MARKETINGHomegrown Stars
Need social media models? Look no further than your customers. It’s worked wonders for Bullock’s Jewelry in Roswell, NM. “We get a big response from the ads because the model looks familiar to our customers and, as a bonus, we find out what the customers really like in our showcase because they pick out what to model,’” says owner Kyle Bullock. In exchange for use of their image, the models get pampering treatment in the store, their own glamour shots and local renown. “It’s been the best social campaign we’ve done and has helped humanize our brand as a store,” says Bullock.
OPERATIONSMeetings on Hold
Feeling like your meetings just aren’t that productive? Hold a moratorium for a week or month or however long and look for alternative ways to disseminate the information. Make a note for when things aren’t being communicated well and then reintroduce meetings for those instances.
MARKETINGCoast to Success
Cross marketing doesn’t have to be huge. Exclusively Diamonds in Mankato, MN, has found outsized success by placing ring-sizer coasters at a small chain of local restaurants. “The coasters really drive our bridal sales by making it easy for the customer to start the conversation about what his or her finger size may be,” says co-owner Maria Brown. (It helps that the restaurants are owned by the husband of Exclusively’s other owner, Sarah Person, but it’s a neat idea regardless!)
CUSTOMER RELATIONSUp Your Engagement
With the economy cooling, you should be looking to increase your online engagement with current customers, recommends Erich Jacobs, president of the Jewelers Board of Trade, explaining that it “becomes a cushion against a downturn because when pocketbooks tighten, they have an incentive to search for more affordable options if you’re not engaging with them.”
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MARKETINGHire a TikTok Intern
Marketers have long turned to young people to help them navigate new social platforms. TikTok is no different. But according to a story in the New York Times, it helps to cut them a lot of creative slack, and even allow these youngsters to become the face of your brand, given the direct nature of the channel, let alone its often confusing mix of voice snippets, song clips, and unique vernacular. “The best way to do it is just to hire college interns,” the report quotes one small business owner as saying. One such intern created a video for Claire’s that generated 1.5 million views and 20,000 new followers for the company’s TikTok account.
HIRINGExperience Doesn’t Equal Performance
When hiring, don’t mistake experience for past performance. Setting requirements like “three to five years of experience in a retail setting” is no guarantee of landing yourself a solid hire. The data is clear, says behavorial psychologist Adam Grant: “Past experience rarely predicts future performance. What matters is past performance — and current motivation and ability. It’s how well people can learn to do a job, not how long they’ve already
done it.”
PRODUCTIVITYThe Rule of Three
Want to improve the productivity of email and avoid flame wars? Use the “Rule of Three,” writes Jim Schleckser in INC: If you can’t resolve something in three emails or less, it’s time to pick up the phone. “It’s been my experience that this results in a 100 percent success rate in resolving the issue, usually within minutes of getting on the phone, while limiting unnecessary email,” he says.
