17 Oct, 2019
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Jewelry has been part of our history since prehistoric times. In fact, a set of beads made from Nassarius shells is one of the oldest known artifacts from modern humans, dating at somewhere between 90,000 and 100,000 years old.
When you sell jewelry, you’re not selling a piece of metal or a polished gemstone. You’re selling a piece of history, a small fragment of an artistic lineage that dates back to prehistoric times and expresses our innate need to find our personal and cultural identity.
When you sell jewelry, you are selling self-confidence and belonging. You are selling a feeling, a representation of a covenant between loving partners, or a pendant that will perhaps be passed down through the generations and become a family heirloom.
Jewelry is all about stories, and successful jewelry marketing means finding and communicating each piece’s story through email, social media, paid advertising, organic content, and in-person marketing.
If you sell jewelry, this guide will give you insight into how to use these diverse marketing channels to further your business’s reach and generate more revenue. We’ll go over emerging trends, how to market jewelry online, and how you can capitalize on these exciting changes in this ever gold industry.
Let’s get started!
To kick things off, let’s look at how you can use email marketing as a small jewelry business.
Although social media marketing is all the rage these days, email is still a viable marketing channel — some might argue the most viable. In fact, email still has an average ROI of 3,800%. That means for every dollar you put into your email marketing endeavours, you can expect to get 38 back.
Not too shabby.
Here are a few ways to make the most of your email campaigns.
When you have a large list, it’s unlikely that every piece of marketing material is going to be relevant to each and every customer. As a jewelry business, you likely have customers that subscribed to your list because of an upcoming wedding, others that subscribed because they’re purchasing for themselves, and others still who are constantly on the lookout for great gift ideas.
Lumping all of them together and sending them the exact same emails isn’t the most effective way to reach all of these customers. Instead, try segmenting your list so that you send information about wedding rings only to those who have expressed interest in those products, and gift ideas to those who have indicated they’re shopping for others.
How can you effectively break up your list like that? Well, you can start by asking everyone to opt in to the newsletters they’re most interested in, but you can also be a little more creative. Try sending gift ideas only to customers who asked for gift wrap on previous orders, for example, or send special coupon codes to customers who made a mother’s day order the previous year – both are great jewelry promotion ideas.
As we mentioned, jewelry is all about stories, and those stories are often personal. Pieces of jewelry often hold a special place in people’s hearts, no matter whether it’s an engagement ring or a brooch passed down from someone’s great grandmother.
Since you’re dealing in such a personal business, it’s important to connect with your customers on a personal level. You can do this both by personalizing your emails — referring to your customers by their first names, for example — and by keeping the copy informal and personal. You can also try adding personal stories from real customers to draw your readers in.
Most people are averse to sales, so you’re likely to see increased engagement when you start getting close to your audience. In fact, personalized emails boast a 27% higher unique click rate than non-personalized ones. Implementing this strategy is a no-brainer for all businesses, jewelry or otherwise.
Emojis can help make your emails more effective in two ways: by helping your subject lines stand out and by making your emails appear more friendly and personal — noticing a theme?
When a customer’s inbox is filled with text only subject lines, adding a bit of color into the mix can help your emails stick out in the crowd. The human eye is attracted to contrasting colors, and emojis communicate ideas much faster than words can, so you’re likely to catch your customers’ attention and get your idea across quickly with this strategy.
Since emojis are so common in everyday, casual communications, using them can make your emails feel less like a sales pitch and more like a friendly recommendation. That distinction can do wonders for your conversion rate.
As a jewelry business, you need to have your social media on lock. Jewelry marketing is hugely visual, so platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are going to be your best friends as you try to grow.
Here’s a few tips to get your social media strategy started on the right foot.
If you want your customers to keep on coming back and buying more jewelry, you need them to be able to recognize you. Building a brand identity can mean the difference between being just another piece in your customer’s jewelry drawer and a unique staple of their wardrobe.
That difference starts with consistent representation of your brand across all your marketing channels — especially social media. Your brand identity is what makes your brand recognizable, so make sure you have a standout logo, a set color scheme, and a clear and consistent tone throughout all your copy.
Check out Mejuri’s Instagram feed for an example of how they keep their color scheme consistent across all their posts:
The importance of brand consistency is backed up by the numbers. According to Lucidpress, a consistent brand identity can boost revenue by 23%.
People love free stuff, and jewelry lovers love free jewelry. Running a contest where the winner gets a free piece of jewelry is a great way to generate some buzz around your business, and social media is one of the best places to do it.
Pick out some relevant hashtags, and have your audience enter your sweepstakes by engaging with your posts — leaving a comment, or tagging you in a post of their own, for example. This will make your brand show up in some of their followers’ feeds and can turn your giveaway into a mini viral sensation. If possible, try to grab their email address so you can add them to your mailing list and then keep marketing to them down the line with the techniques we discussed above.
Jewelry is all about getting “that look”, so you need to be sure you’re posting extremely high-quality photos that cast your products in a good light. If you or someone on your team can’t take photos that are on par with a professional photographer, then you need to hire someone who can. Social media is a visual marketing channel, and good photos can make or break your business.
That said, if you’re just starting out and can’t afford to hire a photographer, you may be able to get around that with some clever branding. If you’re selling jewelry that has a very handmade aesthetic, you may be able to play off that fact in your photos.
The most important thing is to make sure your photos enhance your jewelry and don’t detract from it in anyway, so if you can find a way to do that without high-end photography gear, then run with it. Just be aware that doing so is going to be challenging, and there are some brand personas (luxury brands, wedding rings, etc.) that are almost impossible to market with that DIY aesthetic.
Social proof is a big deal: 92% of online consumers look at reviews before making a purchase. What better way to show how much your customers love your products than to post pictures of people wearing your products out in the world?
Posting pictures of your customers achieves a few different things: it shows that you actually have customers, your customers are happy enough with their purchase that they’re okay being seen in public wearing your jewelry, and, if you tag them, it will help their followers find you and make a purchase of their own.
Take a look at this example from THE SIS KISS:
This brand was able to capitalize on the fact that a celebrity went on live TV wearing their jewelry. What better way to show potential customers that you’ve got a flair for fashion than being able to say a beloved celebrity is happy to wear your products in front of millions of people?
Even if you don’t have the opportunity to design a celebrity’s outfit, posting pics of everyday people enjoying your jewelry is still effective. What’s more: it will make your customers feel appreciated and make them more likely to make repeat purchases.
Paid jewelry advertising requires some upfront investment, but it can be wildly successful. In fact, businesses make $2 for every $1 they spend on Google Ads — a 100% ROI.
Here are some jewelry advertising ideas to get you started.
According to Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman, 95% of purchase decisions are made subconsciously, and that means they’re based primarily on emotion, not logic. One of the most effective ways to gain access to your customers’ subconscious minds is to tell them a story that evokes strong emotions.
As a jewelry business, you’ve got it easy — there are plenty of opportunities to turn your pieces into prose. For example, make an ad series that tells the story of a couple who found their “happily ever after” with your rings. Alternatively, make a photo-focused ad showing a piece of jewelry being passed from generation to generation. Or, position your brand as the choice for successful females who’ve made it in their fields.
You can also focus on telling your brand’s story. If you have an interesting history, put that front and center so your target audience can connect with your business on a more personal level.
A recent survey by Clever Real Estate found that out of all the types of online ads, millennials were most likely to pay attention to and engage with video ads. Right now, millennials make up the largest segment of the US population, so cornering this market is crucial to the success of your business.
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason why video is so effective, but it may be simply because motion stands out in a sea of static content. When scrolling through your newsfeed, your attention is more likely to be drawn to motion than it is to a still image.
It’s pure instinct: when you see something moving, it could be dangerous, so it’s important to check it out. By playing off this natural response, you can increase your conversions and boost your revenue.
Advertisers in today’s digital age have things easier than the marketers of days gone by. In the past, advertisers would set a campaign into the wild without any solid way of judging what is and isn’t working in the ad.
Today, that’s not so. With the advent of performance marketing, it’s easy to see exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
Split testing uses performance marketing techniques to test multiple ads and see which one is getting better results. With split testing, you can boil your ads down to a science: change a few words in one version, keep them the same on the other, and see which performs better. Do this over and over, and you’ll eventually have a scientifically-verified conversion machine.
As with email marketing, segmenting your ads can be incredibly helpful. Try grouping your advertising traffic into different geographic locations and see what works best for each region. Jewelry is deeply rooted in its surrounding culture, so an ad that works well in New York might fall completely flat in Berlin, for example. Split testing can help you find these discrepancies, and fix them.
SEO is all about getting people to come to your site naturally, aka without paid ads. Most strategies in this domain focus around bringing people to you organically through appealing, enjoyable, and informative content.
Here are some ways you can use organic strategies to build your jewelry business.
Listicles are popular because they are easily skimmed by web surfers who are hesitant to invest time in reading a full-length article that may or may not give them the information they’re looking for. A numbered list allows these time-pressed readers to quickly glance over an article and pick out the points that are most interesting to them without having to read through the whole article.
Most importantly, listicles that are based on solid keyword research and SEO principles can bring lots of traffic to your site, and eventually to your sales page. Try writing articles like “5 great bracelets for the fall” or “10 jewelry pieces to wear on a night out”.
These types of articles can capture traffic from people searching for specific types of jewelry and bring them to your blog. If they like the suggestions you’ve made, they’ll feel that you’ve added some value to their lives, and will be more likely to make a purchase. If you include your own products (which you should), they may purchase right then and there!
There are three things you can be sure of in life: death, taxes, and people shopping for jewelry around Valentine’s Day. Holidays present a great opportunity to capitalize on people’s shopping habits, so be sure to post some killer content that can attract organic traffic around these important events. For example, as Valentine’s Day approaches, you can start making posts about different pieces in your catalog that are perfect for your significant other.
Also, be sure to post content that centers around other major life events like birthdays, weddings, etc. Show people how they can integrate your products into your life, and you’ll be sure to have a steady stream of customers.
Even though ecommerce is huge these days, brick-and-mortar shopping is still more popular. That means that to truly have an effective marketing strategy, you can’t forget about advertising the good, old-fashioned way: in person.
Here are a few tips to help kick off or improve upon your in-person marketing strategy.
Reviews are important to the success of your business and we mentioned earlier that 92% of online consumers look at reviews before making a purchase.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get customers to leave reviews. To make things even harder, Yelp expressly forbids businesses from asking customers for them — doing so can result in a nasty penalty.
So, what can you do? Try placing the Yelp (or other review site) logo somewhere in your store so that shoppers are reminded to leave a review. You can also say something along the lines of “be sure to check us out on Yelp” when a customer checks out, but that’s a bit closer to asking for a review — all you need is for one customer to misremember what you said, and you could end up in trouble.
Making sure your customer service is on point is a given, but as a jewelry business you have the opportunity to take things to the next level. Businesses like Sassy Road have made a name for themselves in large part due to their emphasis on providing in-depth fashion advice to all their shoppers.
You can build on that same idea by offering personalized advice on how to integrate your brand’s jewelry into each of your shoppers’ unique styles. What’s more: after they’ve tried on your items, ask them to post a pic on social media and tag your store to give your brand some extra exposure. You may want to consider offering some incentives such as a small, free item or a discount if they do so.
We hope these tips have helped inspire you! Be sure to get in touch with us at hello@ampjar.com with any marketing questions. We’re always happy to help!
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