5 Biggest Missed Opportunities in Jewelry Marketing

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Welcome to the Joy Joya Podcast, where “jewelry is joy”, and everyone is encouraged to add more polish and sparkle to the world. With topics ranging from marketing tips to business development, best practices and beyond, this is the go-to podcast for ambitious jewelry industry dreamers like you.

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Hi, I’m your host Laryssa Wirstiuk. Through this podcast, I aim to empower and inspire jewelry entrepreneurs and professionals, so they can thrive while adding more beauty to the world. I’m passionate about digital marketing for jewelry brands, and I’m excited to share my passion with you. As we all know, “jewelry is joy”, so I’ll gladly seize any opportunity to talk about it.

0:56
This is episode 213. And today I’m going to be sharing five of the biggest missed opportunities in jewelry marketing, so you can start planning for 2023 and seize the chance to stand out in this Sea of Sparkle and outshine your competitors. Why keep doing the same thing if it’s not 100% driving the results you want and deserve? Get off that beaten path and do something that no brands are doing or that few brands are doing. Today, I’ll be covering: why it’s more important to look for missed opportunities than to copy other models in jewelry marketing; five of the biggest missed opportunities in jewelry marketing today; and how to know you’re on the right track and when to pivot, especially if you’re doing something that no one else has done or is currently doing.

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But before we get to the solid gold of this episode, I’d like to take a moment to remind you that this podcast has both an audio and video component. So you can either listen on your favorite podcast platform, or watch on YouTube by searching Joy Joya. I love creating this content as my act of service to you, my awesome listeners and viewers. And you can support the podcast for free by taking the time not only to subscribe, but also to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts which will help other jewelry dreamers find it too. I want to read my favorite review of the week. Michelle B says in a comment on YouTube about the recent episode number 208. “Great topic, mindset and gratitude are everything. It’s not woowoo at all, it works to put you on the right path to accept the abundance you are striving for.” Thank you. I really appreciate that feedback, Michelle. If you leave a review, I might read it on a future episode. So please let me know what you think about this one or about any other major takeaways that you’ve had recently.

3:00
In this segment of the podcast I give out my Sparkle Award for the week. During this segment, I highlight a jewelry brand that’s impressing me with their marketing. The Sparkle Award is also interactive, so you can visit sparkleaward.com to nominate a jewelry brand that’s inspiring you these days. And I might feature your submission on a future podcast episode. So this week’s Sparkle Award goes to Catbird, the Brooklyn based jewelry retailer. They recently caught personally caught my attention with an email campaign that was super personalized and actually made me want to shop and check out the products. So they had hosted their annual made just for you sale and promoted in standard email campaigns. So this promotion involved 15% off all their made to order pieces in time for holiday delivery. To be honest, since I get tons of email marketing campaigns, I actually missed the news of this promotion the first few times that they sent me emails about it. I had no idea the sale was happening. But then a new email caught my eye. So it was a plain text campaign, meaning there weren’t any graphics. It just looked like a regular email that might come from a coworker or friend. And it came directly from Lee at Catbird. And Lee is the brand’s chief creative officer. The subject line read, “Sale extension one day only”. Again, it was a personalized plain text email, Lee explained the sale was happening. And there was this is a quote from the email: “Hearing from all of you, we wanted to extend the offer until midnight tonight for an extra day to shop with our steepest discount.” In addition, after this brief explanation and invitation to shop the sale, Lee shared a few links to favorite sale edits, including most loved rings and under 500 dollars. In the email, they also really strongly emphasize the giftability aspect of these made to order products, which is again, super helpful for people who are starting to or deep into holiday shopping. And they’re looking for more of that like personalized gift. So this was another quote from the email “Catbird produces consciously in small batches. This sale has always been about making things easy and offering an extra delight ahead of the busy holiday season. If you happen to find something for yourself and those on your list, we’ll make sure it arrives wrapped and ready in our signature box and bow. And then they said for questions you could reach out to customer service we love to chat.” I really liked this simple and straightforward email. It encouraged me to click around, browse the site and shop. I felt comfortable knowing I would get something in time for holiday and that if I had any questions I can reach out to their customer service. I may or may not have bought something. Anyway, good work, Catbird. As I mentioned, you can visit sparkleaward.com to nominate a jewelry brand that’s inspiring you these days, and I might feature your submission on a future podcast episode.

6:17
Let’s discuss some recent news related to jewelry or marketing. Each week I share my thoughts about three relevant articles, check out the show notes for those links. So the first one comes from retailbrew.com. And it’s called “Fashion retailers that push gift cards and discounts will win big this holiday season, according to a new report”. So this I think is especially relevant if you cater to the younger demographic. So like under 34 years old, you’ll definitely want to push Black Friday Cyber Monday, that traditional discounting holiday, hard for those younger customers. Because according to data from this recent survey by Morning Consult, 60% of shoppers ages 18 to 34 are planning to shop the sale holiday compared with just 30% of those 65 and older so they are not going to most of them are not going to be shopping Black Friday, Cyber Monday, they’re not as interested in the sales. If you are not a brand that does discounting, that’s totally fine. But the other side of this study looks at the popularity of gift cards this season. So if you don’t already offer gift cards as an option for checkout or a product that someone can purchase, the holiday is probably a good time, especially this year to introduce this new product offering. 56% of customers this year plan to give gift cards. The gift card number is up seven points year over year. So they’re actually more popular this year. And the study believes that the reason this is so is because people want to stick to their spending budget. And gift cards allow them to do that because they can just purchase a gift card and a set amount rather than shopping by price point, etc. One really fun gift card promo that you can do. And this is one of my personal favorites to receive from brands that I like. If you’re not a fan of discounting your products, but you want to offer some kind of incentive to people who are purchasing from you this holiday season, you can do a buy one get one gift card promo. And this is a great way to encourage repeat customers to get someone to come back, especially in the new year. So basically if a customer purchases a gift card now ahead of the holidays, they will get another one delivered to them usually digitally to spend later in the year or in January for themselves. Or maybe they want to gift that to someone else. And again, this really encourages customer retention in a repeat purchase. So my main takeaway from this article is promoting your gift cards is always an excellent option, especially this year when people seem to be one wanting to stick really strictly to their budgets. And especially if you find that your shoppers tend to be last minute shoppers and you don’t have a lot of in stock product that can ship in time for holiday to be able to serve their needs.

9:29
The next article comes from Marie Claire. It’s called the “Five jewelry trends for winter 2022 to 2023 prove more is more”. I just recently had a request on Instagram via DM and someone asked me to share some jewelry style trends for the rest of the year into next year. I know I’m so stylish, but I don’t think I’m like a trend guru or a style guru. So I found a great article to kind of help me deliver this information to you person on Instagram. So this article from Marie Claire highlights some of these trends. The key phrase here is more is more. Stacked sleeves are continuing to trend with both cuffs and bangles in excess. Lots of colors and textures in bracelet stacks, big looks. Then there’s the resurgence of choker necklaces. So according to this article, this season’s take on the style manifests in sculptural metallic forms and is given a punk attitude through sharp studs and grommets. I love that love texture in jewelry. And I love that that’s coming back in a statement choker necklace. Also asymmetrical styling is really big through winter. So that is like two different single earrings instead of matched pairs. Or maybe you have one low hanging drop earring paired with a stud earrings. So that asymmetrical look is really popular. Statement pendants are really big, especially with a dramatic neckline, either something plunging or even something really super high. And then this trend of incorporating jewelry into apparel so like bedazzled details on sweaters and dresses. Of course, if you don’t make apparel, you can still achieve this look by styling jewelry and photos, where perhaps a necklace matches a neckline of a piece of clothing to create this kind of seamless look. So my main takeaway from this trends article is you don’t necessarily need to shift your product assortment in order to cater to these trends. But you can also adapt the way you style your products on social media, in lifestyle photos, for example, maybe you can even start selling your earrings as singles if you don’t already. I was actually thinking this the other day when I was shopping a jewelry site where there was a pair of studs, and I wish I could just buy one, but I didn’t have the option to do so. And I’m thinking why in 2022 is this not a thing? I think a lot of people like to shop earrings as one rather than as pairs. So that’s definitely something to think about into how you style and how you merchandise your products as well.

12:32
And then the last article comes from Glossy, and it’s called “Weekend briefing: how jewelry brands are surviving the supply chain crisis”. So this article is all about how the jewelry industry is withstanding inflation and supply chain pressures. So I think there’s a lot to learn here even though the article references some of the bigger players in the jewelry industry. So they mentioned that luxury jewelry brands especially have been holding strong with companies like Hermes and LVMH, posing soaring profit profits. LVMH in particular has seen its revenues particularly boosted by its jewelry brands. Third quarter revenue was nearly $20 billion, with the watch and jewelry sector growing by 25%. Within that Tiffany and Bulgari were the standouts among LVMH is jewelry brand portfolio. So what advantage does jewelry have over apparel, to be able to weather issues within the global supply chain? So Amy Jane, the CEO of jewelry brand Baublebar says what’s unique in our category is that you often make your raw materials where you make your product, it’s a lot more streamlined than fabric. So my question for you. Is that true for your jewelry brand? Or have you been dealing with supply chain issues throughout the pandemic too? Now are there things you can do to future proof your brand from experiencing these issues, which don’t seem to be going away anytime soon? And my main takeaway is that it sounds like some jewelry brands, especially in the luxury sector, have found ways to avoid problems that could potentially be caused by supply chain holdups. And as a result, they’re thriving. So again, I’d encourage you to kind of look at alternate sourcing options, kind of revisit your production process, again to future proof your brand against supply chain issues. For more information about any of these articles, check out the links provided in the show notes.

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Okay, without further delay, let’s get into the main content of the episode and talk about missed opportunities in jewelry marketing. So number one, why is it important to look for missed opportunities rather than to try copying other models in marketing? If I had $1 for every jewelry brand, especially a new jewelry brand, that comes to me, and wants to be the next insert brand name here, typically Mejuri, then I’d be a very rich woman. Here’s the thing. Mejuri was a disrupter, they entered the marketplace, at the right place, right time with a unique approach and model. It’s totally possible to copy them, and maybe compete with them on price, at least for a little bit of time. But you won’t be creating a brand for the long term, something that’s sustainable and long lasting. So if you’re interested in that, doing something short term, maybe going in and out, making a little bit of money by competing on price, then fine. That’s the decision that you’re gonna have to make. But don’t be surprised when that doesn’t sustain your business for the long term. The brands that will stand the test of time, and be the names to remember in the industry will be the ones that are truly doing something different and are offering something of value to the marketplace, I totally get it. It’s extremely difficult to think outside of the box, especially when you’ve worked in one industry for a long time, you don’t have the perspective, another way to look at things. But it’s also one of the greatest exercises you’ll ever do to challenge yourself to try something truly unique, so that you can build the long term sustainable brand. I’ve mentioned this at some point on the podcast before, but you want to strive to create what’s called a “blue ocean”. This is a term coined in the classic book Blue Ocean Strategy. I’ll link it in the show notes if you’re interested. But basically, creating a blue ocean means creating and capturing uncontested market space, thereby making the competition irrelevant. The opposite of a blue ocean would be a red ocean. And these are companies that are trying to outperform their rivals. Grabbing a greater share of existing command. And as the market space gets more and more crowded, ie in the jewelry industry, then profits and growth for everyone who’s just trying to outperform their competitors get reduced. So it’s much better to create a blue ocean, where you don’t even really have competition because you’re doing something so unique, that anyone even close to being your competitor no longer matters. One way to do this, look at the missed opportunities, the gaps or openings in the marketplace, things your competitors aren’t doing, etc.

18:20
So now that I got that out of the way, let us talk about what in my mind are five of the biggest missed opportunities in jewelry marketing. Number one, telling truly interesting and compelling stories primarily in written long form, perhaps blog post format, or eBook format. So blog posts and ebooks have traditionally been very successful in B2B marketing. I think they’re highly underutilized in direct to consumer, especially in the jewelry industry. The reason why think so is jewelry is very visual. So I’m assuming no one really thinks to write stories about it. Jewelry business owners also wrongly assume that consumers don’t want that like deep dive into a story that they don’t like to read. So then they don’t invest the time in developing these assets. This is a great opportunity to explain to your customers how to shop and then ultimately elevate the customer experience with tips, advice, insights, deep dive more storytelling. Another way you can do this is with eBooks. They also make for awesome lead magnets, which means you can use them as a way to gain email subscribers, especially if you don’t want to offer discounts.

19:52
The number two biggest missed opportunity in jewelry marketing is working on developing meaningful relationships with other business owners and brands who could potentially be your collaborators in the future. So collaborative marketing, cross promotion marketing, can help expose you to new target customers and also maybe ease expenses related to investing in a new marketing campaign. But trying to form meaningful relationships and partnerships with other business owners and brands isn’t great to try to execute at the last minute, when you suddenly like realize this is important, or you decide you want to do it. You have to start now and develop these relationships over time. So begin looking for brands that you admire and that would make great collaborators. See how you can begin to create relationships with them at first, without any expectations. Maybe once you get to know them, you can brainstorm ways that your two businesses can work together in the future. But the beginning is really about building trust and deciding on shared goals. I think not enough brands in our industry are focused on these collaborative partnerships, or at least seeking them out.

21:12
Missed opportunity number three, sending plain text emails every once in a while. So for a primer on this, for more information, I would invite you to go back to Episode 187. I’ll link that in the show notes. That was the interview that I did with Email Marketing Heroes. And if you did already listen to that interview, you may remember the more out of the box approach that they had to email marketing. Also, at the beginning of this episode, when I talked about the Sparkle Award, I mentioned Catbird and how a really casual plain text emails that they sent caught my eye. I think plain text emails are not necessarily appropriate or effective all the time. But when everyone else is sending graphic based emails, they can stand out and feel very personal every once in a while, especially when you’re introducing something new, hosting an event, or sharing a really special discount with your customers.

22:16
Missed opportunity number four: live video. Am I starting to sound like a broken record about this? I’ve been talking a lot about live video lately, especially as a last minute holiday sales strategy. I also have a whole episode about it number 172. I’ll link that in the show notes. But I’m still shocked by how few brands are actually doing it or doing it consistently. I 100% bet you that your direct competitor is not doing it or at least not doing it consistently as well. So use live video to let your customers get to know your brand more intimately, connect with them consistently. Show them products, tell stories, etc. It’s a huge missed opportunity, especially at this time of year.

23:11
And then missed opportunity number five, a fun and interesting customer loyalty program. I’ve been talking a lot about customer experience lately. And I think that a great intentional loyalty program can certainly elevate the customer experience. If you want examples of some of the most engaging loyalty programs to inspire you. Check out Sephora Insiders and Starbucks Rewards. I understand these are really big companies. So if you’re a smaller brand, then those types of loyalty programs may feel out of reach for you to implement. But I mentioned them so that you have something to study and to maybe borrow aspects from because they are super engaging. So how can you take your basic loyalty program to the next level or even implement a loyalty program that inspires your customers to shop more? You really want to think about this, you don’t want to just put a loyalty program and check the box of it and say, I did it Laryssa, great, like I’m gonna succeed now, right? You need to make sure, do your customers even know about your loyalty program? Do they know what the benefits are? Are there actually compelling benefits? Are there any incentives of staying engaged with it? You need to really put a lot of thought and testing into this, but I think it can truly pay off if you get it right.

24:44
Okay, so those are my five missed opportunities. Now I want to talk about how can you know that you’re on the right track? When do you pivot? Especially if you’re doing something that no one else has done or is doing. You’re kind of walking through a dense forest with a machete and like making a trail. That’s scary, that is unknown, you don’t know what’s on the other side of that tree. So this is what you need to do. First, be super clear on what you’re hoping to achieve. That may not mean that you’re going to get sales right away. It may mean that you have greater brand awareness or that your customers are just more engaged in general. And to that end, you need to choose metrics to help you measure whether or not you’re on the right track. So for example, if you choose that you’re going to start blogging, then you may want to check in with Google Analytics to see how many people are viewing your blog posts, how much time they’re spending on them, whether or not you’ve seen a rise in organic search traffic. Another example, if you do implement a loyalty program, then you’ll want to see if your percentage of returning customers increases, so you can get a sense of customer retention, and whether or not that has improved. Overall, you need to give your experiments, your ventures into unknown territory time to work, at least six months. And you have to remind yourself regularly why you’re trying something new, and what the potential rewards of your efforts can be.

26:36
So what did you think? Are you ready to try something new and differentiate yourself from your competitors? You can always email me Laryssa, that’s laryssa@joyjoya.com. If you love this podcast, please share it with a friend who’d appreciate it. And don’t forget to subscribe as well as leave a review on Apple Podcasts. To purchase a signed copy of my book Jewelry Marketing Joy, visit joyjoya.com/book for more information. Thanks for listening. Remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For more information about working with Joy Joya visit joyjoya.com where you can sign up to download our free eBooks about various topics in jewelry marketing.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai