In the jewelry business, marketing is the name of the game. Competition is tight, and there are only so many customers. To be successful, it’s all about making your marketing tactics the best they possibly can be.
But if you’ve made it here, you probably know that already. So I’ll jump right into it.
Use Social Media Effectively
Social media can be a powerful tool if handled right. Take impressive pictures, show them off on your Instagram or Facebook, and watch your name spread.
In today’s day and age, visuals reign supreme, and the best way to take advantage of that is to capture the attention(and wallets) of people by displaying your products.
Some ideas for what you can include:
- Your jewelry
- People wearing your jewelry
- Your shop
- Your team
- Promotions such as giveaways or discounts
Most importantly, make sure every post makes it easy and obvious for any potential customer to learn more about your business and come in contact with you.
Get Your Business on Google
By setting up a Business Profile account on google, you can make it so that potential customers can find your business, along with details and pictures, without you having to lift a finger. A must!
Additionally, the best way to look like a ‘real’ business is to have a comprehensive Google Business Profile filled with positive reviews.
Some important information to include in your profile:
- The name of your business
- Contact number
- Address
- Opening/closing times
Maximize Outreach by Optimizing SEO
Search engines work by finding keywords in searches to websites with them. Accordingly, maximizing your ranking on Google (and most other search engines) entails having the exact keywords on your page as what people will likely be searching for.
However, you cannot dump a wall of keywords to try to improve ranking. That will severely penalize it as Google can detect attempted abuse.
Ideally, you want to include keywords such as ‘jeweler’ and ‘jewelry’ in as many unique places as possible (title, subheading, description, etc.) across your website.
There’s more to Technical SEO than just keywords, though. Some other things to include to boost the ranking of your website:
- Have a Google Business Profile
- Updated/accurate data
- Unique titles across pages
- Maximally agreeable homepage name(include ‘jeweler’)
Consider Google PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click advertising makes Google place your promoted page at the top of search results, even above the maps. It might as well be perfect SEO in exchange for money.
The cost is manageable, too, as the investment is only one when someone clicks. In other words, you only have to pay if someone opens your website, which means you will not be throwing money into the void for nothing.
There’s more to it than just getting lots of clicks through. Even if you have a lot of traffic to your website, that does not mean much if no one ends up buying anything. If anything, that is bad because you are losing money.
Hence, you want to be specific with what keyword you bid on and ensure that the landing page after someone clicks directly shows them what they asked for. If you do not want to advertise a flat discount, tell them on your website that it is only on select items.
Make Your Website Concise, Elegant, and Comprehensive
Before a potential customer comes into contact with your store, they are going to look at what you offer. A lazily put-together, confusing website does not inspire much confidence.
Accordingly, a well-designed website is well worth the effort to arrange for quality.
Some things to keep evident on the front page:
- Your store’s name and logo
- What you provide
- A way to contact you
- Your products are brilliant (have stunning pictures)
Do Not Let Prospects Get Away
You have finally managed to get someone to your website. However, chances are that they are not looking to purchase at that specific moment anyway. Most are just idly browsing. You need to ensure they do not visit your site and proceed to forget about it.
The best way to do that? Get their identity. Have an apparent, easy-to-access form for someone to enter their email address. Give them an incentive, something like gaining a special discount coupon.
Voila, you now have their email address. Why is this so important? Well, it means that you can now keep them in touch. Send them the occasional promotion, limited-time offer, coupon, or whatever will keep their attention.
Keep a blog
There’s a good reason every business’s website seems to have a blog these days. The thing is, people who are looking into purchasing something are likely also to want to know more about it.
In this case, having lots of valuable articles on your website which answer any questions people are likely to have about jewelry is crucial.
Doing so will mean that your website will appear in search engines in more cases than when people are explicitly looking for a business to purchase from. The core idea is that if you want to get them to you first, you can worry about them buying something after.
Of course, do not forget to optimize SEO through keyword usage. Include your most important keywords across pages, but also have keywords that people are likely searching for regarding advice for specific blog articles.
Get Quality Photography
Taking a picture from your smartphone just is not going to cut it. The most important thing about a jewelry piece is its appearance.
Potential customers want to buy something which is high quality. You can show them what you have by taking high-resolution photos that display the absolute beauty of the gemstones and design.
Accordingly, investing in a professional photographer is worthwhile. You can get returns on your investment everywhere, from social media to your website to your Google Business Profile.
Increase Brand Recognition
Having a professional make a logo, or even a name can be a game changer. People are far more likely to view a business with an expertly crafted logo as a reliable, credible establishment.
Remember that someone splurging on some jewelry will want to ensure they get a good product. Your store needs to seem like it will offer a good product.
There is additional utility in having a well-crafted logo. You can use it on business cards or promotional items to boost brand recognition.
Have Positive Google Reviews
People tend to rely on others to determine whether something is worthwhile. When there is a business that you know nothing about and intend to make a massive purchase from, you are essentially gambling on whether or not it’ll turn out well.
To help cross that initial bridge of uncertainty are google reviews. A plethora of glowing 5-star reviews will inspire confidence in your business in ways that all the advertisements in the world cannot match.
You can increase the likelihood of customers leaving reviews by adding a link to your Google Business Profile wherever you can and politely letting people know that you would love to hear their thoughts on a review.
However, not all reviews are positive. It’s a certainty that there will be some customers unsatisfied with your business. The best way to handle them is to engage with them.
Reply to their review with an apology or explanation. Attempt to rectify the situation and makeup with the customer. You won’t even unsatisfied customers to respect your business and not go around telling everyone how bad they think it is.
And if you can manage to come across to them by clearing up and apologizing for any mishaps, you could turn an angry customer into a loyal one.
Even in the worst-case scenario where they are not agreeable to anything, It is still worthwhile to attempt to engage with them. Doing so will seem to others who come across the review that your establishment is one that sincerely cares about the satisfaction of its customers.
Have a Referral Program
The only thing people trust more than the opinion of strangers online is that of people they know. Accordingly, you want to tap into the potential there. How do you do this? Have an incentive for people to bother telling their friends and family about your shop.
This incentive can look like a few things. It could be a discount for the customer’s next purchase if their referral makes a purchase. Alternatively, you could enter them into a raffle to get a specific piece of jewelry for free.
Be Responsive
If someone is browsing and decides to get in touch, they will not care enough to wait around for a response. The would-be customer will go to the next jeweler on the list, which is money you are potentially losing.
In the digital age, people wait, they want communication immediately, and you have to provide it.
Have constant alerts/notifications for all outlets of contact. Time is money here. Keep up with responding, and you are golden. Do not forget about social media outlets. People tend to ignore the contact options and instead directly message on Facebook or Instagram.
Keep in Touch With Customers
The initial hesitation when spending is always rooted in unfamiliarity; If someone has bought something from you before, they are far more likely to be open to making future purchases from you.
The thing is, most people do not buy jewelry as if it were Starbucks. When the time eventually comes for them to make another quality purchase, you want to ensure they have not forgotten that you exist.
The best way to do that? Emails. You can stay fresh in the minds of past customers by sending them monthly, or even quarterly newsletters filled to the brim with high-resolution pictures detailing new products, promotions, or any other important news related to your store.
Get Your Name Into the Locality
As a business owner, you must watch everything around town like a hawk. Any congregation of people is an opportunity for you to let people get to know you.
There are many such chances, fairs, fundraisers, charity auctions, etc. You want to either help sponsor the event or set yourself up with a booth or something along those lines where you can display what you have to offer in person.
Consider sponsoring a high-traffic local event such as a sports meet to get your name out there. However, the feasibility of this depends on the scale of your business.
Another option is to donate an item to a charity auction. People will view you as a generous, relatable business owner, unlike those ‘soulless big corporations.’ It will be excellent publicity.
Partner Up With Other Businesses
If someone is planning on getting married, they will need to buy an engagement ring first, and vice versa. Accordingly, you have shared interest with certain businesses to help promote sales together as it will ultimately benefit both of you.
For example, customers of businesses such as upper-end clothing stores and wedding planners make excellent candidates as partners. You can have mutual referral programs and (to some extent) joint publicity.
Mutual referral programs incentivize people to shop at supposing a specific wedding planner by a discount if they have bought an item from you, and vice versa will bring business to both of you.
Postcards
At first glance, postcard printing might seem unintuitive. In the age of digital media, why would something as ‘archaic’ as postcards be effective?
Well, it’s about the personal, upfront nature of the card. When most people see a Facebook ad, they’ll look at it for about 3 seconds and never think about it again. Comparatively, a postcard is a tangible object that sends a much stronger effect.
A postcard is far more likely to stick to the back(or front) of someone’s head than one of the hundreds of images they scrolled past.
But that’s not all. A postcard gives you much more room to flex all you offer. A high-quality image, your elegant logo, some catchy words, and some promotion to drive a sense of urgency are only some of the stuff you can have on it.
However, it would be best if you did not cut costs. Remember, someone about to drop thousands on an engagement ring wants quality. A tacky postcard does not send home that message.
Facebook Marketing
Facebook has increasingly become a platform for businesses to market to a broader audience. That is a more than sound strategy, given the sheer traffic Facebook receives.
However, things are no longer organic. The algorithm does not favor posts that are essentially free advertisements. You will have to pay for ads if you want to get any real traction on Facebook.
There is a substantial advantage to going the extra mile, though. As you have control over which people you advertise to on Facebook and which receive postcards, you can market twice to the same people by specifying a common property, e.g., a local area.
Doing this gives targeted people an exaggerated view of the scale and significance of your business. They are seeing it everywhere; for all they know, it is likely a significant player setting up shop in their town.
Time Your Marketing Campaigns
Maintaining extensive marketing, especially regarding something as potentially pricey as postcards, is taxing on resources. It is not viable to keep up all year long.
What is the solution? Time your marketing around busy periods—precisely times such as the winter holidays and Valentine’s day. You do not want to wait too long, though. The optimal time to begin marketing is about 5-7 weeks beforehand.
Over this period, you can raise potential customers’ awareness of your store and keep it fresh in their minds as they browse around looking for a gift. When it is time for them to make a purchase, your store should be the first thing they think of because that is all they’ve seen lately.
Draw Attention and Urgency With Special Offers
People will sometimes think about getting something. They will consider it and drag their feet. Or think about it for a while, change their mind, or forget. You want to push them to action.
They cannot wait for the right opportunity or to be sure about their purchase. They have to act now before the exclusive offer runs out.
Calls to action can include offers such as:
- Special Sales for Holidays
- Large-scale sales for anniversaries
- Discounted repair
- Giveaways
It does not particularly matter how substantial the offer is. What matters is that you tell people that this is a limited opportunity and they have to act fast, or they might not act at all.
Closing Thoughts
Catdi has worked with some of the Houston’s largest and well established jewelers. From Daniel & Co. to Lesley Ann Jewels we have helped them grow their businesses with our both web and print marketing solutions. Today more than ever, running a jewelry business is about marketing. There are many places to choose from, and each sale is crucial. You must set yourself apart from the competition by inching out every advantage under the sun. If you are looking to take your business to the next level lets chat today at 713 882 4629.
