Time for your digital health check-up

It’s easy to get caught up in the implementation of a business’ online marketing without keeping track of its progress. Emily Mobbs says stop, and take a digital health check using the following steps.

Over the past five issues, Logged On has provided a series of online marketing strategies, covering everything from email campaigns to Instagram.

With a flurry of new information to digest, jewellers could be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed. Before any unnecessary panic attacks occur, take a breather to revise and ensure that a business’ online presence is in order.

The following checklist is designed to help evaluate whether online opportunities are being maximised.

1. Think social business

There’s a difference between social media and social media marketing. The former is for personal use while the latter has a business purpose, to generate sales leads.

Treatment:

• Incorporate social media activities into overall marketing strategies and set a budget as you would traditional media
• Identify customers and create value propositions that will benefit and engage i.e., a guide to caring for pearl jewellery  
• Create accounts for two social media platforms that will best serve your business

2. Generate sales leads

A business should be aiming to turn “friends” into sales leads. This means creating a transaction of information, where a jeweller will provide something of value (complimentary ring clean) through a call-to-action, in return for customer contact details.

Treatment:

• Brainstorm three calls-to-action that can be rotated monthly
• Dedicate a time each week/month to collate the new contact details
• Decide what to do with the collected data. How about reaching out with an email?

3. Make (email) love not spam

There are a number of ways to transform an email from something that is scarcely read to one that motivates customers to visit your online and bricks-and-mortar stores.

Treatment:

• Create targeted lists, where contacts are sorted into interest groups
• Develop five content ideas that allow customers to learn more about your business
• Ensure newsletters have an “unsubscribe” option
• Keep emails mobile-friendly with punchy and simple content. Don’t forget to keep a consistent design template
• Make sure emails have visible links to your other social media channels

4. Turn Instagram snaps into sales

Instagram is about sharing a business’ personality via personal or behind-the-scenes images. Sharing jewellery designs and stone-selection processes will allow customers to connect and get excited about your business.

Treatment:

• Use industry events as photo sharing opportunities and get your audience involved in selecting stock
• Define a list of standardised hashtags to be used on posts. For example, business name, business location

5. Win customers with a blog

Like all online strategies, a blog should be used as a platform to share industry insight. It’s another avenue to build further credibility and garner trust from potential customers.

Treatment:

• Brainstorm your most FAQs and create a blog post around each one
• Think of three in-depth industry issues (9-carat v 18-carat gold, lab-created diamonds) that can be used for a blog post, and three industry events that might excite your audience
• Promote blog posts through other social media channels and e-newsletters
• Place calls-to-action (that were developed for lead generation) at the top or sidebar of a blog

Visit the “Learn About” section on jewellermagazine.com for more content inspiration and contact us if you would like to use anything
The key to all of this is developing relevant content for a targeted audience and ensuring all online activity works in union with each other. Don’t be too concerned with the number of “followers” or “fans” you may have – you’re here to reach your audience and they will grow organically provided the fundamentals are covered and you engage them.