Digital marketing strategies like social media marketing and search engine optimization can definitely be effective for your ecommerce jewelry brand, but you don’t want to neglect other “old school” marketing strategies, which could help you set your brand apart from the competition. In this blog post, we’ll share some of the most effective offline marketing strategies and provide examples for how you can start using them for your ecommerce brand.

Content Marketing

These days, the term “content marketing” usually refers to informative branded content that’s shared through a digital medium like a blog, ebook, or interactive content like a quiz. However, content marketing can also be shared in more traditional formats like printed catalogs, magazines, or other mailings. If you really want to set apart your ecommerce jewelry brand, you may want to consider investing in strategic printed material.

For example, earlier this year, the jewelry brand Spinelli Kilcollin released a print publication called .925. About the magazine, founder Yves Spinelli says, “We wanted to create a more physical way to tell our brand story, [with an] object that someone could place on their coffee table and maybe even save.” Some of the articles in the magazine are about the brand, but others are about topics related to the brand – like a map of hidden gems in Los Angeles, since the brand is based in LA.

I recently saw a catalog for the British online fashion retailer ASOS tucked into a stack of my friend’s mail and realized that print catalogs can help distinguish an ecommerce jewelry brand, especially since fewer brands are investing in them. Printed catalogs may seem very 90s, but they can still be relevant, especially when a brand defies the customers’ expectations. The Patagonia catalog is a great example, since it includes amazing and captivating stories, like the kind you’d find in a magazine, rather than just photos of products.

Event Marketing

In 2013, Think With Google published a report titled “How Affluent Shoppers Buy Luxury Goods: A Global View“. The report revealed that 72% of shoppers in new markets research online and offline, then go to a store, and 65% say they want to touch and feel a product before purchase. If you only sell your jewelry online, then you could be losing these customers. However, all hope is not lost, and event marketing – also known as engagement marketing or “experiential marketing” – can make up for your lack of brick-and-mortar storefront.

Event marketing includes trunk shows, pop-ups, styling events, influencer events, workshops, classes, VIP experiences, contests, or awards. We have another blog post about this topic, if you’d like to take a deep dive. The main advantage of event marketing is that an event can help bring your jewelry to life off the screen, allowing customers to touch and feel a piece of jewelry before buying, even if they end up making the purchase from your website. Furthermore, an event gives customers a chance to connect with you and your brand on a deeper level, even if they’ve already done their research online.

Direct Mailing

According to a survey by DMA Insights, 53% of consumers say that they receive too many irrelevant emails from companies. Are your email marketing campaigns getting lost in the shuffle? Even though email marketing is still one of the best ways to connect with consumers, your customers may be suffering from email fatigue and feeling overwhelmed by all the emails they get on a daily basis.

Instead, consider setting yourself apart with direct mailing. When you hear the term “direct mailing”, you probably think of the appointment reminder postcards you receive from your dentist or the take-out menus and coupons you get from your local pizza shop. However, direct mailing can still be relevant and interesting in 2019.

Personalization is a major trend in digital marketing right now, and you can make your direct mailing more personal for impact. For example, send a handwritten “thank you” or birthday card to people who have purchased from you in the past. Or, send an anniversary card every year to celebrate the anniversary of their first purchase. While it’s true that many people still receive loads of junk mail today, they don’t always receive handwritten letters or notes – and yours can make a difference.

If you feel like your digital marketing efforts have gone stale, then you should definitely bring some offline marketing tactics into the mix. Since more customers are embracing omnichannel retail experiences, they’ll also expect marketing to come from multiple channels as well.