Local Marketing Strategies for Jewelry Brands

Laryssa Wirstiuk 0:00
Ready to break free from algorithms, vanity PR, and money-sucking ads? My name’s Laryssa Wirstiuk, and I’ve learned in 7 years of jewelry marketing that content is the crown jewel. My agency Joy Joya takes a holistic approach, leading with laser-focused storytelling, impactful content creation, and strategic content distribution. This method has worked for the solopreneur as well as the multi-million-dollar company, and now I’m sharing these systems and tactics with you. Here’s to standing out in the Sea of Sparkle.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 0:34
Welcome to Episode #263. In this episode, we are going to focus on the importance of incorporating local marketing strategies, regardless of the size or reach of your brand. Even if you are an ecommerce brand that caters to a national or global audience, there is value in thinking locally when it comes to your marketing efforts. Local marketing can play a crucial role in your overall strategy, helping you to connect with customers in specific geographic locations and build a stronger community around your brand. We will explore various approaches to local marketing, providing you with practical tips and insights on how you can leverage the resources and opportunities available to you, and ultimately, harness the power of local marketing to benefit your brand. We’ll be looking at this topic through the lens of Hilary Finck Jewelry, who we’ve been spotlighting as a jewelry brand case study. For those joining our podcast series for the first time this season, I’d suggest starting with Episode #252. Doing so will introduce you to Hilary and allow you to follow this narrative from its inception. Before we jump into our chat with Hilary, let’s take a moment to break down what local marketing could mean for your brand. We’ll delve into the ways you can begin investigating the potential of local marketing, and we’ll also provide some actionable steps to help you build momentum with your local marketing initiatives. By doing so, you’ll be able to better assess whether diving deeper into local marketing is a worthwhile pursuit for your brand.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 2:22
But before we get to the solid gold, I’d like to take a moment to remind you that this podcast has both audio and video – so you can either listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on YouTube by searching “Joy Joya”. 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. If you leave a review, I might read it on a future episode – please let me know what you think about this episode or about any other major takeaways you’ve had recently.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 2:52
Okay, let’s get into today’s episode, my Sparklers! Today, we’re diving into the powerful world of local marketing, examining its potential to significantly benefit your business. Local marketing isn’t just advantageous for newly-established jewelry brands aiming to test their product-market fit; it’s also an invaluable tool for cultivating relationships with your target audience. Engaging with customers on a local level allows you to gain a deeper understanding of their needs, subsequently enhancing your products and communication methods. Now, I’m not diminishing the importance of selling to a nationwide or global audience online—that approach undoubtedly has its merits. However, diversifying your marketing efforts can be the key to forging meaningful connections with potential customers. If you find your brand struggling to gain traction through paid advertising or social media channels, local marketing could be the solution you’ve been searching for. Starting local allows you to leverage your immediate surroundings and tap into an audience that’s right at your doorstep.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 4:23
So what are the potential benefits and outcomes that you can expect from local marketing? I want to talk about this both from the small business perspective and if you’re a larger more established business that perspective. So first of all, it’s definitely going to help you engage with the community. Engagement is so much the name of the game in marketing today. People don’t just want to be like sold at, they want to be engaged with, and they want to feel like they’re part of something for so for small business. This can help build strong relationships foster customers loyalty, and festival, those word of mouth referrals that are truly like gold. And then larger jewelry brands can really use this to create a personalized connection with different communities. So while larger businesses can sometimes feel a little bit more distant and impersonal, local marketing can help that business feel more relatable and accessible. Definitely, local marketing can really help with SEO and searchability so that online, you have that presence locally, that’s easier to access for people in that area. So small businesses can really optimize their online presence for a local search. And that just means people can find you more easily. When you are trying to do SEO and competing with like, literally a global global competitors in the jewelry space, I mean, it’s possible to rank high in search. But if you sell things that are kind of more generic and competitive like engagement rings, definitely, you will find it’s easier to compete on a local level and get those local search rankings that will help people find you. And then larger businesses can use local SEO strategies to ensure let’s say they have multiple stores, or products that are more geographic specific or focused, that can help them really establish a presence in the market that they want to be targeting. You can also potentially find so much strength in local business partnerships, especially if you’re a solopreneur, or small business. So forming partnerships with other local businesses can help you leverage each other’s customer bases. If you’re having trouble with reach, getting new eyeballs on your brand, what better way to find new people to look at your business and your products, than cross promoting or partnering with another business that also benefits from the reach that you do have. And if you’re a larger jewelry brand, then a local business partnership can really give you that unique opportunity, again, to be more authentic in your connections. Maybe you could partner with local influencers, or more popular local businesses to do like a collab, or some other kind of cross promotion. And lastly, you could potentially get better targeting in your marketing. So local marketing can really allow your brand to tailor your messaging and your offerings so that you’re meeting the specific needs and preferences of your local audience, rather than just casting a wide net to everyone within your target audience base. So what could local marketing look like and really mean for your brand?

Laryssa Wirstiuk 8:00
So I’m gonna give a few examples of how you can actually engage with local marketing on a practical level, and maybe not all of them will work for you. But I want you to kind of think through, “What could potentially be adapted for my brand”? First of all, event participation. So for small businesses, this can mean like craft fairs, markets, other like collective kind of business events that you do with a few other small business owners. That’s a great way to just get in front of people, tell your story, practice telling your story and see in real time, how people react to your products and the words that you say to them. And for a larger business, this can mean maybe sponsoring or even hosting a local event, which can really create brand awareness and showcase that you care about the community and that you support them. In addition to events, you can consider customized local offerings. So for a small business, this could mean offering products that are like tailored to the local culture or trends. Maybe you have a limited edition piece that resonates with the community. I don’t know like some kind of food that’s really popular in a city or even like something that is the color of like the popular football team there. I don’t know I’m just kind of brainstorming off the top of my head, but you get the idea. For larger businesses same thing, limited edition collections. Add that unique touch that people who are local, would connect with, resonate with and be really proud to purchase, gift to others and wear themselves. I talk a lot about PR on this podcast and how I don’t necessarily love what’s called vanity PR quote unquote which is a type of PR that maybe looks really good to your brand makes you look cool. And like you’ve quote unquote made it, but isn’t going to have an impact at the end of the day. However, I do think there’s some value in local PR and media coverage because people in local communities tend to trust those like influencers who maybe run like the local magazine or local newsletter, or they’re just more like tapped into and interested in supporting local brands and businesses. So they’re kind of always looking for new places to shop that are within their communities. So that would mean getting featured in local newspapers, magazines, TV stations. Also, with local marketing, there’s an opportunity to do direct mail, that on a nationwide scale would require a lot more resources. And it would be a huge investment. So there’s opportunities in direct mail for small businesses, if you’re doing it on a local, very targeted level. That would be like sending promotions, discounts, or even like brand awareness, information, postcards catalogs, to people within the area that you’re targeting. Also, when you’re doing marketing, on a local level, there are a lot of online tools that you can use, that can help you build clout with the people that you’re trying to market to. So like Google My Business, Yelp, those are great places to direct people to write reviews and customer feedback, because they’re really well known platforms. And oftentimes, people love sharing their opinions. I mean, there are even people on Yelp that just that’s like their hobby, they love writing reviews. And ultimately, getting those reviews can not only serve as like user generated content or social proof, but they can also help you gain visibility in local search results. Another version of events would be like pop-up shops or mobile showrooms. So setting up temporary pop up shops at local events, parks, popular gathering spots, gives you a way to again, showcase your products, and engage with the community and in fun and unexpected ways. And lastly, if you’re generally genuinely interested in the local community, engage in some local storytelling. So make connections between your brand and about the history, culture, or people in the local community. Do that through social media, through blog posts, or other content formats.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 12:46
So what are some ways you can begin investigating the potential of local marketing to see okay, is this something I want to pursue? Is it right for me? Definitely do your local market research. So understand the demographics, the culture, the preferences, it’s probably really helpful if you actually live there, and you’ve lived there for a while, because you probably know these things intuitively. But if you can find your target audience, within your local community, and then determine the trends, the styles, the preferences they have, that will be very valuable. Also, are there local competitors? Are there other brands like yours that sell locally? What types of marketing are they doing? Take note of what’s working well for them, and also where there may be opportunities for your brand. Also, if you do have some knowledge of SEO, or you can work with an SEO consultant, I want you to kind of see where you stand locally. How healthy are you’re like Google My Business and Yelp profiles? What are the opportunities there? What kinds of keywords would you target? Also look at the social media landscape within your community, not just the other businesses that are present, but like, are there influencers in your community? Is there a big presence around promoting your community on social media? Is it a popular tourist destination? How much are people within that community actually sharing things like events, family outings, hotspots, whatever is in your community? How much of that is like communicated on social media even by normal people within the community? And also investigate what is the potential with partnerships like what other local businesses are around? Are there artists? Are there just like tastemakers in your community? And can you imagine what those partnerships might look like?

Laryssa Wirstiuk 14:59
And if you’re gonna go forward with local marketing, you want to start with a pilot program. So once you’ve gathered your information, you’ve done your research, you really just only have to start small. So maybe think of a pilot local marketing initiative. Maybe for you that’s doing that pop-up shop at a local event, or starting with a collaboration with a business or one social media campaign that’s more local focused, I wouldn’t like throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks out kind of start with one thing to dip your toe in it. Make sure you’re monitoring the results. Gather data to inform future efforts. And of course, ask for customer feedback from local customers. That’s the best way to learn whether your local marketing is resonating with them. And even what those people want, what would be interesting to them, what would entice them? What would engage them, always ask the people that you want to be selling to?

Laryssa Wirstiuk 16:06
Coming up in our chat with Hilary, we’ll talk about Hilary’s connection to the San Francisco Bay Area, where her studio is based.

Hilary Finck 16:17
Hi, Laryssa. Great to see you.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 16:21
Good to see you too. So I want to focus on, you’re based in San Francisco, basically. And you have a studio there you make your jewelry there. You’ve told me in the past that your brand isn’t necessarily like the DNA is not in San Francisco, let’s say. But we have found some potential opportunities, especially with SEO, like you’re already ranking for San Francisco jewelry related keywords. So we were wondering if there is a way to like, explore that further. See if you could bring more local customers you had also mentioned to us that you do sometimes have clients come visit the studio, you have your open studio coming up also. So we’re like, well, let’s like talk more about this. I want to understand it better from your perspective, to see if there’s anything we can pursue along those lines. So I want to know from you, like first of all, let’s start from the beginning. How has the city kind of influenced your jewelry journey and maybe we can then talk about how you feel connected to the city now, if at all?

Hilary Finck 17:34
Sure. Um, so when I moved to San Francisco in 2000, I had come from Fort Collins, Colorado, and I’ve come from the metalsmithing and jewelry design program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. And when I first came to the city, I found a waitressing job in North Beach, the neighborhood North Beach, and one day I was walking around before work started and I happened upon this little jewelry studio in North Beach. And I went in and it was this Italian Father Son family of jewelers. And it ended up it was Peter macchiarini, who was like 90 years old at the time. And he’s kind of one of these quote unquote, like messengers of modernism in terms of one of these people, these artists that kind of moved studio jewelry into where it is today. And so I started talking to them and asked if they needed some help, and I became their apprentice. And so I helped Peter with a lot of things I helped make some of his pieces some of his very iconic like these he had a lot of like ebony and recycled ivory pieces inlay or have this like piano necklace that kind of like frayed out along the neck, like fanned out along the neck. And so I’ve helped make some of his pretty iconic pieces. And they taught me taught me a lot of great things about how to do inlay and, and also it’s just cool to be around Peter. He was like 90 years old, and he was working every day and like he’s shaky and he couldn’t really see what he’s doing. And sometimes he kept himself on fire and I’d have to leave out I’m not kidding. But anyway, so that was you know, that was interesting because through the mercury knees then i i met the owners of velvet DaVinci which that gallery isn’t open any longer, but I would Mike Holmes was kind of a collector of Peters work and so he would come into the studio some time and so I met him and then I would go develop into it a lot just to visit because it was just one of these galleries is just like, I mean iconic just the best jewelers in the world in terms of contemporary To do jewelry, not like, you know, find diamonds and things like that, like Todd Reed was there, but it was when Todd Reed was like still very little in being discovered. So, you know, that gallery really impacted the way I thought about jewelry. And I was in one of their shows one time, which I was just thrilled about. So those two things really did influence just kind of the way I, because I was still so new, you know, you just come from college. And it’s just like, the sky’s the limit, right? Like, you feel like you can make anything but then when you see what some of these really iconic, people in galleries are doing, it really like stretches the imagination and makes you feel like you can really, that there’s a market for something that’s really creative.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 20:48
It was, I mean, so I did my own research. We were working on a blog post for Hillary and I was like, looking up the history. And Peter came up like in, like the history and I was like, Wait, that’s so cool. Hillary, like, did an apprenticeship with him. And so from pretty much the outsider perspective that I have, I think that it’s a very interesting and rich history that at least from my perspective, it feels like Hillary is like part of the tradition. And so I was surprised. Well, you can tell me how connected you are not nor maybe you don’t feel to it, what’s what are your thoughts about it?

Hilary Finck 21:26
I mean, I feel I feel connected to the history in terms of what the modernist jewelry scene was doing in the 50s. They basically said, we’re not going to make diamond rates, we’re not here for that. We’re here to make sculptural jewelry. That’s interesting. That’s one of a kind, we’re going to use materials that people don’t normally put in jewelry, we’re going to, we’re going to just make whatever we want. And so that kind of started in San Francisco, it was also happening a little bit in New York with like Art Smith. And then there’s also like Alexander Calder kind of contributed to that as well. So that like really appeals to me. And that’s very inspirational to me. And the other thing that’s really cool about that time is that those artists at the time, like Peter macchiarini, Margaret’s Uppada, who has I’m hugely influenced by Margaret dupattas work, she always loved Rutilated quartz and it too is they started the San Francisco metal arts guild. And like Margarita Potter was the first president of The Guild. And so working with Peter, you know, they were big into, like, you know, the metal arts Guild, and the local jewelry scene and all of that. And so, um, you know, I stopped working jewelry for many years. And when I came back, I felt like, I should probably try to be a little more connected. So I did become the president of the metal arts guild, here in San Francisco for two years, kind of like as it was coming out of COVID. And that was more it wasn’t so much that it was me wanting to be connected, it was that I saw that they needed help. Like they, they needed a president, they needed someone to kind of take the helm. And I had some ideas for things that I thought that the guild should be doing to help its members. And so I came at it more like that. But otherwise, I don’t know, I guess I find it hard to be connected in the sense to say just because, and I don’t know if other jewelers feel this way, but like, we just sit at our benches and we make jewelry. And I’m not I don’t get out as much like I should probably be stopping in stores more often, like loving locks, or Fiat Lux, or going over to Berkeley to Shibumi you know, places like that. But I don’t know I just kind of like my little, my little solitary work. And yeah, just like to make jewelry.

Hilary Finck 23:53
You know, it makes sense. Going back to what you said about like the figures, the people who were like involved in this. One thing I think is cool. And that I think you’re also a part of is like it was a lot of women, which I mean, I think only until recently, the industry has been like very male dominated and I think people kind of forget that. So it is cool that there were these like pioneering metal smithing modernist women.

Hilary Finck 24:26
It’s true. And they were, you know, they started some of the jewelry programs at some of the art schools out here. And they were, they’re highly regarded as being, you know, these women that were at the forefront of creating jewelry that wasn’t traditional, you know, it wasn’t like, you know, a diamond ring is all very interesting. You know, our artillery artillery is huge today. You know, I mean, it’s there’s so many different types of jewelry we all I understand that but art jewelry is, is huge today. And I’d like to think that the those kinds of founding members, modernism jewelry, kind of helped create the path for that.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 25:14
Um, the other thing I wanted to ask about was, have you ever I know you said you kind of spit like to spend time in your studio and working but like, have there been any instances where you’ve collaborated? Or, like, I don’t know, done projects with other artisans or makers in the community?

Hilary Finck 25:32
Well, let’s see, I’ve helped some people like if they have special clients that need some enamel work, I’ve helped kind of do some of the enamel work on some pieces. Because not everyone has a kiln or even knows how to enamel and it’s something that I don’t do that much anymore. But I used to do a lot of enameling. I mean, I also the one thing that I find it’s really cool about San Francisco is we’ve got like, you know, the whole downtown area full of diamond setters and engravers, and gem dealers. I mean, it’s kind of like New York City, but it’s much, much smaller. And so you know, I don’t do like the client wants to flush set diamonds and things like that. I don’t, I don’t do that I take that work downtown to some people that I trust. And same with the engraving, there’s someone downtown that I use for engraving, and in that respect, I it that community I really enjoy I enjoy knowing that there’s, you know, reputable people that that I can just like hop on the training go meet face to face with them. It’s really cool. And then you know, there’s organizations like the WGA that has a really good Northern California not office, but what do you call it? Like chapter here? Chapter. Thank you. And, you know, I’ve been I don’t go to too many of their events. But when I do go to some it’s always nice to see familiar faces, you know, like, April that I was shipping me or Sam warmen or to some other like Aaron cough. Just another really cool fun jewelry designers.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 27:07
Yeah, the other thing I was thinking too, with your open studio coming up soon, when we were putting together with the Save the date, I liked that you suggested to call out some of the other artists in the building and so we can include them in the email. And, you know, that not only promotes them, but it kind of makes your event feel more compelling to you because it’s like, Oh, I get to go see like a bunch of people. That’s, that’s interesting.

Hilary Finck 27:34
Yeah. Nice. studio building is awesome. It’s just this huge old mattress factory that’s just full now of artists studios. And so there’s some incredible woodworkers in my building. ceramicist, painters, sculptors. I mean, you name it. And so I’m, like, I don’t know if anyone’s from San Francisco, who’s listening to this. And there’s a bunch of, you know, we have a lot of hills. And there’s a bunch of steps that this woman has done all these tile mosaics along the steps. And she’s just down the hall for me, you know, like, she gets grants to do this work all over the city and all over the Bay Area. There’s just there’s so many cool artists in my building. So coming to Open Studios isn’t just to see me, but it’s to see, it’s to see all these other artists and where they work. It’s a cool building.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 28:28
Yeah, that energy must be like very inspiring to to just be around.

Hilary Finck 28:34
It’s fun. If if we see each other I mean, a lot of us keep our doors closed, and we just go to work. So you know, you kind of have to, like knock on someone’s door to say, hi, you know, how are you doing? Are you seeing in the hallway or something like that, but I do have my little crew of artists that, that I like a lot that it’s just fun to chat with. And we always say we’re gonna, like, get a beer after we’re done working, but we never do. I don’t know why.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 29:00
Yeah, but you guys are kind of all like a bunch of introverts.

Hilary Finck 29:04
We are we’re like, yeah, we just like being in our studios.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 29:09
Yeah, totally. So final thoughts. Again, I know this is not like, at the forefront of your marketing. You don’t like emphasize the local aspect, but I’m just curious if you have any thoughts, advice, takeaways for other people listening to this episode?

Hilary Finck 29:27
You know, I don’t know how many different guilds or you know, organizations that are around but I would find out if there’s one in your area, you know, the WGA is all over the United States. They have chapters everywhere. There’s little, you know, enamel guilds or other you know, Tillery guilds I would, I would join them and not necessarily because you feel like you want to be social and maybe you do want to be social and network, because that’s what they’re there for also, but there’s a lot of benefits that these organizations Is offer, you know, grants and just resources in terms of different consultants that can help you with things. So I would say join any of those organizations near you. And then if there’s any jewelry stores in your area, or even if you have to take a little road trip and dry for an hour or something, I would visit those stores, I would introduce yourself. Just get them to know your name, at least, you know, I wouldn’t bring in jewelry. Because generally they don’t like that. It’s more of you to just introduce yourself and have a conversation and then maybe ask like, hey, how do you guys like to see people’s jewelry? Can I send you a line sheet? Can I make an appointment to bring some in some time, I think that’s really, really important too. Just just be around, just be present. And then yeah, if there’s other other jewelers or artists around, you just connect, you never know when you might be able to help each other. And it’s just like minded people. Knowing each other was always nice.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 31:08
Those are awesome tips. I especially like the one about just connecting with others. And even outside of jewelry. I mean, the customers who buy your jewelry, they buy other things, like they buy clothes, they buy housewares, whatever, whatever they buy. So it’s like, find other people who also cater to your target audience and brainstorm ways to like, collaborate or inspire each other or even just to like be accountability partners or something like that.

Hilary Finck 31:36
Yeah, that’s another great way to find out when there are going to be different events happening. So if you want to have a table up at some event, it’s nice to know, when those are when you maybe just find out about that from other artists. Yeah,

Laryssa Wirstiuk 31:51
Excellent point. Well, thanks, Hillary. This was a fun fun chat today.

Hilary Finck 31:55
You’re welcome. My pleasure.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 31:56
What did you think about the interview? Are you excited to follow Hilary on this journey? I highly encourage you to check out Hilary’s website hilaryfinck.com and follow her on Instagram @hilaryfinckjewelry. Link in the show notes as well. Let me know in a podcast review or YouTube comment what you think about this new journey. Okay, let’s get into THE GOLD MINE.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 32:20
Welcome to another edition of THE GOLD MINE – a segment where I get personal and share insights on entrepreneurship, mindset, success, growth, and all things business. THE GOLD MINE allows me to share topics and insights close to my heart. In this week’s GOLD MINE, we’re exploring how your personality influences your business and the way you portray yourself within it. There’s no right or wrong personality for a business owner, as long as you’re true to yourself. I’ve recently revisited the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI), which is a questionnaire that reveals different psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. You might have come across MBTI in college or at work, as some employers use it to understand their employees’ strengths and how they interact with others. Some people love personality tests, while others find them unnecessary. However, I believe that understanding your personality, especially if you’re a solopreneur or a small business leader, is crucial. Knowing your MBTI type can give you insights into your thought processes and help you embrace your unique approach to business. This self-awareness can also help you identify aspects of your personality that might not resonate with customers or employees, allowing you to adjust your approach to be more relatable. Many solopreneurs struggle with defining the boundary between their personal and professional lives. Understanding your comfort level with interactions and decision-making can help you confidently set these boundaries without feeling pressured to conform to others’ expectations. There are other personality assessments like the Enneagram and the Gallup Strengths Finder that can also provide valuable insights. If marketing is not your strength, your personality assessment might reveal that your talents lie in other areas of your business. This doesn’t mean you should avoid marketing; instead, it could be a catalyst for setting future goals, such as hiring someone whose strengths complement your own. What did you think? Let me know in an Instagram DM, podcast review or YouTube comment.

Laryssa Wirstiuk 37:36
Did you have any questions about today’s episode? You can always email me Laryssa at laryssa@joyjoya.com. If you loved 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. If you’re completely new to digital marketing, then you’ll want to purchase and read a copy of my book JEWELRY MARKETING JOY. Visit joyjoya.com/book for more information.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai