The JA Report: News, Tips & Trends from Jewelers of America

How to Make Most of Local Deals for Your Jewelry Business, Part 2

Local Deals, when developed with your company's goals and brand in mind, can be a great way to influence customer behavior, drive more sales and grow your customer network. In our previous post on Local Deals, we covered the parameters to consider as you select the appropriate Deal Vendor. Now let’s look at how to develop the right deal that will result in the maximum impact for your jewelry company.

The webinar, “Make the Most of Local Deals for Small Business,” led by email marketing specialist Constant Contact, provided the 5 key steps to a successful deal:

1. Clearly define the goals of your deal. This will help you develop the deal parameters and promotion strategy. For example, do you want the deal to help you:
- Get new or return customers to your store during slow periods? To address this goal, design a deal with a percent discount or special offer for a limited time (a weekend, slow month, a few deals throughout the summer, etc). One company who used Save Local offered a 30% discount on $50 worth of products and services for traditionally slow Memorial Day weekend that resulted in more than doubling their margin – with $10,000 compared to $4,600 the previous year.
- Showcase new products or sell excess inventory? Create a deal that focuses on one jewelry product or line in your merchandise.

2. Consider Deal Frequency and Timing. Constant Contact suggests creating a deal calendar and plan offers based on your customer flow throughout the year or at seasonal sales periods. Some deal timing strategies include:
- Consistently slow periods for your business, like summer months or post-holiday.
- Celebrate business anniversaries or milestones to reward loyal customers or customer interaction. For example, ask people to like your brand page on Facebook to hit a target number and grow your network, then offer special discount to Facebook fans to celebrate hitting that milestone.
- Seasonal, holiday and gift giving deals. This is especially relevant for jewelry sales. Time your deals to boost popular jewelry sales and gift giving periods, like Mother’s Day, Holiday, Engagement/Bridal jewelry add-ons.

How to Make Local Deals Work for Your Jewelry Business, Part 1

At Jewelers of America, we've noticed our jewelry retail and designer members are trying to discover the secret to online marketing exposure that results in-store sales. We sat in on a recent webinar discussing how to “Make the Most of Local Deals for Small Business,” led by email marketing giant Constant Contact, and we’re passing the key tips onto you. As a luxury brand, there are ways to use local deals to garner that elusive mix of online/social engagement and in-store interaction with your customers. Our next two posts show you how Local Deals can result in increased revenue for your luxury brand.

First, you need to know what to look for when picking a Local Deal provider. There are many out there like Groupon, LivingSocial, Gilt City and Constant Contact’s Save Local to name just a few. Having control over your deal offer is key. Consider the following before you choose which service to use:

Secrets to Pay-Per-Click Success

How do your jewelry customers begin any major purchase? As much as you'd like it to start with a visit to your store, the web is the most popular starting-point for consumer shopping today. It's important to ensure that current and prospective customers can find your jewelry store on search engines, like Google and Bing, and social media networks like Facebook.

Most likely, your company is getting lost in the sea of search results. Are you willing to pay to improve your search engine results placement and increase the amount of traffic to your website quickly?
   
According to WR Cobb Online, a jewelry industry leader in web development and marketing, this is where Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising can help. Combining this powerful tool with social networking creates the ideal platform for optimizing your presence in the world (wide web, that is). WR Cobb Online answers the top questions most independent jewelry brands have about PPC and explains why you should highly consider incorporating Pay-Per-Click ads into your marketing strategy -- to ensure jewelry customers find you, learn about your business and shop at your store.

Is PPC right for my jewelry business?
PPC is effective, no matter the type of business. The key is to develop ads that will appear to consumers when they are searching for your business, jewelry products or other keywords that are relevant to your business.

Websites organically appear in search results, so why should I pay for this?
Your current customers search for your business by name and that’s great. However, those who don’t know you, prospective customers, generally search by topic or location; in these circumstances, your website may not appear. By using Pay-Per-Click advertising strategically you have more control on how your business appears upon a relevant search query. Not only are you increasing your visibility to consumers looking for jewelry products, but it also increases the likelihood of them visiting your website and store location(s).

What are the main steps for setting up a Pay-Per-Click campaign?

• Through the use of a variety of search engine programs, you start out by choosing a daily budget that you’re comfortable with, that can be changed at any time through your PPC campaign.
•  Next, you identify and bid on keywords that are relevant to your business goals and your target market. Things to consider when determining keywords are: Do you want to reach a specific audience? Do you want to focus on selling just one or two products?  Do you want to target a specific or multiple locations?
• Using the keywords and phrases identified, you create the ads that will appear online. These can be text ads or image-based banner ads. The key is to invest in keywords that are relevant to your product or service and how consumers search for these, and then target your ads to reach these consumers.

Continue reading for answers to four other burning Pay-Per-Click questions and the secrets to easily incorporating PPC into your marketing plan . . .

5 Holiday Marketing Trends Every Jeweler Should Know

There's no denying that the jewelry industry, and jewelers especially, are confused with how to navigate the growing online landscape. One thing is certain, jewelers can no longer ignore the importance of having an online presence. Email marketing provider Constant Contact has identified marketing trends that will help you successfully market your brand online. Use them to compete with big guys with your marketing campaigns for the holidays and beyond.

1. Mobile Is Here
Have a website, great, but is it mobile? Today's customers want to be able to find you and shop whenever and wherever it's convenient for them -- and for a growing majority that is on their phones. Don't miss out on these customers -- who often are more apt to respond to the right promotions: according to Constant Contact, 70% of mobile search results get customers to act within one hour and mobile coupons get 10x the number of redemptions.

Daunted by the thought taking your brand mobile or m-commerce? Jewelers of America's partnership with WR Cobb Online saves members 57% off its e-commerce platform and other exclusive discounts. Working with WR Cobb Online is easy; they handle all the details of expanding your brand online, freeing you up to focus on growing your business. Learn more here.

JA Survey Helps Jewelry Retailers Improve Cost of Doing Business

With Jewelers of America's annual Cost of Doing Business Survey currently underway, we've been posting quick tips from previous Cost of Doing Business Reports on our Facebook and Twitter feeds to show the insightful retail jewelry benchmarking data it reveals. Follow us so you don't miss out -- we've included some highlights after the break!

When you participate in the survey, you receive a copy of the Jewelers of America Cost of Doing Business Report ($150 value) -- which has been an invaluable industry benchmarking resource for 20+ years. 

Click here to participate in the Survey today!

It's quick and easy -- Most of the key measures of financial performance in our 2011 Cost of Doing Business Survey are based on the two primary financial statements: the Profit-and-Loss statement and the balance sheet. Take the survey today!

Coming Soon: JIC's Second Annual Ultimate Proposal Contest

Beginning next month, JIC will be accepting registration from JA Retail Members to participate in its Second Annual Ultimate Proposal Contest. The Contest, running from April 4-June 20, 2011, asks consumers to share their proposal stories online at www.JIC.org. The first Ultimate Proposal Contest debuted in February 2010.

New this year! Any retailer who registers to participate in the Contest from February 15 to March 15 will be entered to win an iPad, courtesy of GE Money.

2011 Job Resolutions: Advance Career through Professional Education

As you enter 2011, have you taken full stock of the current state of your career? Are you where you want to be professionally? Seeing your ideal returns? Making the most profits? If you answered no to any of these questions, it's time for a career makeover. There are many ways you can resolve to be your better professional self in 2011, but one that offers serious career advancement opportunities is continuing education.

For jewelry sales professionals, there are a lot of routes to achieve this, and it doesn't have to involve the cost or commitment of going back to school. Many industry associations offer product-specific courses that you can complete on your own time, such as Diamond Council of America's Advanced Jewelry Sales, Colored Gemstones and Diamond courses or Jewelers of America's Jewelry 101 training program.

Pop-Up Jewelry Stores: The Wave of the Future?

By Helena Krodel, Director of Media and Special Events

From Boston to California, New York to San Francisco, pop-up stores are a new phenomenon taking retail by storm. A pop-up shop, that is — a temporary retail space or experience which involves “popping-up” one day, and disappearing the next – has become the second most clever way (after social media of course) to create a unique environment that engages customers and generates a feeling of relevance and interactivity. As far as publicity goes, this concept is high on the list of buzz-worthy activities. 

Ingredients for Internet Marketing, Part 2: Understanding Traffic

By Vedran Tomic is an Internet marketing consultant, who specializes in local search and is a contributor to SmallBizTrends.com, a small business news site

In Part One of “Ingredients for Internet Marketing for Jewelers,” Internet Marketing Consultant Vedran Tomic explained the importance of web design, social media and local search to your Internet marketing campaign. Now, he explains how organic and paid search helps build your web traffic and increase your customer base.

To have a decent return of investment (ROI) on your Internet marketing efforts, you will need to get traffic to your website. More specifically, you will need targeted, qualified traffic. In the case of local brick-and-mortar jewelers, this means web traffic from people in your area interested in jewelry.

Web traffic can be acquired in many ways. In this guide, I will concentrate on traffic from search, because search is arguably the most important channel of traffic acquisition. There are two types of search traffic: organic search traffic and paid search traffic. No search marketing strategy is complete without both of these models at work. However, it’s important to understand each method’s advantages.

Ingredients of Internet Marketing Success for Jewelers, A 2-Part Series

By: Vedran Tomic is an Internet marketing consultant who specializes in local search and is a contributor to SmallBizTrends.com, a small business news site

Why Internet Marketing?

Growing a small business without a clearly defined Internet marketing strategy today would be more than just difficult. Consumers have never had as many choices and as little time as they have today. The Internet has not only given consumers more options – but also more power to influence your business’ reputation and success. People can grow your business beyond your imagination just by sharing their experiences with their friends and family in person and online. They can also cut your business in half by posting negative reviews on the web.

Traditional advertising methods through TV, radio and print ads offer lower and lower ROI, as consumers are choosing the Internet to explore, decide and shop. This is true for retail jewelry, as well as all small businesses. But this is not the end of marketing; it is the beginning.

Using the Internet to put your business directly in front of a costumer who is searching for your services or products, at the moment she's searching, is one of the best ways to market your business. This is the reason every small business owner should revisit their marketing budget and consider allocating more resources and effort into Internet marketing.

Bridal Jewelry for the Next Generation

While bridal jewelry endures, jewelry businesses need to stay ahead of the curve in terms of what younger couples are looking for. Industry analyst Ken Gassman, who spoke at last month’s JCK Show in Las Vegas, says that young consumers want to stand out from the crowd when it comes to bridal jewelry, from the engagement ring to the wedding day (and if you get it right, beyond).

He offered the following tips on how to sell bridal to your next generation of customers:

Tap Into the Enduring Power of Bridal

An engagement ring can be a gateway for a lifetime of purchases, if a jeweler takes advantage of the opportunity. That’s a fact we shared last week, when we discussed ideas for staying connected with engagement ring customers. Today, we share more key messages from The Knot’s Miriam Alexander, who presented numerous facts and figures during her JCK Show presentation, “Understanding Consumer Behavioral Shifts.”

In addition to noting the importance of bridal as a “gateway,” Alexander shared the following takeaways:

Stay Connected to Bridal Customers

If an engagement ring customer hasn’t become a customer for life (or at least, a customer for all their bridal jewelry), your store may need to reconsider its approach to relationship selling. A recent survey conducted by The Knot Wedding Network found that among the 9,000 recently married couples surveyed, 4 out of 10 said the retailer they bought their engagement ring from didn’t stay in touch. That’s a missed opportunity for those retailers, a fact echoed by a number of presenters during the JCK Show in Las Vegas.

The Knot’s Miriam Alexander, presented that statistic and others in “Understanding Consumer Behavioral Shifts.” She noted the importance of bridal as a “gateway” for jewelers to begin a long-term relationship with customers.

Here are some ideas to help you cross through that gateway, versus letting the door shut on future business:

How To Sell Color Gemstones: Part 3

Consumers understand that the same products can vary greatly in quality, perception and price. For instance, besides being able to drive both, consumers get that there’s a huge gap between a Porsche and a Honda. Doug Hucker, CEO of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), says jewelers need to effectively differentiate marquee colored gemstones -- ruby, emerald and sapphire -- from other stones.

In “Color: Price Points, Margin and Profitability,” the talk he gave during the recent JCK Show in Las Vegas, Hucker shared ideas on how to present these top gems:

How To Sell Color Gemstones: Part Two

Are you doing enough to market and sell colored gemstone jewelry in your store? We recently shared tips from Doug Hucker, CEO of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), who says there are huge opportunities in selling colored gemstone jewelry and pearls. Today, we share additional ideas from “Color: Price Points, Margin and Profitability,” the talk he gave during the recent JCK Show in Las Vegas.

Hucker offered the following ideas:

How To Sell Colored Gemstones: Part One

Color is hot (and provides good margins), but are you doing enough to capitalize? In “Color: Price Points, Margin and Profitability,” a session held during the JCK Show in Las Vegas, Doug Hucker, CEO of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), shared strategies to help jewelers get the most out of their colored gemstone inventory.

Tips shared by Hucker included:

Live From Las Vegas: Retail Masters of Promotion

Smart marketing is a key component of your business, but how do you create great, affordable promotions that work? Amanda Gizzi, Jewelers of America's director of consumer communications, will seek the answers to these and other questions as she moderates the JCK Show panel, “Retail Masters of Promotion.” Savvy promotional experts will share insight into the marketing puzzle. The panelists include Cathy Calhoun, of Calhoun Jewelers; Kristen Darrow, of Fred Meyer Jewelers; Dan Schuyler, of Lily & Co.; and Ryan Berg, of Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry.

Attendees of the session will take away great marketing tips including:

Use Creative Financing To Gain More Sales

In this tight credit marketplace, getting a potential customer to walk in the door is not always the biggest obstacle. Often, the main hurdle is actually getting the customer approved for a loan.

“Most jewelers do not even realize there is an incredibly easy way to offer short term financing, requiring no credit check, which has little or no cost to the jeweler and to the customer,” says Matthew Focht, president of tru.

Focht explains how modern check processing can achieve this short-term financing:

Capitalize on the Power of Online Pre-Selling, Part Two

The days of web marketing are here to stay. Don't waste time bemoaning the fact that traditional print ads and radio spots may no longer be only way to grab consumers’ attention. Instead, in Part One of "Capitalize on the Power of Online Pre-Selling," Larry Chasin, president & CEO of Ideal Diamond Solutions, explained why you should embrace the web for the excellent pre-selling tool it can be.

In Part Two, Chasin offers tips on how to maximize Internet tools to most effectively pre-sell your jewelry product and close more sales in-store:

Capitalize on the Power of Online Pre-Selling, Part One

We all know that attitude is a major component in sales. The more upbeat you are, the better are your chances of closing a sale. But if, like many retailers, you feel that the Internet has distorted the way jewelry businesses are run, Larry Chasin, President & CEO of Ideal Diamond Solutions, suggests you revisit that thought.

As a jewelry sales veteran and head of a company that provides a ground-breaking technology platform to the industry, Chasin understands both sides of the great "Internet vs brick-and-mortar sales" debate. To reconcile traditional sales with the power of the Internet, Chasin suggests thinking of your website and web tools as avenues for pre-selling your jewelry merchandise.

If you've been in the sales business for any length of time, you understand the power of pre-selling merchandise. It's a lot easier to close a sale with someone who already has real interest in something, versus someone who doesn't.

Use Chasin's tips to start treating the web as a pre-sell tool and thrive with in-store sales:

Be a Jewelry Resource with Email Marketing

Keeping an eye on marketing ideas from other companies is critical to your own success, whether you’ve fully integrated email marketing into your business, or you are just getting started. Some of the best ideas can be found when we think about our own customer experiences.

Lauren Thompson, Communications Manager for Jewelers of America, shares how shoe brand Geox is getting it right when it comes to email marketing:

For Christmas, I bought a pair of Geox shoes as a gift. While I went to the retail location, during the rush of the holiday season, I found it easier to buy the shoes online – which featured the same services and discounts that I would have received in store. Ever since I made the purchase, Geox has sent follow-up emails. As JA’s communications manager, I have been impressed with the brand’s soft sales approach and customer service in their direct email marketing. These emails remind me that for future shoes/gift purchases, Geox needs to be on my list of retailers to visit.

Stock Hot Summer Jewelry Trends

As the weather warms up and the clothing gets paired down, there is more body real estate on which to park jewelry! Helena Krodel, Jewelers of America's Director of Media and Special Events, offers a sneak peek at the hottest jewelry styles and colors for the sizzling summer season.

Be smart with your jewelry merchandising this summer and stock your jewelry store with these jewelry trends:

Don’t Forget Outstanding Online Service

Earlier this week, we offered advice from Larry Chasin, President & CEO of Ideal Diamond Solutions, about  joining the “free” marketing and information revolution. He shared tips on how to turn consumer desire -- and expectations -- for free information into an online marketing tool for your jewelry business.

But offering free marketing and expertise is just one part of the equation. If draw people to your jewelry website without providing outstanding services for outstanding products, the initial attention will fade quickly.

Today, Chasin offers some must-have online service options to go along with your marketing:

Market Your Expertise Online For Free!

There's a lot of talk in marketing circles lately about "free" being the new driving force in business. But since retailers don’t want to give inventory away, does it have anything to do with the jewelry and watch industry? "It does when it comes to marketing that inventory," says Larry Chasin, President & CEO of Ideal Diamond Solutions, an online technology platform provider that focuses on the jewelry industry.

A lot of the discussion stems from the new book Free: The Future of a Radical Price, by Chris Anderson, a social commentator who earned his reputation as an editor of Wired magazine. He focuses on how the digital revolution has made some things free (or almost free) that we used to pay for and how that has affected industries like news, publishing and music.

Chasin says there is a useful takeaway for jewelers: the fact that consumers are now used to getting information for free, and they have come to accept it as the norm. He suggests using that development to your advantage in your marketing, and offers the following ideas to capitalize on content:

Be Part of the “Perfect Engagement” Story

To most Americans, buying an engagement ring is a daunting experience. That’s why retailers that get it right are not only part of the most exciting time in couple’s lives, they develop lifelong customers in return.  Over 630 consumers have entered their “Ultimate Proposal Story” in Jewelry Information Center’s Ultimate Proposal Contest. JA Director of Consumer Communications (and JIC spokeswoman) Amanda Gizzi has found inspiring marketing ideas for jewelry retailers from the story entries. She shares her favorites here.

Use these ideas to connect with your engagement customers and help them create the perfect engagement story:

Host Spring Jewelry Events

The post-holiday spring months don't have to be a slow season for jewelers. Get inspired by the shift in seasons, and help customers celebrate the new fashion season with events that tie into spring trends, spring (jewelry) cleaning and spring-related holidays.

Use these event ideas to help you thrive with spring jewelry sales:

Address Potential Jewelry Allergies

Have you ever had a customer return to your store, complaining that the jewelry you sold them caused an allergic reaction, like a rash? The culprit could be nickel, which in rare (but growing) instances can cause such a reaction.

Since jewelry manufacturers are not required to disclose nickel content in the U.S., it’s likely that white gold in particular may contain the base metal. If you are selling lower-price-point metals (less than 14K), the likelihood of it containing nickel increases.

Jewelers of America’s David Peters offers the following advice to help you address customer complaints or concerns about nickel allergies:

Live Up to Customer Service & Sales Standards

Most businesses have policies and standards to which employees must adhere. But how many of these truly contribute to success, versus becoming forgotten words in an employee manual? Within your own business, are you doing enough to ensure the policies you have in place are followed? If not, you’re probably selling your business -- and your employees -- short.

In a presentation at the JA New York Show, Brad Huisken, of IAS Training, said that it isn’t enough to set standards -- you need to enforce them. In some cases, he said meeting or at least striving to meet standards should be a condition of employment.

He offers the following “non-negotiable” standards you should enforce in your business:

Provide Service to Customers of Closed Jewelry Stores

Jewelers of America recently took a call from a consumer who had diligently held on to the lifetime warranty on her 16-year-old diamond engagement ring. Unfortunately, in these tough times, the jewelry business that issued the warranty had gone bankrupt. With no one available to honor her warranty going forward, this customer -- like many others -- needs to find a new jeweler who she can trust with her jewelry service needs. This story is not uncommon these days. And there are ways that you, a reputable jeweler, can help -- and attract new customers in the process.

David Peters, Jewelers of America’s resident education and management expert, offers the advice to help you help consumers who have jewelry warranties that no longer apply:

Price Merchandise Strategically

When it comes to pricing your merchandise, there are a number of factors to consider before reaching that final number. That’s why the price may seem right to you, but without careful consideration, you could end up being over -- or under.

David Peters, Jewelers of America’s resident education and management expert, offers the following advice to help you properly price jewelry product: