About Marketing Strategies For Jewelry Designers

Abstract:

As a marketer, you will be developing and organizing a series of communication strategies and tactics. You will also be combining things into coherent marketing campaigns with defined goals and methods for collecting evidence from which you can evaluate success. This article discusses the importance of spreading word-of-mouth and some ideas towards this end. Also discussed are some additional marketing ideas workable for the designer.

Marketing Strategies

As a marketer, you will be developing and organizing a series of communication strategies and tactics. You will also be combining things into coherent marketing campaigns with defined goals and methods for collecting evidence from which you can evaluate success.

Your strategies will hone in on the 4 P’s: product, price, promotion and place.

· Product: serves a need not being met or provides a novel experience

· Price: set a fair price both to you as well as your customer

· Promotion: your marketing message and how you get the word out

· Place: where your product is available and your distribution arrangements

Whatever marketing strategies and tactics you resort to, remember this.

· You need to be different and refreshing.

· You need to do something your target audience(s) will talk about.

· You need to make your product approachable, accessible, and memorable.

· You need to enhance the emotional connection among client, product and designer.

· You need to be patient and focused.

· You need to be creative.

· You need to be authentic.

· You need to be market-driven, not product-driven. [It might be a great product, but there needs to be a market for it.]

Some marketing tasks you will direct and take charge of yourself. With some, you will work with an agency and turn over responsibility to them. You might rely on online influencers and bloggers. Some things will be in print. Some will be images and/or posts online. Some will be messages to your email followers. You might coordinate your marketing with similar or complimentary products of other businesses (called co-marketing). You might donate items to organizations which will publicize your donations. You will have business cards, brochures, jewelry name cards, guest books, packaging, letterhead stationery, websites, domain names. You might be able to get articles written about you or invitations to participate in podcasts.

You will find that, with jewelry, you will need to use a multi-method approach to your marketing. Any one particular approach won’t be sufficient to reach enough potential clients and influence enough buying decisions to keep you in business.

The Importance of Word of Mouth:
The Biggest Source of New Customers

If your client has had a positive experience with you and your products, it is highly likely they will share this with someone else. This is called word of mouth. Word of mouth might result from a conversation. It might result from an online or print review. It might be generated from comments to an online post. It might be a mention in an article. Word of mouth usually accounts for 3 of every 4 jewelry sales in the United States.

Things which drive word of mouth:

· Thanking your customer

· Asking your customer if they get compliments on your pieces they wear, and if so, can they mention that in a review or post online

· Ask your customers to talk about you, such as mentioning you on Facebook.

· Offer a discount to a customer who refers another to you.

· Image and Video posts on Instagram and other social media sites, and concurrently responding to all LIKES and COMMENTS. Note: Always repeating the person’s first name in our response comments.

· Join social media sites groups, and comment on various posts.

· Hold a customer appreciation event.

· Do some co-marketing with similar businesses in town.

· Follow-up on sales to make sure customers are happy.

· Bring a friend campaign.

· Give out business cards.

· Show something special to clients which I know they will want to tell others about.

· In-store giveaways.

· Be involved in the community.

· Supporting nonprofit fund-raising events, usually by offering a gift certificate or a showy piece of jewelry

· Create how-to handouts and/or post videos online (or other educational content) you can give to customers for free.

Some Marketing Ideas

1. Educate with your content

2. Personalize your marketing messages

3. Be data driven

4. Keep your messages and content updated

5. Be visible in your community and online

6. Manage active and frequent email campaigns, along with implementing strategies to expand your email list

7. Rely on credible influencers

8. Concentrate on one, perhaps two, social networks only, and give it your all

9. Create opt-in offers

10. End all your marketing and promotional messages with a call to action

11. Be a strategic user of key works in webpage designs and promotions

12. Teach

13. Do repairs

14. Survey, listen and learn

15. Sponsor a charitable event

16. Donate products or services to a charity event

17. Co-market with other small businesses

18. Do presentations or webinars to enable your audience to get to know, like and trust you

19. Provide free consultations or demonstrations

20. Write articles

21. Build a website optimized for search

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FOOTNOTES

Coursera. The 4 Ps of Marketing: What They Are and How to Use Them. 8/10/2022.

As referenced in:
https://www.coursera.org/articles/4-ps-of-marketing

Hill, Andrea. When Marketing, Be Clear Who You Want To Reach and What You Want To Sell. Digital Marketing Decisions, 2/11/2021

As referenced in:
https://instoremag.com/when-marketing-be-clear-who-you-want-to-reach-and-what-you-want-to-sell/?oly_enc_id=8486A9291356F6C

Koshy, Vinay. 18 Powerful Marketing Stategies To Grow Business Faster, 1/14/2022.

As referenced in:
https://www.engagebay.com/blog/powerful-marketing-strategies/

Less Everything. Unconventional Marketing With No Money, Chapter 5: Business Guide: Run Your Business. Don’t Let Your Business Run You.

As referenced in:
http://lesseverything.com/business-advice/unconventional-marketing/

Main, Kelly. 18 Jewelry Marketing Ideas to Drive Sales Without Spending a Fortune, 12/13/2021.

As referenced in:
https://fitsmallbusiness.com/jewelry-marketing-ideas/

Smith, Lisa. The 16 Best Marketing Strategies to Try This Year.

As referenced in:
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/01/07/best-marketing-strategies

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Thank you. I hope you found this article useful.

Also, check out my website (www.warrenfeldjewelry.com).

Enroll in my jewelry design and business of craft Video Tutorials online. Begin with my ORIENTATION TO BEADS & JEWELRY FINDINGS COURSE.

Follow my articles on Medium.com.

Subscribe to my Learn To Bead blog (https://blog.landofodds.com).

Visit Land of Odds online (https://www.landofodds.com)for all your jewelry making supplies.

Check out my Jewelry Making and Beadwork Kits.

Add your name to my email list.

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Other Articles of Interest by Warren Feld:

Saying Good-Bye! To Your Jewelry: A Rite Of Passage

The Jewelry Design Philosophy: Not Craft, Not Art, But Design

What Is Jewelry, Really?

The Jewelry Design Philosophy

Creativity: How Do You Get It? How Do You Enhance It?

Disciplinary Literacy and Fluency In Design

Becoming The Bead Artist and Jewelry Designer

5 Essential Questions Every Jewelry Designer Should Have An Answer For

Getting Started / Channeling Your Excitement

Getting Started / Developing Your Passion

Getting Started / Cultivating Your Practice

Becoming One With What Inspires You

Architectural Basics of Jewelry Design

Doubt / Self Doubt: Major Pitfalls For The Jewelry Designer

Techniques and Technologies: Knowing What To Do

Jewelry, Sex and Sexuality

Jewelry Making Materials: Knowing What To Do

Teaching Discplinary Literacy: Strategic Thinking In Jewelry Design

The Jewelry Designer’s Approach To Color

Point, Line, Plane, Shape, Form, Theme: Creating Something Out Of Nothing

The Jewelry Designer’s Path To Resonance

Jewelry Design Principles: Composing, Constructing, Manipulating

Jewelry Design Composition: Playing With Building Blocks Called Design Elements

Contemporary Jewelry Is Not A “Look” — It’s A Way Of Thinking

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