at that time, Becca, I was doing what a lot of people are still doing, which was I was posting just like at a static image of a couple on their wedding day and saying like, congrats, Sally and Matt, on your first dance. We loved working with you.
Becca
00:17:50.840 – 00:17:51.360
Yay.
Elizabeth
00:17:51.360 – 00:19:33.070
You know, like, that was my whole strategy and it did nothing. Right. It was, it was, I guess, a portfolio of past clients pictures. But it wasn’t, it wasn’t getting us in front of new engaged couples.
It certainly wasn’t driving any leads and sales or any of that. Right. And so I went all in on learning reels. And I posted a reel every day on both my wedding dance coach brand, but also my personal brand, Eliz.
I positioned myself as the dance studio CEO because in my mind I was like, I’m a business owner, I’m an entrepreneur, and I want them to know the face behind the brand. That was my initial positioning of Elizabeth Marbury. And so I had different strategies with both of those accounts.
But essentially what I did is I posted a reel every day for a year and I didn’t grow. But you know what? I kept going. I kept posting, I kept figuring out reels. I kept, you know, experimenting, testing.
And then I will never forget, like my first video that went like really viral. And I was like, like, what? This is so fun. And it just got better and better. And so within that. So now I’m fast forwarding to like 2022.
Within a 12 month period, I grew wedding dance coach to over 50,000 followers. My personal brand, over 30,000 followers on Instagram, over 40,000 on TikTok. And for my wedding business that year we had an 84% increase in revenue.
I landed over 5,000 people on our email list list using our freebie, our lead funnel and all of that. And that’s when I was like, I’m in love with this. This is amazing.
And I had small business owners, wedding pros reaching out to me, saying, what the heck are you doing? Like, your reels are fire. Your social media is fire. Like, what are you doing? Teach me your ways.
And that is truly when my Instagram marketing coaching business was, was started.
Becca
00:19:33.150 – 00:20:26.860
I love it. It’s such a great journey as well, because I really enjoy hearing people’s whole story because it never just happens overnight.
People see you and they’re like, oh, she just decided one night to do this and teach it. But actually so much comes before that.
And again, your story is a bit like mine where other people started asking you and therefore you started doing it. You didn’t just turn up one day and be like, does anyone want to learn about Instagram from me? Actually, it happened the other way around.
And you know, it’s so inspiring. Now you said something in there which just made me chuckle inside when you said some people are still doing Instagram like that.
And we both know that that’s true. You know, we should be doing that. Are you still posting on Instagram like it’s 20 trend? Because that is what is happening.
So as we’re talking, and we know social media changes so fast, but as we’re talking, you know, spring or winter 2026, early part of 2026, what is working on Instagram right here, right now for wedding businesses?
Elizabeth
00:20:27.739 – 00:22:22.210
I love this question.
First and foremost, what is working for wedding businesses on Instagram is storytelling content in addition to storytelling content, which we can unpack. Is that authentic, raw, real messy, behind the scenes. Show your process. Show your mess. Show how you fixed a problem that happened in your business.
Show how you did the bride’s makeup totally wrong and how you fixed it in the hour before her ceremony. I know that sounds horrifying, but I’ve seen content like that do really, really well.
But so it’s, it’s the combination of storytelling and authentic, raw content. In the past, Instagram used to be all about, like, the perfectly curated feed. Remember how we would spend? I actually never did this.
I’m actually proud that I’m like, I never did this. But mostly because I just wasn’t that on that active on Instagram at the time.
But there was a time period where it really mattered, the aesthetic of your feed, Right.
Where it was like, it has to be this perfect, color coordinated grid and like, people would just plan out their whole grid view and it was just very polished and. And essentially people got really tired of the influencer world of like, hey, guys, everything’s perfect in my life. Nobody is buying that anymore.
What is selling is authenticity and your humanness. Especially in this world of AI. I tell my clients all the time, if you can get your face on camera, do it.
If you can get a client’s face on camera, do it. We need to see faces. Every brand needs a face.
So whether you’re the face of your company or someone on your team is the face of your company, or like with wedding dance company coach on our feed, our clients are the face of our company. But I do like to show our instructors or myself an Instagram story.
So there’s different ways of going about it, but storytelling, authenticity and showing your face, that is what is working on Instagram right now.
Becca
00:22:22.450 – 00:22:31.970
Elizabeth, I hate to tell you this, but there are still people I have conversations with on a weekly basis who still think that their feed needs to be aesthetically pleasing all the time.
Elizabeth
00:22:32.290 – 00:22:59.100
No. Well, you know what?
I. I see that, especially in the wedding industry, and I think it is because people who are drawn to the wedding industry, we like pretty things, right? Like, we want it to look good, we want it to be organized, we want it to have a certain aesthetic. Right?
And wedding industry pros tend to be highly perfectionistic. We tend to be people pleasers. I know, because I’m one.
Becca
00:22:59.100 – 00:22:59.420
Right.
Elizabeth
00:22:59.420 – 00:25:25.790
I always joke. I’m a recovering people pleaser. I’m a recovering perfectionist. Believe me, I get it.
Especially when it’s your business, you want it to be at that level. And I can’t tell you. Yes.
How many wedding pros I’ve met who are like, Elizabeth, I have a lot of content, but I just, every time I go to post it, it’s just. It’s just not good enough for me.
And that just kills me because essentially what’s happening is your perfectionism is causing you to freeze, and that is costing you dollars, girlfriend. Okay? That is costing you dollars. It’s not just that. That oh, it must be nice.
Like the person who is willing to post their 80% good enough content every single day for a year is going to be making what, six figures more than you in five years? Isn’t it worth it for you to get out of your own way and just start posting right?
Like it’s so hard though, and I totally have empathy for it because it can feel so scary and it can feel so intimidating. And I just really encourage everyone listening. Like I’m giving you permission.
Like one of my clients right now, she is a high end wedding planner out of Chicago, really like luxury stuff. And that has been her struggle too is she’s like, Elizabeth, I feel that I’m in my own way.
So honestly, if you’re listening, that’s your first step, is awareness. Are you filtering yourself? Are you editing yourself? Are you holding onto your content?
So it is so precious and so near and dear to your heart that it takes you three hours to do and you never put it out there that the first way of getting through that is really honoring that and naming it and having awareness. We can’t shift something until we have awareness around it. So I’d say let’s start there.
And then my encouragement to you, if you’re listening and that’s you, is like, hello, welcome to the club. Everyone has those moments, even for me. Sometimes I’ll post something, I’m like, that is so cringe. I can’t believe I just posted that. It’s so bad.
Like I’m at a whole nother level from that content I posted. Like I literally think myself, you know, I’m like talking down to myself. But you know what? I just do it and then I move on. You know why?
Because I’m going to do it again tomorrow and then I’m going to do it again the next day. It’s not so precious to me anymore. I can just keep going. I can stay in motion. And motion builds confidence.
And when you stay in motion, you get those reps, you get stronger, your content becomes more effective and it will start to drive actual results for your business. And then when you get that first lead or that first sale or a video pops off of, you are going to be like, I’m hooked, I’m hooked. Let’s go.
But you gotta keep going.
Becca
00:25:25.870 – 00:25:47.070
It’s so true. You spoke to so many different people in that moment who I know will be resonating now. You say that storytelling content’s working.
We say that authentic content’s working in terms of the mechanism again, because I Think people are still kind of thinking about Instagram before all these algorithm changes. Reels, carousels, static posts, stories like, where is this stuff happening for us?
Elizabeth
00:25:47.150 – 00:31:56.150
Yeah. So first of all, I. I would tell you, just stop doing static posts. Like, just take that out of your strategy. Is it the worst thing ever? No.
If that’s what you’re. If that’s the only thing you could do, fine, do it. If you’re going to post images, post a carousel, please. A carousel is just multiple slides.
The reason for that. There’s so many reasons. One is that if I scroll past that first slide, Instagram, the algorithm is going to show your.
That second slide again to me later. So it gives your content legs. It’ll give that content. If you’re going to put in the effort, don’t you want it to look like. Be seen by people? Right?
I just laugh because I bet some people are like, no, I don’t want it to be seen by people. It’s so bad. No, but so I would say carousel posts are fantastic. Slide by slide.
And make sure if you’re using carousels that you’re adding audio, you’re adding music, trending audio. And it could be like, you know, this is where you get to allow it to be the vibe of your brand.
So, like, some brands, it might be this, like, really classy violin music. Like, it doesn’t have to be like hip hop, pop. Right. Or whatever it is, but add music.
Because a recent update was that Instagram now is promoting carousels on the reels feed, as long as there’s audio attached to those. So make sure you’re doing that with carousels. Carousels are perfect for storytelling. So essentially what you do is you can think of what I.
The exact thing I did for the 2016 trend that Becca referred to. Okay? So what I could have done is I could have done. I could have shown a picture of myself from 2016, and I could have had the hook.
So text on the slide, say, 2016 rewind. And then I could have just had pictures of me in 2016, and then I could have written a caption. Right?
But I didn’t do that because I know that storytelling is how it’s gonna give that post more legs. And it’s gonna do what I need it to do for my business, which is build connection with my audience. Right?
People buy from people they know like, and trust. And honestly, it’s. For me, it’s always my content’s like, coming from a place of service. So even if you don’t hire Me ever. I still want my.
I still want you to get something for my content. Okay, so the first slide, I say I have mixed feelings about the 2016 trend. Now, what does that do? That hooks you, right?
It gives you a sense of curiosity. So a good hook can invoke curiosity or it’s a good pattern interrupt. Because most people are just like, here’s my 2016 or 2016 rewind. Yay, 2016.
You know, whatever it was, this hook is like, I had mixed feelings about the 2016 trend. And maybe you as a consumer, do too with your own story, right? Maybe that’s resonant for you. Next slide.
Not because of my aggressive commitment to black eyeliner. Now, why did I do that? I was wanting to invoke some laughter because what I was about to share was actually quite heavy.
But I also wanted to showcase my personality, which is I like to have fun. I like to. I like, make fun of myself, right? Like, I am playful.
And when you use humor, it helps the audience to feel like you’re approachable to them as well, right? Like I’m human to human. The next slide. But because although I was smiling in these pictures, I was barely holding on. Next slide.
In the first half of 2016, I was pregnant and navigating life with a two year old. Then my second baby was born in July. I loved my kids more than anything. And. And I felt completely lost inside of myself.
Postpartum depression is no joke. My identity felt like it disappeared overnight. And then I keep going on and telling the story. And then the transition was so I would choose 2026.
Me every single time.
The woman who moved through hard seasons, who kept going and sought support, who became the mom, the wife and entrepreneur she used to vision board about. If you’re. So this was the final slide. Okay, So I told. So think about what I did there. I hooked you.
I used a little humor, and then I told a piece of my story. And then I. I’m. I’m transitioning into present day of, like, who I am now. Like, what. What I embody as a mom and entrepreneur.
And then the last slide is an invitation to my audience. If you’re in a season where you feel lost or unsure of yourself, please know this. It’s possible to find your way back.
And the only way out is through. This is an example of storytelling content. So it’s not enough to say five ways to save money on your wedding. You would.
If you’re telling me how to save money on my wedding, you’re gonna tell you’re gonna teach me that concept through a story. That’s the difference. Do you hear what I’m saying? So it’s. It’s. It’s all about. It’s all about how we position it. But it.
Storytelling is what is gonna bring people in. And what I love about this, Becca, is that no one is you. You know, we always talk about, like, how are we gonna stand out on social media?
Well, what if, darling? What if you just told your stories? I can’t tell Becca’s story. I haven’t lived Becca’s life. I don’t know her lived experience. She does.
Is she willing to tell us her stories and the people who are willing to do that? And whether it’s your brand story, a client story, like, you have so many rich stories.
So when I think about talking about my business or promoting something or teaching something, I always think, okay, what is the story that I could tell that is going to build a bridge of connection to my audience?
Becca
00:31:57.270 – 00:32:22.870
So, so powerful. And I think everyone is probably sitting there listening and going, I get it. Now I just need to work out how to do it for myself.
So do you have any tips? If someone’s listening and they’re thinking, okay, I hear you, Elizabeth. I want to bring myself. I want to bring my story to the front of my brand.
I’ve got, you know, flowers to sell, cakes to sell. I just don’t know where to start with that story. Like, how do I build the story?
Elizabeth
00:32:23.830 – 00:33:14.650
Oh, my gosh. This is where AI is going to be your best friend. Okay? Because I just want you guys to know I am just like you.
It’s not like I’m constantly like, oh, I have this story and that story and this story. I am a creator that creates my best work in response. So Becca right now asking me questions, I can show up so fully to answer her questions.
You can use AI in that way, and you can use ChatGPT or Google Gemini or whatever your preferred platform is to pull stories and memories from your brain. So you. Essentially, what you can do is. There’s a framework that I teach that’s not my own. I learned it from Jeff Woods.
He’s the author of the AI Driven Leader. And this framework will change the game for your audience. Can I teach them really quickly?
Becca
00:33:14.650 – 00:33:15.430
Yeah, please do.
Elizabeth
00:33:16.220 – 00:37:10.490
Okay, so the framework is crit, C, R I, T. C stands for context. R stands for role. I interview T task. So the more specific, the better. Right? So let’s say this 2016 trend, right? Context.
And by the way, whenever I use AI Which I use it every single day. I use the microphone function because I don’t know if y’ all can tell, but I like to talk, sister. I like to talk. All right?
And I’m a verbal processor as well, so I work way faster if I can just speak. Okay, so that’s a. That’s a life hack right there for you. Like, I’ll go on my walks. I use microphone. It’s a game changer. Okay?
So I would speak into chat gbt, and I would say, hi, there is a trend on Instagram right now. It’s the 2016 trend. And this is. This is the formula of it. You’re sharing these things.
I went back in my camera roll, I noticed this, this, and this about my founder story of, like, where I was in my business. I’m trying to figure out how to put this into a carousel.
And by the way, with con, with the context piece, I’m assuming that you’ve already fed the AI everything about your business. So it knows who you are, your brand, who you serve, your target audience, your ideal wedding clients. Right?
And the problems you solve for them and your products or services. Okay? So for AI to be useful for you, you do have to make sure that it has all that. But my AI, it knows me, right?
It’s like, it knows my brand, it knows my audience. So I might give it the context of whatever content idea or trending idea I want to use.
And then I’ll say role act as an Instagram marketing strategist, expert, storyteller, and copywriter. So that was the role. So I assigned it a role. And then I now, this is the game changer. Please interview me and ask me one question at a time.
Up to three questions to gain further clarity and context, to pull some stories out of my brain, because right now I’m drawing a blank. And then what it will do is knowing whatever you’re working on, whatever piece of content you’re working on, it will ask you questions.
Just like Becca’s interviewing me, it will interview you, and I cannot tell you what, like, what a game changer this is. So you essentially respond to these questions with as much information as you can, whatever comes to your mind, and then the task is, okay, great.
Now help me to come up with a 12 slide carousel for this post. The first slide has to have a hook on it. I want to ensure that it is storytelling.
I want to ensure that it is serving the audience so it’s not just about me. And then the call to action at the end on the Last slide. I would like something like this, right?
So I’m giving it as much coaching as I can, and then it will give that to you. So, Becca, if your audience is listening, they’re like, okay, like, what stories do I have?
Or they see a trend, like, five mistakes I made in planning my wedding that I wish I had known before I started. And maybe you see a hook like that and you’re like, like, I want to do that, but what are the mistakes, right? Or something like that.
You can literally give the prompt. Like, if you see a hook that you like, you could say, hey, I saw this hook. I want to repurpose it for my brand and my audience.
And again, you’re giving it the context, you’re giving it the role, you’re asking it to interview you, and then you’re giving it the task, and then it’ll give you the first draft. Don’t copy and paste it. You still have to go back and forth with it.
But that is really a game changer in terms of pulling these stories and helping creatives and wedding pros start to understand, like, how to tell better stories.
Becca
00:37:10.890 – 00:38:08.710
That is fantastic, because I know, because I’ve done over 200 episodes of this podcast that when I ask people questions, they say, oh, I hadn’t thought of it that way. I hadn’t thought of that story. I hadn’t remembered that.
And so you’re essentially getting AI to do the same thing, because it must talk to a different part of our brain when someone asks us questions and it brings things up for us. So that’s a game changing hack right there for people.
So if you’re listening to this, your action is to go away and go speak to the AI, speak to the robots, get it to ask you questions and put together. If you’re scared of doing video, which you need to do video, but if you’re scared of doing video, start with a carousel.
Because a carousel is the easiest place to start if you’re scared of the video because it is just one step on from a static picture and you can still tell a story in it.
Before we talk about Wed Pros Live, which I’m very excited to talk to you about in just a moment, I want to ask you one more question about Instagram, which is what do you think are some of the underrated features right now on Instagram?
Elizabeth
00:38:09.350 – 00:41:55.340
Ooh, fun. Definitely trial reels. So highly recommend leveraging trial reels.
And what I have been playing with is I’ll create my reel in Instagram because I actually do most of my editing, either in Instagram or in the edits app. And so I edit it together, and I’ll have my caption, I’ll have my hashtags.
And when you save it to your drafts on Instagram, if you click those little three dots in the, like, you’ll see it in your drafts folder. You click those three dots, you can duplicate your reel that you just spent like an hour creating. Okay, I. I can.
I could create one reel where I edit it all together. Same exact video, same audio, same caption and hashtags. But let’s say I want to a b test a hook, okay?
Because I don’t know which hook is going to resonate with my ideal client. What I could do is I could duplicate that video and change the hook on the screen.
So just changing one factor so I can measure the results and publish all three of those reels to trial reels, then give it 24 hours, 48 hours. I’m very impatient sometimes. I’ll just be like, this one’s good. Posting it. But if you are like a data nerd, oh, my gosh, you’re gonna be so excited.
And it will be so interesting to you because sometimes I post something that I think is really good, and it’s like 00 or 100 views, and I’m like, wow, great. And then I’ll post, I’ll make a little tweak, or I’ll do something, or maybe I’ll change the top line of the caption or I’ll change the audio.
But it’s the same video, right? Like, think about all the different elements that you could tweak in a piece of content that you just made.
And then you push those out to trial reels. It is really incredible. I’ve also been doing this little hack, and I’ve heard that there’s mixed feelings about doing this, but I’ve been doing it.
And why not? I will post one reel to my feed and one to my trials, the exact same reel. And essentially, it is really working to essentially double my engagement.
Because trial reels are shown to only non followers. So people who don’t already follow you. It’s a really great test of is your content resonating with a cold audience? Right.
That is one of the biggest mistakes I see wedding pros make is they’re creating content. One of my clients, she owns a wedding venue in the Hudson Valley in New York. It’s gorgeous, a gorgeous venue.
And she created a reel the other day, and I was giving her coaching on it, and I Said, the way you position this messaging, I would have thought, like, not knowing you, I would have thought you were a wedding planner. Darling, you need to be more specific.
Like, your, your messaging needs to speak to your expertise as a wedding venue or helping people find their perfect wedding venue, or how do you know if it’s a good venue? What are the questions to ask? Or, you know, perks of, like, the hidden gems of the Hudson Valley and why you want to get married here.
And, oh, we happen to have the most incredible venue. Right. But it needs to be really specific.
And I think a lot of wedding pros fall into that trap of they are like, they’re assuming that people know who they are or what they do and they don’t. They literally don’t. You have to be so clear and specific in your messaging and who you’re calling out and how you’re positioning yourself.
And so I like trial reels because that is shown to people who don’t already follow you. So. So that is the ultimate test, right? Like, are people going to get it? Are they going to engage?
Is it going to be a video that’s going to move the dial for your business?
Becca
00:41:55.980 – 00:42:38.810
Absolutely.
And I think what’s interesting about what you’re saying as well, for the wedding industry specifically is I think people are posting like that again because they haven’t realized the Instagram shift.
And so for the longest time, I would be having conversations with people about how they get their content seen by people who don’t follow them, but because it only ever gets seen by their followers and they can’t attract new followers. And so they’ve always been talking to this kind of vacuum of the same people.
And literally overnight, Instagram’s like, right now, everyone sees your content. You do reels, it goes out to everyone. And I think they haven’t caught up with that mindset, realizing, oh, actually I’m talking to strangers now.
For the longest time, I’ve been talking to the same set of people and the new followers, but now we’re talking to everyone. One.
Elizabeth
00:42:39.050 – 00:43:09.300
Yeah. Oh, wow. I, I appreciate you highlighting that shift.
And what I will say if you’re listening to this and is when you’re, when you, when you want to think about talking to people who already know you, that’s your Instagram story. So people who watch your Instagram stories are your warm to hot leads. Okay? If I’m going to sit and watch Becca’s story, it’s because I know Becca.
I love her. I love her podcast, I binge her stuff. Oh, what is she doing? I want to hear what she has to say.
Becca
00:43:09.300 – 00:43:09.660
Right.
Elizabeth
00:43:10.140 – 00:44:01.290
You’re watching Becca’s story because she’s already built that level of trust and authority with you, right? Otherwise you just would. You wouldn’t watch it. You just zoom right past it. Okay, so Instagram stories are super underleveraged in our industry.
People definitely are sitting on money right there because those are the couples who are like actually stalking you. Right. But maybe they haven’t booked the call or taken the next step. Step. So that’s. Yeah, so.
So what I teach is when you’re creating feed content, create it for a total cold audience. It will still serve the people who know you.
Like, if there’s an existing couple you’re already working with, they’re still going to love the content, right?
Or someone who’s already following your brand, that loves your brand, they’re going to still love the content, but you always want to position it from a cold audience on your feed and then stories. Warm to hot audience.
Becca
00:44:01.850 – 00:44:51.110
Super helpful. The thing is with these platforms, they’re always changing and it’s great for me and you.
We’re like marketing, we’re thinking about this stuff all of the time. But actually the. The florists, the game makers, the photographers, the videographers, the dance coaches, sometimes they’re struggling to keep up.
And actually that’s why this podcast, that’s why Wed Pros Live is so important to get keep you ahead of the game. Because you could say something at Wed Pros Live in March and by next year it shifted again. Right. So we need to keep on top of it.
So that is why I invited you to the UK in March, because I knew that you’re always on the top of your game when it comes to social media. You understand our industry and you have a lot to share. So you are coming to both Ireland and London.
Now remind me, is this your first time in Ireland? Is it your first time in London? Have you been before?
Elizabeth
00:44:51.590 – 00:45:18.480
I’ve never been to Ireland, so it’s my first time in Ireland. I have been to London before and. But only once, and that was in my early 20s. And I’m so excited.
I’m bringing my husband and it’s going to be a whole nother experience because I’m going to actually be able to afford to buy myself dinner. Like when I was in London last time, I was like, where’s the cheapest place I can go eat?
Becca
00:45:18.640 – 00:45:29.430
I love that. And what are you most looking forward to? Apart from obviously the conference, but in terms of coming to London.
Is there something that you’re excited to do that you’re excited to see? What’s on the plans?
Elizabeth
00:45:29.430 – 00:46:39.810
Oh my gosh. I mean, my husband and I are total like foodies and like wine snobs and so we want to like eat our way through your city.
So if you guys have any recommendations of delicious restaurants, please send them our way. Honestly, I haven’t gotten that far in terms of like thinking through all the like, like sites that we went to go see.
But I, yeah, I am just, I’m so excited to. This will be my husband and I’s first trip away from our kids in. I don’t even know the last time we did this.
And we had planned a 10 year anniversary wedding anniversary trip to Paris that we had to cancel because it was in March of 2020. And so this is kind of like our second hurrah. Like we had our 15 year wedding anniversary, so.
So I am just so excited to spend time with him and like be in my marriage and have date nights and go explore like traveling and being in other cities and experiencing the culture of different places is like my absolute favorite thing. So, I mean, I want to see all the sights.
Becca
00:46:39.890 – 00:47:12.420
Okay, well, if people have got recommendations for Elizabeth while she’s here, drop into her Instagram DMs. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. You guys can drop in, where she should go, what she should say while she’s in town.
Now, in terms of the conference itself, your session is gonna be an Instagram gold mine. I know it is. We’re gonna be talking a lot about hooks because I know that’s something people struggle with. What’s hot on Instagram right now?
So if someone’s thinking about coming to Wed Pros Live either in Ireland or London, and they’re not sure what they’re gonna learn from your session. Just give us a bit of an overview.
Elizabeth
00:47:12.580 – 00:49:34.450
Yeah, well, I wanna give you a playbook that you can go and run with because there I’ve been to a lot of different conferences, I’ve watched a lot of different speakers and topics.
And what I love, Becca, about what you have curated is that the speakers that are coming together, we all have this shared mission of service and we want you to walk away with really tactical, actionable next steps because. Yes. Are you going to be fired up about your wedding business after you leave? You better believe it. You are going to have so much energy in your gut.
You’re going to be like, I’m going to. I’m going to go jump over, I don’t know, the river you’re going to be. That was the wrong analogy. But you’re going to be so excited. And.
But if you’re like me, that excitement only lasts for so long and then you get back to your normal life and you’re like, wait, what do I, what do I do now? And so my goal for my talk is I want you to feel really, really clear on your next steps of how do you refine your content strategy on Instagram?
So it does two things. One, it gets seen. Because if people don’t see your content, they don’t know you exist and they can’t buy from you.
So I want to teach you how do you create content that, yes, is going to hook and capture attention, but not just that, capture attention of your ideal wedding client. Right? We don’t care if Uncle Bob sees your real. If he’s not getting married. Who cares about Uncle Bob?
We love you, Uncle Bob, but we don’t care about you. Okay? We want your ideal clients to see your content.
So that is one of my goals, is that you are really understanding, okay, how can I capture the attention of my ideal client with my content? So that’s one thing. Visibility. The second piece that I want you to feel more clear on is why am I doing this?
Like, how does this content connect into my marketing and sales funnel? Because I don’t want you to walk away and feel like, oh, I should just post on Instagram because Elizabeth told me to.
I want you to feel really clear about how this content that you’re creating connects to your sales funnel. And so those two pieces, you’re gonna walk away feeling super clear on those next steps so you can go and implement.
Becca
00:49:35.130 – 00:50:54.810
You bring up such an important point about conferences in general that, yeah, you want to have the energy and you want to have the inspiration. We need that going into Wedding season. But we also need to take the action. I say all the time, we’re not Netflix. We’re not here to entertain you.
We’re here to educate and give you something to take away. And you’re right.
I’ve purposely curated group, a group of speakers, people that I know will give and will serve and will give people stuff they can take away. And here’s a bit of an exclusive.
So I’ve designed a program for Wed pros live in London specifically, where there’s going to be a physical workbook that everyone’s going to get. And on one side of the page, there’ll be Elizabeth and her her little bio and everything about her.
And on the other page, right opposite is blank for notes.
Because I want people to have literally the playbook from that day and they can flick through and be like, right, I enjoyed Elizabeth’s session about Instagram. What did I need to do? What are my actions? What did I want to say? So it is all in one place.
Because otherwise, if you’re anything like me, you write in your phone, then you write on a piece of paper, and one talks here, one talks there, and it goes all over the place. So it’s designed in a theater style program, so lots of juicy information in there. But yeah, for me, you’re right.
It’s about having that space to take the notes, to understand the content and then to actually go and do it.
Elizabeth
00:50:55.370 – 00:51:59.520
I love that. I love that idea. And then it’s just this little playbook that you can always come back to.
And hopefully you’ll feel that we are all rooting for you in your business. Right? Like, that’s one of the things about coming to these conferences. You and I get to hang out in person.
I don’t know if you’re a hugger, I’ll give you a hug. Okay? If you need a hug, I’ll give you a hug.
But truly, it is that feeling of when, yeah, the speakers that you have, I know all of them and they are the best of the best and the biggest hearts, like the biggest hearts of service, so generous in how they show up and pour into you. You’re going to get so much gold from this conference and you’re going to walk away feeling supported because entrepreneurship is lonely.
It can feel so hard to do this by yourself. And you don’t have to, you don’t have to. You know, in fact, fact, I wish I had invested in mentorship and conferences much earlier in my journey.
I would probably be further by now.
Becca
00:51:59.520 – 00:51:59.840
Right?
Elizabeth
00:52:00.320 – 00:52:34.330
So this is the time, this is the time for you to invest in yourself, invest in your business, and you’re going to have that playbook that Becca just talked about and you’re going to be connected with some incredible mentors who are going to be rooting for you. When I see your content come up on Instagram, I’m going to like it. I’m going to cheer, cheer you on.
Like you’re joining that, that group that is working toward a collective goal of visibility, business growth. And we, yeah, Becca’s heart is just, it’s just this whole, the whole energy of the conference is so good and I would love to see you there.
Becca
00:52:34.410 – 00:53:06.940
It’s gonna be so much fun. And if Elizabeth is on her usual form, she will have her phone out. She’ll be making you jump, she’ll be making you spin. She’ll.
If you want to get in contact, if you want to be in her reels, she loves it. When we were out in Vegas this year for Wedding NBA, we were jumping all over the place, hugging, running around.
But it makes the most fun content, and I love that content. I love that real, raw energy and footage that you get from being in a room like that.
So, yeah, if you want to get into some of those reels, just go stand by Elizabeth and start jumping. And she’ll probably film you doing it.
Elizabeth
00:53:06.940 – 00:53:10.740
I’ll be like, hold on, let’s do that again. Let me get a different angle.
Becca
00:53:10.740 – 00:53:49.380
No, yeah, exactly, exactly. But it’s. It’s so much fun, Elizabeth. I cannot wait. It’s so soon that you’re gonna be here.
It’s gonna be so much fun to travel with you, to be with you in Ireland, to be with you in London. And I hope that people listening can kind of feel some of that energy that’s coming from.
You have learned already so much from you just in today’s podcast episode, and I know you’ve got so much more to give, both on stage and offstage in conversation, so they absolutely need to be in that room now. I always end my podcast with the same question, so I’m gonn that to you now. And it’s this.
What’s the one thing you personally wish you’d known sooner in your own business?
Elizabeth
00:53:50.340 – 00:53:59.700
That the most successful people that you look up to have failed hundreds of times to get to the level that you see them at?
Becca
00:54:00.180 – 00:54:02.100
Yes. Yeah.
Elizabeth
00:54:02.100 – 00:54:08.560
That it’s okay to fail. That it’s. It’s okay to post the video and have literally no one like it.
Becca
00:54:08.790 – 00:54:09.030
It.
Elizabeth
00:54:09.030 – 00:54:55.450
And it doesn’t mean that you’re not worthy. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It doesn’t mean your business sucks. It’s just you gotta feel forward.
And you don’t have to pretend to have it all together, you know, and just keep going, brick by brick.
And if you keep going after your dream and you relentlessly pursue it and you make those 1% upgrade grades every day, every week, whatever you have capacity for, I promise you. I promise you this. You will build the business in life that you desire. Everything that you see is possible for you. I believe in you.
And you just keep going forward and fail. Forward, my darling. Yeah.
Becca
00:54:55.450 – 00:55:23.750
Brick by brick by brick. We see the end result, but so often we don’t see the journey to get there.
And everyone, however successful they are, has a journey and has a story to tell. And wherever you are in that story right now, as you’re listening to this, no just need to lay the next brick.
But don’t try and build the whole house at once. Just lay the next brick and you’ll get there. Elizabeth, you are such a delight.
If people want to find out more about you, connect with you, where are the best places for them to come find you?
Elizabeth
00:55:24.150 – 00:56:28.450
Thank you so much for having me. This has been so much fun.
So if you’re listening to this podcast, that means you listen to podcasts and I would love for you to check out my podcast called Strut It Bold Visibility Through Instagram Marketing. Becca has been a recent guest on the show and every Monday I drop exactly what’s working right now for small businesses and brands on Instagram.
How to leverage your organic meaning no paid ads content to grow your visibility and drive leads and sales. So I’d love for you to check out the podcast and if you are not yet connected with me on Instagram, I would love for you to do that.
Give me a follow over there. My handle is Elizabeth Marbury.
M A R B E R R Y Definitely send me a dm Let me know that you heard this podcast and let me know if you’re coming to Wedding Pros Live so we can plan to connect there and take some selfies and film some content.
And lastly, if you want to head over to Elizabeth Marbury, that’s where you can find all of the different offerings I have regarding mentorship and coaching.
Becca
00:56:28.690 – 00:56:49.120
Fantastic. I will make sure I put the links to all of those places in the show notes and you must go and check out Elizabeth’s podcast.
If you’ve enjoyed her on today’s episode, you will definitely enjoy what she’s sharing over there and go find her episode with me because we had a lot of fun recording that too. Elizabeth, I will see you very soon on this side of the world. Thank you so much for being here here.
Elizabeth
00:56:49.120 – 00:56:50.160
Thanks for having me.
Becca
00:56:50.400 – 00:57:08.720
Love that conversation with Elizabeth. Isn’t she fabulous? You are going to absolutely love her if you can make it to Wed Pros Live in either Ireland or London.
If you don’t yet have your Tickets, go to wedpros live.com and get them. There’s not many left and you will want to be in the room because it’s all going to be happening. I’ll see you all next time.
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