Maybe your New Year’s resolution was to finally launch your jewelry business. Or maybe you haven’t even launched yet, and your jewelry business is still a glimmer of hope flickering in your eyes. Either way, you’re probably wondering, “What will it take to grow my idea into an empire?”

We definitely want to see you succeed and achieve all your goals. One of our podcast listeners, Ari, recently asked, “Would you consider making an episode for people who are brand new to the jewelry business and don’t know where to start in terms of marketing?” Ari, this one’s for you.

When you’re starting a new jewelry business (or really any business), marketing begins way before you do the things we traditionally associate with marketing, like social media, email, blogging, events, advertising, etc. It even begins before you create a marketing strategy. Jewelry marketing for a brand-new jewelry business actually begins with product development.

Before you decide that you want to commit to selling your jewelry products to the masses, you must ask yourself:

Wait, jewelry’s a product? It’s funny that many people don’t refer to jewelry, especially “fine jewelry”, as a “product” because it’s made with such care and artistry. Shouldn’t it be more art and less product? Well, I think that attitude is problematic and a reason why many jewelry brands aren’t profitable. They’re not actually thinking of themselves as a viable business with real products.

Why would someone want to buy my jewelry instead of someone else’s jewelry? The answer can’t be, “Because I made it.”

Does my jewelry have an interesting story behind it? If not, it’s going to be very difficult to create a marketing strategy. Trust me.

Is my jewelry different enough from other jewelry in the market that people would recognize it as something new and unique, even without knowing who made it? Be honest!

Is my jewelry appealing to a niche market? By “niche market”, I don’t mean all women between the ages of 20-60. I mean, markets like “urban women in their 30s who love abstract contemporary art and want sculptural accessories”. You can get even more specific and target a community or tribe like “marathon runners who wear motivational jewelry when they run”. It may seem cheesy and uncool to target niche audiences because you’re trying to build an empire, right? And empires appeal to everyone, right? Not in 2019, they don’t. You can have an extremely profitable business by targeting a specific niche. Don’t believe me? Check out this blog post about niche businesses making bank.

Am I pushing the boundaries enough with my jewelry offerings, and can I be more innovative? If you’re simply riding the coattails of another popular jewelry brand, and you think you can ride that wave of popularity, you’re in for a reality check. For example, if you were making bangle bracelets a la Alex and Ani in 2012, but you were selling them for less money than A and A, you may have been able to thrive for a short period of time. But you probably wouldn’t still be around today. Alex and Ani isn’t as trendy as they used to be, but most people still recognize the brand. Your knockoff brand, on the other hand, is a distant memory. Create something unique that you can continue to build for many years to come. Create something that other knockoff brands will want to emulate.

If you don’t really know the answers to these questions, or you don’t think you can answer them confidently, you may need to go back to the drawing board before launching your jewelry business. Or, you can start with a small collection of pieces and test this collection on the customers you think will like them best. If these test pieces aren’t performing the way you thought they would, it may be time to redesign them or rethink your target customer.

I would recommend you read the book Purple Cow by Seth Godin, which is one of my favorite books about marketing – and it’s not even really about marketing at all. It’s about creating remarkable products, so that marketing your products is ultimately easier for you.

On the other hand, if you do have products that are truly unique, have a clear target audience, are appropriately priced, and will delight your customers, then you’re ready to start your business and devise a marketing strategy, which is a plan for how you’ll reach specific goals for your business. In the case of a new jewelry business, the primary goal should be brand awareness.

When devising your marketing strategy, you’ll need to do lots of research. First, you’ll need to define your customers. You may have a vague idea of who would be interested in buying your product. But do you really know everything there is to know about your target customer? By creating Customer Personas, you can fully understand your customers in a three-dimensional way.

Next, identify your competitors. These competitors aren’t necessarily the brands that are making the same products you are (in fact, they better not be, since you have a unique product to offer!). Instead, they’re the brands already selling products to the customers you want.

Then, you’ll want to create a Look / Tone / Feel for your brand, which is exactly what it sounds like. How will your brand look and feel to customers, and what will they gain from interacting with your brand? Don’t simply make up your brand as you go. Decide how your brand is going to look and how you’ll be communicating with your target customers – and then write down those guidelines, so they’re set in stone. You can always change them later, but you need to establish them now.

After you do your Competitive Analysis, create your Customer Personas, and draft your Look / Tone / Feel, you’ll want to focus on more targeted strategies, like your Social Media Strategy and Email Marketing Strategy.

Once you get your first orders, and you begin to interact with your customers, you’ll likely also get helpful feedback that will shape the future of your brand and further influence your marketing strategy. If you’re not getting feedback, don’t be afraid to ask your customers questions about your brand! By implementing all the suggestions in this blog post, you’ll have a solid foundation in place for launching a new jewelry business with confidence.

If you’d like to suggest a topic for our blog and podcast, simply email hello@joyjoya.com with your request. We’re more than happy to consider addressing it in future content!