Why can't I choose exactly what text/images to include in my listing?

We are a curated platform, and as such we consider three goals when we decide what content (and what venues) to include in our listings:

1. Couples: Provide content that appeals to our style-focused couples, and provides them with an aesthetically pleasing experience as they make the difficult, and emotion-driven decision of which venue to choose for their most important day
2. Venues: Ensure that each venue (which will only have been approved for listing because it can deliver (1) above) shows itself in the most attractive but authentic way for our couples, and we measure that success using data (see below)
3. Platform: Maintain a consistent level of aesthetic continuity across the platform such that no individual piece of content or imagery jars with the overall style and feel of the platform, from poorly worded copy through to imagery that isn't either high enough quality, or expresses wedding styles which we believe to be outside of (1) above

Purpose

You could ask why we have the three goals above, and why not simply aim to have the highest number of visitors seeing the highest number of venues, and make the highest amount of revenue. The answer to this is our purpose, and the reason the platform was established in the first place. Our founder, Emma, felt that as a person with recent experience in planning a wedding, but also someone with a strong style focus, the venue search lacked the kind of experience that she was looking for, and it felt far too much like hunting for a discounted hotel room rather than the beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime venue search it was supposed to be. By building a platform that had style at its core, she felt that she could create a place for only the most beautiful venues to sit, where they could show themselves at their best, and not be forced in a race to the bottom in terms of numbers of features and price. We think she achieved that purpose.

Measurement

As mentioned above, we are able to monitor our success in all three of these goals using quantitative data in reports plus qualitative data such as market and industry feedback. On a day-to-day basis, however, we need to make qualitative decisions regarding what imagery and copy can be included on the platform, otherwise the platform would gradually move away from achieving the goals above and lose its identity and purpose. To achieve this we use our editorial team, and it is the team's responsibility to maintain the aesthetic of the platform. Once the team have made their decisions, we update the listings and then use quantitative measures such as engagement and leaderboards to ascertain whether the listing is successful in achieving goals (1) and (2) above. If the data says it isn't, then we would look to make amendments to those decisions, ask for more imagery, change header images, update text etc.

We appreciate that our process may be a little different to other platforms you belong to, but hopefully we have explained why the process we follow does keep your own goals firmly at the heart of our process. If you have any more questions, then please get in contact with us.