When Cole Glover set out to revolutionize the wedding industry, he faced a classic entrepreneur's dilemma. As both a self-taught developer and wedding venue owner, he had created powerful marketing software specifically for venue management — but how would he reach his target market? His mission became clear: build a comprehensive database of wedding venues across the United States to showcase his innovative solution.
However, Cole quickly hit a roadblock. Manual web research would require countless hours — potentially thousands — just to compile the initial list of venues. As a solo entrepreneur, he needed a smarter approach.
As a new developer, I wanted to focus on solving real problems for my clients, not spend hours configuring development environments. Apify was perfect because I could deploy a test in seconds and iterate until I had exactly what I needed.
-- Cole Glover
Turning data into marketing magic
Cole created Bloom, and his vision was bold yet focused: create a platform that would transform how wedding venues connect with their clients. At its core, Bloom would offer instant lead responses, streamline communication through unified messaging, and deliver data-driven marketing strategies. Early tests proved promising — venues using Bloom saw significant increases in conversion rates.
But building the product was only half the battle. To fulfill Bloom's mission of helping venues deliver exceptional customer experiences and engage leads more effectively, Cole needed to reach the right audience. This meant gathering extensive data about potential clients across the wedding venue industry. The challenge became clear: how could he build a comprehensive database of wedding venues to introduce them to Bloom's powerful capabilities?
Finding a partner in Apify
After evaluating numerous web scraping solutions, Cole found his ideal match in Apify. The platform's standout feature wasn't just its powerful capabilities — it was its ability to meet developers exactly where they were in their coding journey.
"What I love about the interface is its versatility," Cole explains. "I can seamlessly switch between writing code and using the intuitive form-based interface, working with JSON when needed, all while learning and growing as a developer. It's the perfect blend of code and no-code functionality."
This flexibility proved invaluable as Cole balanced Bloom's development with the demands of managing his own wedding venue. Rather than getting tangled in the complexities of web scraping infrastructure, Apify's pre-built Actors and user-friendly design allowed him to focus on what mattered most: crafting unique features that would set Bloom apart in the wedding venue market.
Apify’s tools
To build his database efficiently, Cole deployed three essential Apify Actors, each serving a distinct purpose in his data collection strategy:
- Google Maps Scraper: Gone were the days of manually scrolling through Google listings and painstakingly copying data into spreadsheets. This Actor automated the initial venue discovery process, systematically identifying wedding venues across the United States.
- Website Content Crawler: This sophisticated Actor served as Cole's digital researcher, extracting detailed venue information from each website. It gathered rich data about services, pricing structures, and unique venue features — creating a rich profile of each potential client.
- Contact Details Scraper: With wedding venues using diverse website layouts, finding contact information manually would have been needlessly time-consuming. This Actor navigated varying page structures to locate and compile contact details, laying the groundwork for Bloom's targeted outreach strategy.
This automation reduced months of manual research to a quick, efficient process.
Growing together
When Cole began web scraping, he encountered some challenges along the way. He found solutions through Apify's educational resources, particularly the YouTube channel, which offered quick, practical tutorials.
The YouTube channel has been invaluable. The short videos clearly demonstrate exactly what I need to know. I haven't found anything this helpful from other platforms.
-- Cole Glover
Check out the video series on getting started with Apify:
It’s a match
The impact of Cole's Apify-powered platform exceeded all expectations:
"We're now able to scrape data from every wedding venue in the United States—roughly 60,000 locations," Cole explained. "Manually gathering this information would be impossible. Plus, Contact Details Scraper automatically finds contact information across all these websites. Essentially, Apify does the work of an entire marketing department."
This dramatically expanded Bloom's capabilities. The complete dataset allowed them to offer venues deep insights into market trends, competitive pricing strategies, and popular features. Venues could now make decisions to differentiate themselves in a competitive market. Most importantly, by automating these time-consuming tasks, Cole could focus on product development and strategic initiatives that drove real business growth.
Happily ever after
Apify has become an essential foundation of Bloom's ongoing success.
I've experimented with countless tools as a startup developer. Very few can match our evolving needs. Apify has proven itself indispensable in our technology stack.
-- Cole Glover
Today, Cole continues to innovate in the wedding industry, with Apify powering his data operations. Through sophisticated web scraping, he's empowering venues to create unforgettable wedding experiences for their clients.
