When it comes to social media for jewellers, we have a lot of experience. Our first client was a local jewellers back in the day when Facebook was still much of an unknown. Everyone was doing it, not everyone was doing it well and there was still so much to learn. We were very fortunate to be given carte blanche with this client to do what we wanted (within reason) and so we got to work testing, experimenting, getting creative and setting out to show the results that we could achieve.
To this day, The Goldmarket, Weston super Mare is still one of our longest standing clients, and one that we have worked with for almost ten years. We have learnt a lot about social media for jewellers in that time. From how to grow an audience (and how not to) and how to engage them, what works, what doesn’t and what the audience like. We’ll share our top tips and some of the pitfalls to avoid!
Growing an audience
When we took on this account it barely had any following – 300 if memory serves correctly. Being newly established, we wanted to prove our worth and show results. We quickly started creating Facebook content and encouraging people to like, share etc. This was obviously back before we knew the downsides of competitions on Facebook. Anyway, it worked and we grew the audience ten fold. The trouble is the new audience we had generated for this local seaside town jewellers was not local and nor were they ever going to spend money in a local shop that didn’t have an online ordering facility. We had an audience but not the right target market. This was our first real learning curve of how not to do things.
The right way to grow an audience
We quickly stopped the giveaways and instead started creating sponsored page likes posts little and often instead. It was clear that the only way that we were going to get new, genuine likes was to pay for it. We set up targeted ads to a specific geographic location within traveling distance of the shop. We also considered the shopping habits of people – we aimed different creatives at women to men for example.
- Diamond rings and pretty jewellery at women
- Rolex watches at men.
- We focused on gender, age, geo location and behaviours (fashion, jewellery etc)
Each time we created a Facebook campaign, we produced several different creatives so that we could test different images. We always use images that think will stop the scroll – always the way to get people’s attention.
Creating engaging posts
Our key focus was to keep our audience tuned in and engaged. We were well aware that the more someone interacts with your page, the more of your posts they will see. Our whole ethos of social media marketing is to produce engaging content – hence the name of our company.
This was the account that taught us what the audience did and didn’t like and what they wanted to see and taught us lots about social media for jewellers.
Don’t post too much of the same – however beautiful it is. Diamond rings are stunning but people soon tire of them being posted. Variety is key – the more varied and interesting, the better. We try and post a variety of jewellery, jewellery repairs (the more extreme the better). We also include the following:
- Pics of watches
- Reels where watches are ticking
- Reels of repair processes
- Pics of happy customers
- Videos of customers being served
- Videos of repairs/resizing
- Shares of blogs
- News about the next big diamond to be found
- Info about various birthstones
- Topical posts for Easter, Christmas, Mothers Day, Valentines Day
- Posts of watches when the clocks go back/forward
- Sometimes a special offer
- New items into stock
- Posts shares from brands like Rolex as they sell pre-owned Rolex and Omega watches
- Testimonial graphics
- Reels of diamonds sparkling
- Quirky pics of things happening in the shop
If you put pen to paper and start making lists of ideas, you can soon formulate a plan that will result in weeks of content. We tend to build a plan a month at a time focusing on key dates. For example during April/May we have Easter, Bank holidays, the King’s Coronation etc. For the King’s Coronation, we can talk about the crown and the Culinan diamond etc as well as many other traditions with the crown jewels.
People posts win every time
It may surprise you to know that we can post a stunning 2 carat diamond ring and get nowhere near as many lines of the couple who have come in to collect their engagement rings or the lady who has had her favourite earrings repaired. It really is all about the people. Only yesterday after a week of posts they were doing nothing, we posted a humourous post of one of the staff to reach more people, get more likes and comments than any of the beautiful jewellery images or reels that we have posted in the last couple of weeks. People want to see people – real people and the faces behind the brand.
Mix up your types of post
While we suggest that you post a variety of content – jewellery, people, staff etc. we also recommend that you mix up the creativity too. Don’t just stick with video or images. Try creating some graphic style ads or adding your logo watermark to things. We work with a program called Canva which is so easy to use from your phone to create professional looking graphics including
- Templated occasion ads – Easter, Valentine’s etc
- Reviews
- Frames
- Sale ads
- Banners
There are plenty of templates to help you get started in the app and you will be amazed at just how professional you can make things. To be able to use the professional package, you will need a subscription which you can pay for using your phone.
Real life stories win too
Stories are also good. When we repair a sentimental piece, or something considered to be beyond repair. Bespoke pieces are also a winner. This example here was a bespoke commission. The team sourced the diamond and created the mount as a surprise birthday present. It was one of our more liked posts with 33 likes.
Other top tips
Keep up to date with trends
One of the most frustrating things for us is when Facebook change the algorithm or when we have a great run of posts and then suddenly those things don’t work anymore. You have to always be on your toes, always keeping an eye on what works and what doesn’t and always mixing it up so that your content and posts don’t go stale.
What are the competition doing?
Watching what the competition are doing and the sort of content that they post will help you ascertain what works and what doesn’t Also take a look at the big brands – national jewellers, big brands like Tiffany, Gucci, Chanel, Rolex, Omega etc. Sometimes they post great show stopping content that you can share (be sure to credit them if you do).
Post at the right time
What works really well at 10am on a Monday morning may fall on an empty room on a friday at 4. Consider when you audience is online before posting your best content. We have found that Saturday’s are rarely worth posting on however, don’t let that stop you completely – if you make a post early enough on a Saturday, you will catch people having their morning coffee with their breakfast for example. Consider the times you post as well as what is seasonal. Push certain products at certain times.
Manage your expectations
Just because that diamond ring looks absolutely stunning, it doesnt necessarily mean it will resonate with everyone. It may be too expensive, too aspirational, not get seen at certain times etc. remember everything you post is trying to be heard in a crowded room. Your content really has to grab attention to be seen. The visibility you get, the more engagement, the more engagement oui get, the more visibility – its a cycle that you need to understand and work with.
Don’t expect that every post will result in several enquiries or that you are suddenly going to get a shop full or lots of online orders because you put out a great post. Social media is not about selling – its more about networking and building your brand.
Keep being creative
When you think of a post idea either get on and do it or write it down. We often visit this customer because we find once we are on site, we start seeing opportunities to create posts so we always wait for a quiet moment and get the customer to get creative with us.
We recently found some Chanel style earrings in their shop and knew they would be a winner. Instead of posting a picture showing the earrings, we used them in a staff post. Sure enough, we had someone ask how much the earrings were as they caught someone’s attention. So much better than just trying to sell your wares to people and a much better way to engage the audience., Of course, had we posted a pic of these earrings on their own, we probably would still have got enquiries but maybe the post wouldn’t have reached so many people.
Be collaborative and get involved
We know that when you pay an agency that specialises in social media marketing for jewellers to do the work for you, you don’t want to spend time doing it yourself; however, a collaborative approach always returns so much more in terms of engagement and success.
The posts we come up with collaboratively, always perform much better alongside the posts that they capture themselves. While as an agency, we can help, inspire, nudge, execute the posts etc, we arent as close to the business as you and can’t capture the same passion. Use that passion to come up with a bank of content that you can then someone else to work with. Spend an hour coming up with ideas, shoot some film, take some pics and then fire them over to the agency to do their thing. Working collaboratively always makes for much more productive social media.
Keep at it
Consistency is key when it comes to social media marketing for jewellers or any other business. Don’t post too often, don’t leave too long a gap between posts. Keep posting and keep being creative.
To discuss your business social media requirements, feel free to drop a comment here or contact us for more help.
