It wasn’t long ago when Facebook was the primary social media platform. Launched in the early aughts, Facebook, now Meta, originated as an online social hangout for college students.
Fast forward to 2023 and social media saturates nearly the entirety of daily living including mainstream media. If your jewelry store is not on social media, now is the time to establish a presence. Here’s why.
Understanding the Power of Social Media in Retail
Social media has become the go-to source for information. Instead of turning to mainstream news outlets as occurred in the past, people now gravitate toward Meta, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Pinterest and Threads. The average person spends more than 150 minutes per day on social media.
Social media is particularly important for retail business owners and managers. Enter the social media fray, provide a steady stream of posts and interact with you audience. Some retail stores go as far as hiring a part-time or full-time social media retail manager to answer questions and address concerns posted to the many platforms. Such online interactions heighten awareness of the brand.
Perhaps most importantly, a presence on social media provides an opportunity to establish the business as legitimate, paving a path toward a mutually beneficial rapport. Annie Daniels of Duke’s Jewelers sings the praises of social media for jewelry stores:
“Word of mouth does so much for us and we do ads in the Daily Herald for the best of Utah Valley. We do Instagram, Facebook, social media, you know, take advantage of social media because everyone’s on social media. It’s not going anywhere. It is like the central focus of everybody’s world nowadays.”
Identifying Your Target Audience
Develop buyer personas to gain a better understanding of those who are most likely to buy jewelry from your business. Once you’ve identified the demographics of your target audience, tailor your social media retail content directly to them. Conduct market research, analyze the lives of your customer base and weave in information that piques their interest for continued engagement.
Most social media platforms are advanced to the point that they have built-in analytical tools that help jewelry store owners and managers develop a better understanding of their followers. Analyze this information with regularity and use the insights to narrowly tailor your social media retail posts to target those most interested in your jewelry.
Creating Engaging Content
Content that engages is content that moves prospects through to the bottom of the sales funnel. Use your website, blog, social media and other components of your online footprint to educate the audience about jewelry including your store’s unique offerings. Content is also an invaluable opportunity to showcase your best jewelry in all its beauty.
Every piece of jewelry has a story. What matters most is how you tell that story. Carefully craft individual stories about your jewelry pieces, artfully communicate those stories throughout your content and do not hesitate to incorporate visually striking video content to engage the audience all the more.
Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms
The best social media retail platforms for jewelry stores are not necessarily optimal for other businesses. Focus on image-oriented platforms. Pinterest and Instagram are the ideal platforms for presenting pieces of jewelry in all their beauty.
Continue to carefully refine your social media retail strategies for each individual platform, be it TikTok, Meta, X, etc. Above all, delegate social media dialogue responsibilities to a trusted employee who will represent the business in the best possible light when interacting with the public on the web.
Building a Strong Brand Presence
Consistency is key in crafting a cohesive brand narrative across social media retail platforms. Use the same logo, slogan and colors throughout all social media channels. Artfully communicate your jewelry store’s values along with your value proposition.
Your brand will also benefit from positive customer reviews/testimonials so don’t hesitate to encourage satisfied buyers to sing your praises both on and offline.
Leveraging Influencer Marketing
Social media influencers have become increasingly important in recent years. Invest some time pinpointing those who hold sway within the jewelry and fashion niches. Extend an olive branch to the most trustworthy and respected influencers in these spaces.
Most social media influencers will consider promoting your jewelry or at least collaborating for a reasonable amount of money. Measure the impact of the ensuing collaborations through social media retail metrics including views, comments and ensuing visits to your homepage or online store from each individual influencer post/profile.
Running Successful Social Media Campaigns
Spend a couple hours surfing through the content of the X platform, previously known as Twitter, and you will find its users are infatuated with hashtags. Strategically select hashtags for your X platform posts, add two to four hashtags per post and be patient as online traffic moves your way.
Keep your finger on the pulse of trending topics and capitalize on those trends, posting relevant information. Pitching in your two cents on trending topics heightens your company’s online visibility that much more.
Providing Exceptional Customer Service
An increasing number of social interactions have shifted from offline to online, partially because of the pandemic that forced people to quarantine indoors. Recognize the ongoing shift to the web for socialization, seizing the opportunity to engage with your online followers. If social media users pose a question or concern, try to address it within 24 hours or less.
It is also in your interest to shift the focus to the positive, steering satisfied customers to your social media retail pages to like, share and commenting on your posts. Interacting with social media users includes posing questions to the audience so don’t hesitate to toss out a question or run a poll.
Bruce Bragg of Coffrin Jewelers uses social media to take the metaphorical temperature of his jewelry store’s social media following, floating out “trial balloons” such as the following:
“We have had a few inquiries ourselves with our shop here. “Do we do permanent jewelry?” We’ve even asked it on our own social media channels as well. And a few responses, definitely. I mean, it’s something we are still, as well, looking into just to see what the industry is moving towards and if anyone is even wanting to do that.”
Successful jewelry store owners and managers like Bruce keep a close eye on views, replies and shares to get a sense of which social media posts resonate the most. Replicate this approach, make data-driven alterations to your social media retail strategy and you’ll quickly build momentum.
Jewel360 is the Missing Piece to Your Jewelry Store Puzzle
An evolving social media presence combined with the right ecommerce strategy and point of sale (POS) software amounts to a whole greater than the sum of the individual parts. Jewel360 is here to help your business reach its potential, using the retail industry’s best software.
Embrace social media retail for success across posterity, use our retail software and it won’t take long to expand your customer base. Contact Jewel360 today to find out more about how our tech solutions can help your business reach its true potential.
You can reach us by phone at 385-332-3522. Our team is also available by email at Sales@jewel360.com. If you prefer to enter your contact information online, complete our Contact Form and we will reach out at our earliest convenience.