Here’s How The Digital World Is Changing The Way Our Readers Do Business

Question: How is the digital world changing the way you do business?

• We do 95 percent of our advertising through digital marketing. We use Facebook, Instagram and even do ads through Google. Most people, including myself, use Google to verify a business. I have young people that create ads and monitor my pages. — Amber Gustafson, Amber’s Designs, Katy, TX
• I’m hiring a full-time person dedicated to the digital business. — Earl Grenfell, Spellbound Fine Jewelry, Port Washington, NY
• It’s hard to keep up with all the resources available for driving e-comm these days. So we try to set goals for what we want to accomplish and prioritize our time to look into those activities. Otherwise, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed and waste time going down rabbit holes! — Lucy Conklin, Toner Jewelers, Overland Park, KS
• Rather than conform to changing marketing strategies, I’m pursuing clients who prefer “the traditional way” of doing things. — J. Dennis Petimezas, Watchmakers Diamonds & Jewelry, Johnstown, PA
• Focusing more on texting, and our website has changed a lot. No longer a bad thing to have your phone on you when you are on the floor. — Anne Marie Marker, Rolland’s Jewelers, Libertyville, IL
• Advertising is cheaper! — Kas Jacquot, Kas A Designs, Jefferson City, MO
• Requiring us to photograph our products better, understand digital marketing better, and consider shipping and product presentation. — Cathy Miller, Caleesi Designs Jewelers, Austin, TX
• I get calls from Google now saying it is Google connecting a call. It took two weeks to convince my husband that the calls were from customers and not Google. Otherwise, we are just doing what metalsmiths have done for thousands of years: make stuff, fix stuff, and be the best we can be. — Jo Goralski, The Jewelry Mechanic, Oconomowoc, WI
• The difficulty of the challenge is remembering which media portal someone contacted me on so I can find the information I need to complete the job/sale/inquiry. Sheesh! But I love it! Being able to engage in FaceTime with snowbirds or explain a CAD to completion without having someone in my store … it is magical! It is the new pre-shopping experience, so we do our best to make it fun and informative. Techno MONEY — it makes my heart sing! — Denise Oros, Linnea Jewelers, La Grange, IL
• We learned really fast in March last year that we are way behind the curve! We are focusing on our website and it’s a lot of work! We need to hire someone to take on the task of creating content and doing descriptions! — Natasha Henderson, Saxon’s Fine Jewelers, Bend, OR
• Podium allows us to chat with the customers when the store is closed without giving out our personal cell numbers. — Sue Parker, Nyman Jewelers, Excanaba, MI
• Continue with Facebook and Instagram though unsure of impact. Website netted our first five good sales online this past December, and we were initially very pleased to see any sales at all until in January two of the five proved to be fraudulent. We are in the dispute process now with Wix acting as intermediary between us and the buyer’s bank. Resolution expected in April! Sheesh! — John Carom, Abby’s Gold & Gems, Uniontown, PA
• Hard to build rapport with clients. Don’t get to hear about their families, etc. Relationship building is not what it used to be. Neither is loyalty. — Stacey Gelmici-Saunders, Gelmici Jewellers, Edson, AB
• Over the past 10 years, my sales have gone from 75 percent in-store, 25 percent online, to about 70 percent online, 30 percent in-store. And that trend was well under way long before COVID-19. I also appreciate how easy it is to get my “message” out to hundreds of people at a time, even though social media and email marketing are just more things to squeeze into a busy day! — Janne Etz, Contemporary Concepts, Cocoa, FL
• People are definitely wanting to shop selections from home but not necessarily buy from home. We’ve found that our social media posts and website have been a great tool for customers to see what we offer and then come in, so we’ve definitely upped our social media posts, the items on our website, and are going to start using QR codes in our store for customers to scan and get more information. — Becky Bettencourt, Blue River Diamonds, Peabody, MA
• It’s making the “day to day” of doing business easier. The digital world has allowed us to show diamonds to customers who work from home or are across the country. We are able to do more business with less stress. — Tim Sherrer, Lou’s Jewelry, Mobile, AL
• We now have TikTok, and the Pandora friendship ring posts are driving sales in our area. it is incredible to see. — Amanda Lanteigne, Gold-N-Memories, Steinbach, MB
• We are receiving more clients due to our online reviews than traditional advertising. We do not really have much of an online store, and we have not done much e-commerce, but the in-store traffic has increased due to reviews. — Eric Stevens, Stevens Diamond Jewelers, West Springfield, MA
• More and more people are finding us online. Our monthly advertising budget compared to the old days are a fraction of what we used to spend … we’re able track our advertising dollars much more effectively through online analytics. — David Abrams, Grand Jewelers, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
• We post on social every day. I can’t understand why everyone isn’t doing it. It’s free and it’s a great way to show pieces. We do not sell online, but we do sell things from social. — Michael Kanoff, Michael’s Jewelers, Yardley, PA
• Social media reaches are customers individually and with products that they want to see. We make a lot of sales simply putting a few items on social media once a week. — Mark Goodman, Goodman Jewelers of Abingdon, Abingdon, VA
• Everything is faster. Our computers went down for a week (there’s a story for INSTORE if you like) and it was amazing how slow the world became. We are addicted to technology. — Steven B. Goldfarb, Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler, Bellevue, WA