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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.

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This is Episode #228, and today I’m going to introduce you to the concept of content marketing for your jewelry brand. In episodes #226 and #227, I explained why brand identity and storytelling are so important for success in the jewelry industry, but this episode will really show you how to make those two things tangible and accessible for your target customers – through the power of content. If you’re ready to pursue a marketing strategy that will set you up for long-lasting success and keep paying you dividends over the months and years, then you’ll want to keep listening or watching for: What is content marketing? What makes it different from other types of marketing, and why does it specifically benefit jewelry brands? How to start thinking about content marketing for your jewelry brand, so you can prepare yourself for the next few episodes, where I’ll progressively walk you through more lessons about content marketing, step by step. If you didn’t already listen to episode #225, you should know that I debuted an exciting new direction for the podcast as well as a new FREE program that will help you kickoff 2023 with all the resources you’ll need to make this a banner year. #225 was the welcome episode, and this episode is one of the lessons in the comprehensive program. To give you a brief recap before we jump in, from now through early July of this year, I’ll be rolling out a free (yes FREE) six-month, podcast-guided program called “Jewelry Marketing Jumpstart” which will involve weekly audio and video lessons as well as companion PDF downloads for each new episode. If you want to sign up for the FREE full program right away and get the companion PDF download to this episode, visit joyjoya.com/jump. Link in show notes as well.

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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. I want to read my favorite review of the week! hhhskuhs says, “The Joy Joya Podcast is easily one of the most valuable podcasts to any entrepreneur or professional in the gem and jewelry industry. What are you waiting for? Give her a listen!” Thank you! 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.

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Okay, my Sparklers let’s get into the fourth installment of “Jewelry Marketing Jumpstart” all about content marketing. So to be totally honest with you, I kind of dislike the term “content marketing” because it’s really vague and honestly, I’m sure you think this too. It is so boring and uninteresting. You’re probably sitting there like, “Wow, I can’t wait to listen to you talk about this, Laryssa. Maybe I should put it on to help me fall asleep.” What if I told you that I believe with all my heart, that content marketing is the absolute key to growing a beloved, fan-favorite, long-lasting jewelry business and the most sustainable and effective form of marketing, especially when it’s used to its fullest potential? Does that make you feel just a little more interested?

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Okay, so let me tell you what it’s all about. Basically, the name says it all. Content marketing is all about producing and strategically amassing content directed toward your target customer with a goal of attracting this customer who’s really ready to meet you and learn about your products. I’ll also share the official definition from Content Marketing Institute, which really kind of like, established this concept in marketing. They’re the go to resource. So they say, quote, “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” Its intentionally vague, I think, because content marketing can take on so many forms. And it does actually leave a lot of room for interpretation and creativity from the brand. And that’s what makes it kind of fun and exciting.

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So the most common example of content marketing is a blog. In e-commerce, a blog can allow you to publish written content accompanied by images and other media to help you rank in Google search results, and give you text content ideas that you can repurpose in places like your email marketing campaigns, and on social media, ultimately, providing your target customer with a compelling reason to come to your website and shop. And that reason is not always just about product product product, buy me buy me buy me, which we all know can be extremely exhausting and makes people tune out after a certain period of time. But besides blog posts, other forms of content marketing can be ebooks, quizzes and surveys, illustrations, graphics, informative or entertaining videos, podcast episodes, how tos, styling guides, and education hub, gifts, gift guides, a glossary of terms, FAQ pages, and more.

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As you’ve learned from listening to this podcast, having a legendary brand brand is all about evoking emotions, building trust, sharing valuable information, and giving more than taking. And I have to tell you, content is the easiest way to help you do those things in alignment with your brand identity and your story. Content marketing is really the fancy business way of saying storytelling, basically, when it comes to commerce and doing business. Content marketing is definitely a long-term strategy, since you are not going to inform and educate and entertain your customers overnight, while also building trust with them. So in order to benefit from content marketing, you need to realize that marketing, any kind of marketing really is a long game. Possibly you’ve been in business for a few years already, and you’re ready to add something new to the mix, you’re not expecting quick results, you’re choosing to invest in the future. But if you’re a new business, you can definitely engage in content marketing, you just need to know that this is gonna take some time to implement, but is ultimately worth it because it’s the most sustainable, like brand building way to achieve a legendary business for your customers.

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So what makes content marketing different from other types of marketing? And why do I think it specifically benefits jewelry brands? This question for me is kind of hard to answer because personally, I think I’m a little biased. I think content marketing is the ultimate form of marketing, and that other types of digital marketing should only be serving as the channels for distributing content. So content marketing evolves directly from your brand identity and storytelling, and then everything else follows from it. So what I mean by that is typically other forms of digital marketing that jewelry brands use are social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Tik Tok, email marketing, maybe even SMS or text marketing. But those channels should in a perfect world be taking your content marketing and distributing it to your target customers as well as aligning with it. So you’re creating harmony throughout all your marketing and making your customers feel not just like you’re selling at them all the time, as I said before, but that you’re actually here in the world existing to add value joy and delight to their lives. So while an email campaign could and should announce the launch of, say a new collection, it could also be linking to a blog post, or maybe there’s a subsequent email that links to a blog post or a video or even both about the inspiration behind that collection. And that way, you’re not just presenting a product, but you’re adding depth and richness to the complete presentation.

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Content marketing can potentially be more effective than advertising, especially when considered as a long-game strategy, or even working hand in hand with advertising. As I said earlier, in my definition of content marketing, marketing, it’s for the customer who’s ready to meet you, and learn about your products. So advertising, and you can even imagine your own experience with advertising, whether it’s a Facebook ad or an Instagram ad, it’s usually more of an interruption. Like think about those ads. Very rarely are you in the exact right frame of mind to buy. When you get an ad like that, it might pique your curiosity, but usually, it’s very much out of the blue. And it’s not something that has been on your radar unless you just get delivered like the exact perfect ad, which does happen every once in a while. But if you focus on attracting a customer via content marketing, the interest from the customer is usually already there, the person is a warm lead, they’re kind of primed, and in the right mindset to buy. And if they’re not ready to buy, they’re in the mindset to kind of start doing the research and buying content marketing can be an especially important area of focus during economic downturns. Again, since this is a long game strategy, it doesn’t get caught up in the moment of what’s happening with like customer purchase behavior, or what’s going on with inflation, or what have you. So you go into content marketing with the belief that eventually the right buying conditions will be available, and people will interact with your content, they will remember you and when they are ready to buy, whether that’s a few months from now, or a few years from now, your brand will be the one that they choose, as a result of them having built that trust with your content.

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So how can you start thinking about content marketing for your jewelry brand, so that you can prepare yourself for the next few episodes where I’ll progressively walk you through more lessons about content marketing, step by step? First, you want to think about which form of content marketing would feel the most jewel, doable, jus doable, doable for your jewelry business, given your own skills, or the resources you have available. Could you commit to updating a regular blog? Do you enjoy getting in front of the camera and creating video content? Is audio more of your thing? Are you great at graphic design? Would you love creating curated content like gift guides? Can you create educational content for your customers? Remember, as I said before, this is going to be a long game. So you really have to be honest with yourself. What can you commit to for at least one year, but likely longer. So it’s really taking a hard look at what resources you have available, what talents and skills you personally have, what you can afford to outsource, what team members you can afford to bring on or what skills and talents do your current team members already have. You’ll also want to get yourself organized. If you’re not already, if you’re like a type A, I got everything buttoned up kind of person, then this won’t apply to you. But I think most people can use a little bit of improvement in their systems and processes to clean up anything disorganized with their marketing. So if you’re not great at sticking to deadlines, and using calendars and schedules, then you’re going to need to find a way to embrace it or have someone working with you who has that as a skill. It’s a great time to sign up for a project management tool like Asana or Trello. If you don’t already use one so that you’ll have a way to organize all your tasks and stay on deadline.

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If you haven’t already done so, create or revisit your audience and customer personas. Hopefully you will have done this already if you’ve done like the foundational branding work, but it’s always nice to revisit before you move forward with something like content marketing. And then you might even want, you may even want to do like a casual audit of your current content. So do you already have a few blog posts up? Have you done any sort of video content? Have you done gift guides in the past? Kind of just take a look at what you have, and see if any of it can be repurposed, or updated for 2023 or even in the future. Okay, that’s everything about content marketing for now, much more to come in future episodes. Again, go to joyjoya.com/jump for additional resources, action items and exercises related to this episode.

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Before we get into The Gold Mine as well as news, I want to share a case study of a jewelry brand that I think embodies everything I just spoke about. So these are my thoughts about how I’d apply the lesson to a jewelry brand in the wild. Disclaimer, this brand is not a current client. So today’s Case Study is about the brand Clean Origin, which is a lab-grown diamond jewelry company that sells wedding jewelry as well as other fine jewelry. Founded in 2017 by jewelry industry veterans, this brand is committed to transparency, ethics, and environmental responsibility. Why do I think they’re doing a great job with content marketing? Well, I sat down to do a Google search for the keyword phrase “how to choose the right engagement ring”, and Clean Origin ranked within the top 20 results, competing with huge players in the wedding jewelry game like Tiffany & Co., and Brilliant Earth. Also appearing in these search results were non-retailer publications like Vogue, Brides, GIA, and The Knot. While scrolling for a result I may want to click, the Clean Origin result caught my eye because the title and description were straightforward “How to Pick an Engagement Ring – Clean Origin Blog” with a little summary of the steps I’d need to do. If I was completely unfamiliar with shopping for engagement rings, and this was how I entered the retailer’s website, and I found that their mission/values resonated with me, especially in comparison to companies like Tiffany and Brilliant Earth, I think I’d be really compelled to shop because they’re offering me important information and building trust. The Clean Origin blog post is nearly 3000 words and incredibly detailed; it looks like they update it often with more and new information. I’ll link to it in the show notes if you’d like to read it for yourself. It has everything you’d want to know about the 4C’s, diamond shapes, metals, settings – and what to do when you’re actually ready to move forward with a purchase, including how to insure the ring and make it extra special/personal. The blog post includes easy-to-read headers and sections, and the accompanying photos help illustrate the points and break up the text. The brand has a ton of informative content on their website, and I’m sure it creates a lot of brand awareness for them. What kind of brands have you discovered as a result of their content marketing? Again, you can visit joyjoya.com/jump for more resources on this topic as well as access to future resources that will be released every week.

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Alright, so let’s get into The Gold Mine segment. If you’ve been following this podcast, you know that I launched THE GOLD MINE in August as a secondary episode every week. Moving forward, I’m going to continue doing THE GOLD MINE, but as a segment in my weekly Sunday podcast. This week’s topic is all about evaluating and possibly rethinking how you define success in your jewelry marketing and business overall. In this industry and many others like it, entrepreneurs define their success by how much money they’re making, how much their revenue grew, etc. It’s the measuring stick for performance. So if you have an “off” month or “off” year, then you may kind of feel like a failure, like you’ve lost your forward momentum. Defining success in this way also motivates us to take action because we need money to keep a roof over our heads and to feed ourselves and our families. The possibility of making more money is enticing to most people. It’s specific and measurable. Like if you saw two courses online, and one was “How to Increase Your Revenue by 20%”, and another one was “How to Create a Business You Actually Love”, which one would you enroll in? You may be out of the norm, but I’m sure most people would choose the one that can be measured by monetary gain. There’s nothing wrong with defining success by how much your business makes, but that’s honestly such a teeny tiny piece of the puzzle – and if you’re only looking at money as a measuring stick for success, then you’re missing so much nuance, so many things to celebrate and congratulate yourself for because you are making progress, even if the money part has stalled. It also sometimes just doesn’t make sense to measure your success with money because of external conditions like inflation, which is impacting consumers’ buying habits. Sometimes you’ll have more control over moving toward your money goals than others. So what are some other ways you can and should measure success? These are just a few examples: You spent your marketing budget more efficiently and with a solid strategy You saved money and found ways to curb unnecessary spending in your business You hired an employee or employees who help you save time and focus on bigger picture priorities You increased your website traffic, improved your social media engagement, or increased the size of your email list You’ve created a better work-life balance, and you have set work hours that don’t detract from time you can spend on self care or with your loved ones You actually enjoy what you’re doing, and you don’t feel burnt out You’re making a positive impact on the world, by giving back in some way through your business or adopting more sustainable business practices You haven’t compromised your values You persevered even when things felt difficult or insurmountable You’ve earned respect from a specific group of people You’re finding ways to be more authentic and true to the heart and soul of your business The list could go on and on. “Success” is such a big overwhelming term, and we usually sit down once a year, at the end of the year or the beginning of a new one, to determine if we’ve achieved it. Did we meet our revenue goals? Yes! Awesome. No? We’ve failed. Ugh! Instead, let’s set daily or weekly definitions of success, so we can feel accomplished and motivated to continue moving forward to build the best business possible. Every night or first thing in the morning, decide what would make you feel successful for the day. What feels realistic to achieve? What would be a win? Just this exercise alone will really help you redefine what success will look like because you’re forced to look at it on a micro level. What did you think? How do you define success? Let me know in a YouTube comment or podcast review if you can relate to this. Do you often find yourself trying to figure things out right away, or do you have the patience to move forward while an answer slowly reveals itself? And I would love to know your thoughts about that.

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Alright, let’s get into our news roundup, I want to share some recent news related to jewelry or marketing, and you can find the links in the show notes. So the first article comes from the Glossy publication, and it’s called “TreSemmé tests new storytelling format for latest product launch”. So you may have heard of TreSemmé. It’s a haircare brand, not a jewelry brand. But I did want to share insights from this new article on Glossy about how TreSemmé is experimenting with new storytelling formats, to better communicate their core values and connect with their target audience. This goes really well with what I talked about in episode #227 about storytelling. So TreSemmé’s own consumer research found that people want to wear their hair in more natural and flowing styles and textures, including curly, and the brand knows that its products can already support in that. But the message that the products can do that and the target customer wanting this specific thing needs to connect and find synergy. So TreSemmé is moving forward with a new marketing campaign that utilizes creative storytelling around this concept. They’ve partnered with the US Olympic artistic swimming team. So swimmers, if you can imagine, typically wear their hair under swim caps, keeping their hair from being noticed in the pool during competition. But in this one ad that they’ve created, a swimmer undoes her buttons to reveal her long glossy locks, representing freedom and self expression. And also emphasizing this more natural look to hair really casual, and empowering. And also I watched this ad on YouTube, I’ll link that in the show notes. Also, they refer to this dance that happens in this ad as hairography. So they’ve even kind of created their own language around what’s happening. This is a quote from someone at the brand: “Changes to brand storytelling is an ongoing conversation in beauty that’s been spurred by the dual interest in authenticity and the shunning of traditional function-based products and brands.” So they’re really trying to be more authentic with their storytelling and again, take what they already know are their core values, and communicate them clearly to the customer who would really resonate with that. My main takeaway is I love how they’re thinking outside of the box about ways to communicate their story in a unique way, and also collaborating with others even like some unlikely parties like the US artistic swimming team in the process. I think this approach captures emotion, and shares the story artistically without having to over explain too much.

28:20
The next article comes from Practical Ecommerce, and it’s called “How ChatGPT Drives Ecommerce Conversions “. So if you have not heard or use ChatGPT, it’s an AI tool that’s free to use, anyone can use it. And this article explains how the tool can really help you boost your brand storytelling in your content marketing, for more variety and interest in your content and to help you keep up with the demands of creating fresh content for your brand. So this AI tool writes authentic and sophisticated content for pretty much anything you might ask it or any prompt that you choose to deliver it for example, you can instruct ChatGPT to write product details or short bullet points on your site to create more variety and make your current con content just more interesting and less repetitive. Even if you just use the results from ChatGPT to get ideas and inspiration. That can sometimes be a huge help when you have writer’s block or you just don’t have time to be super creative. It can also help you come up with A/B testing ideas for things like your email subject lines for ads, or even caption ideas for your social media posts. As long as you feed it some basic information. My main takeaway is if you’re not the best writer or communicator, or you have limited resources for writing, then you may want to start taking advantage of AI tools like ChatGPT to help you. This area of marketing is going to evolve super quickly. And AI is going to play a huge role in it. So I definitely encourage you to start playing around with the potential of tools like this now and get the hang of them because very soon they’ll be ubiquitous.

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And the last article comes from QSR Magazine and it’s called “Chipotle Creates Jewelry Collection in Honor of Valentine’s Day”. This is all about the power of storytelling through brand collaboration. So an unlikely brand like Chipotle, maker of burritos, is doing a brand collab with a jewelry brand for Valentine’s Day and it’s pretty surprising. So founded in 2000 by Anna Sheffield, which she also has an eponymous wedding jewelry brand, but she does have her business Bing Bang NYC, which creates minimal modern and timeless jewelry with a pinch of downtown chic, so they’ve decided to partner with Chipotle on a limited edition collection of minimal modern and expressive jewelry, dropping exclusively on Chipotlegoods.com. Chipotle’s creative director says, “We teamed up with Bing Bang NYC to create fun, fresh jewelry that fuels Gen Z’s passion for authentic self-expression”. Most of the jewelry styles sports the word EXTRA, which is I guess, like a tag word that Chipotle has been incorporating into their other marketing storytelling. My main takeaway is this is definitely an unlikely pairing and one that caught my eye. But the truth is that both brands come together over storytelling. They say in the article, quote, “mutual interest in bringing happy-making goodies to the wider community with a little bit of charm and a lot of heart.” End quote. Very cool. I love seeing unlikely brand collaborations you wouldn’t expect that or furthering the story of both brand partners.

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What did you think? Did you have questions about Jewelry Marketing Jumpstart or about content marketing? 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. 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