Direct Marketing

INSTORE

Direct Marketing

Last Updated on Sunday, 08 February 2009 06:26 Written by Fred Michmershuizen Monday, 08 September 2008 06:23

DIRECT MAIL HAS BECOME so sophisticated lately that with a good customer list and a clever idea, just about any retail jeweler can create an effective campaign that will have customers beating down the doors. "Targeting new prospects in a jeweler’s trade area has never been more accurate, easier, faster and less expensive,” says James Porte, a jewelry industry marketing expert who is president of Porte Marketing Group. “Using demographic tools, jewelers can target consumers in their area based on household income, net worth, gender, age or credit history.” As for the concepts behind the mailings themselves, there really are no limits. To get you inspired, INSTORE checked with some marketing experts, who offered the following tips and ideas.

MARKET YOUR NICHE. Are you known for phenomenal trunk shows? Do you do a lot of appraisals? Maybe you buy scrap metal? Whatever it is that your store excels at, be sure to let customers and potential customers know with a direct-mail piece. Many campaigns, which can be executed for less than a dollar per household, pay for themselves many times over. (If you don’t believe this is possible, check out the accompanying success stories.)

REMEMBER YOU CUSTOMERS' BIG DAYS. “Outside of Christmas, the two biggest reasons why people buy jewelry are birthdays and anniversaries,” Porte says. That’s why personalized birthday and anniversary cards sent to top customers from the store owner are especially effective. Just be careful, Porte cautions, about the timing of your mailings. It’s best, he says, for the mailing to reach customers about 10 days before the big day.

TARGET YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC. Think about who you want walking through your doors, and target those consumers. “In real time, a jeweler can now literally search over 200 million households in less than 60 seconds,” Porte says. For example, it is possible for a jeweler to target prospects who earn over $75,000 a year, have a net worth of $500,000 or more and are married, who live within a seven-minute drive time to their store.

CLEAN YOUR LIST. Before you send out your mailing, Porte says, be sure you have a clean mailing list. A process called CASS certification removes duplicates and verifies each address is deliverable. To make things even better, a National Change of Address “cleansing” will look up new addresses for the people who have moved and will give you back a corrected list.

BE CREATIVE! Whatever you do, keep it interesting. For example, try this wild idea that we got from industry expert David Geller: “Get defunct currency from a foreign country,” Geller says. “You can buy about 1,000 pieces of money for $50 to $70 (nickel to a dime). Send it in an envelope with a letter that reads, ‘Why am I sending this money from East Germany? The country doesn’t even exist anymore and this currency is not worth the paper it’s printed on, but here, at Johnson Jewelers, it’s worth $100 toward anything in the store.” Geller says you can even offer prizes for lucky serial numbers on the money.

CASE STUDY

CUMBERLAND DIAMOND EXCHANGE,
SMYRNA, GA

While many other stores were complaining late last year about anemic store traffic, Cumberland Diamond Exchange bucked the trend with a proactive direct-mail piece. The Atlanta area retailer sent a color booklet printed on heavy card stock filled with product selections and a $100 gift certificate to 5,000 local consumers. And it paid off — big time. In one day alone, the retailer reported having 500 people in the store.

EARTH TREASURES FINE JEWELERS
EATON TOWN, NJ
Jewelry is a personal business. Maybe that’s why, for retail jewelers at least, sometimes the best advertising is word of mouth. Whenever Earth Treasures Fine Jewelers makes a sale as the result of a referral, the store sends a personalized thank-you card to the referring customer complete with a $50 gift certificate. And the retailer doesn’t waste any time doing so, either. The cards go out from Target Mailers within 48 hours and cost just 97 cents including postage.

YOUR PERSONAL JEWELER OF LAKE NORMAN
CORNELIUS, NC
“Contrary to the doom and gloom of some other jewelers, I am busy. I’m lucky,” Michael Malyszko says. Perhaps luck didn’t have so much to do with it. The proprietor of Your Personal Jeweler sent out a personalized, full-color mailer on glossy card stock to residents of Cornelius, NC, which has kept him busy with repair work ever since. “With postage it worked out to 90 cents each, but I more than made it up on the repairs and ‘browsing’ sales I made,” he says. “My main objective was to get folks in the door, and it worked.”

BERRY'S JEWELERS
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX

With the economy sputtering and the price of gold soaring to new heights, John Berry decided to turn the situation to his advantage. With the help of Target Mailers (www.targetmailers.com), he sent out a direct-mail piece in a Ziploc bag, inviting people to put their old jewelry into the bag and bring it in to his store for cash or to be used in new jewelry designs. He also promoted the concept on his store’s website. It was a great way to get people’s attention.

MONTICA JEWELRY
CORAL GABLES, FL
Everything that Montica Jewelry does is geared toward providing customers with the highest level of service and satisfaction. To that end, the luxury jewelry retailer sends its customers a birthday postcard that doubles as a certificate for a complimentary bottle of wine. Owner John O’Rourke says timing is crucial. He has his mailings set up to go almost daily, without fail, exactly 12 days before his customers’ birthdays.

Set as favorite

Email This

Comments (0) Add Comment