On Marketing: A Social Christmas

Published

12 years ago

August 19, 2013

INSTORE Staff

On Marketing: A Social Christmas

How marketing through Facebook can bring your store holiday cheer

BY SHANE O’NEILL

Published in the September 2013 issue.

The holidays are the biggest marketing push of the year for retail jewelers. Media dollars are placed in the market with care, in hopes that store traffic will soon be there. I hope some of that budget is directed at Facebook, because it delivers big for jewelers who plan for it. If you’re still not taking this stuff seriously, look out for a big lump of coal in your social stocking.

THE INGREDIENTS

Based on our strategies with jewelers, we know that Facebook offers the best social medium to connect with consumers. Experience tells us that the most commented on, shared and liked Facebook posts are based on products. We also know why the holidays are such a big sales driver: gift giving. Of course, people also love to enter contests and promotions, but those can be problematic, time consuming and a distraction. But what if we created a simple sweepstakes with the idea of gift giving? Combine that with the fact that people have never been more plugged in, and we have our ingredients: Facebook, products (gifts), sweepstakes and an audience.

BUILDING THE PLATFORM

People love to like and share products. So, let’s give it to them in the form of a Holiday Gift Ideas Facebook page. Using custom page apps added to a Facebook page, we developed a custom catalog with three sections; Gifts Under $500, Gifts Over $500 and a Welcome Page, complete with “Like” and “Share” buttons, incorporating a Winter Wonderland Sweepstakes, which offered the chance to win one of five jewelry gifts. So, now we have an online holiday catalog for fans to browse and a chance to win a fabulous gift, just in time for the holiday.

PUSHING THE PROMO

As with any media, we need to get eyes on our creation. We accomplish this in several ways. First, we incorporate it with the rest of our other media efforts like email blasts, website, mailers and print advertising. We want to get these eyes to your Facebook page, not just to see the gift ideas, but to acquire fans. Next, we feature additional products from the store in page posts that link directly to the Holiday Gift Ideas Catalog. This way you can push your message to your fan base. The final component is using Facebook advertising to target consumers in your area and drive traffic to your page.

GAUGING THE RESULTS

The first metric we should talk about is fans. Always look at fans from a quality-over-quantity perspective, not just fans as a number. We have no interest in fans who don’t have an affinity for jewelry, who don’t live within a certain radius of the store, or who don’t meet a basic demographic profile. What you’re looking for are “organic” fans who are highly targeted individuals with potential to buy. In the case of James O. Poag Jewellers in Strathroy, ON, which tried this, the store added over 1,100 targeted organic fans with more than a 400 percent viral increase in the people who saw content from the page. Not bad for a 35-day marketing effort.

But it didn’t stop there. These new fans translated into in-store sales from the products featured in Facebook posts. One example was the sale of four $240 Lafonn rings in a few short days, a direct result of Facebook posts. That’s a measurable ROI and the beginning of a very happy new year.

Shane O’Neill is director of Digital Marketing at Fruchtman Marketing. Email him at shane@fruchtman.com.

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When Brockhaus Jewelry decided to leave their longtime West Main Street storefront for a standalone building elsewhere in Norman, Oklahoma, owners John Brockhaus and Brad Shipman faced a familiar challenge: how to efficiently reduce inventory before the big move. Their solution? Partnering with liquidation specialists Wilkerson for a second time. "We'd already experienced Wilkerson's professionalism during a previous sale," Shipman recalls. "But their approach to our relocation event truly impressed us. They strategically prioritized our existing pieces while tactfully introducing complementary merchandise as inventory levels decreased." The carefully orchestrated sale didn't just meet targets—it shattered them. Asked if they'd endorse Wilkerson to industry colleagues planning similar transitions—whether relocating, retiring, or refreshing their space—both partners were emphatic in their approval. "The entire process was remarkably straightforward," Shipman notes. "Wilkerson delivered a well-structured program, paired us with a knowledgeable advisor, and managed every detail flawlessly from concept to completion."