In The Digital Doc, Smart Age Solutions answers jewelers’ questions about how to use digital marketing on the local level to bring in more customers and make more sales.
Do you have a question for the Digital Doc? Send it to digitaldoc@smartagesolutions.com.
Q: I’m rebuilding my website, and I really want to set myself apart from other jewelers in my town. What is the best way to do that?
A: This is a great point and certainly should be a focus when designing your website. I’d imagine you (and all jewelers) take a lot of pride in your own brand and the experience you give your guests. I’d suggest that you create a captivating design while making it easy for customers to browse and interact with products. When a customer lands on your site, they will look at the design and associate your creativity there with your ability to create the ring of their dreams. Your homepage should be impressive, and should present a mix of lifestyle and product imagery that your customers can identify themselves with and aspire to. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make an impression in the way that international brands with millions of customers have.
Q: I’m feeling overwhelmed with the amount of digital ads I can do! What works and how do I make sure I stand out?
A: Well, the short answer to this question is there’s a bit of a feel out process to know what “works.” My suggestion is to try to just focus on what is considered the low hanging fruit of digital: Google Search and social media ads. If this is completely new territory to you, certainly consult an industry-focused or local agency to get an idea of how to budget. You should expect to spend 1-3% of your monthly revenue on digital advertising.
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Q: Is it worth adding a “Live Chat” feature on my website?
A: Live Chat can be an incredible tool to have IF you are able to fully take advantage of it. Being accessible to your customers 24/7 can have a dramatic impact on sales. The only way you should implement this feature is if you are able to maintain the resources to manage incoming inquiries. First, you should have a live chat that designated employees can access from their mobile devices. From there, create a shift schedule of who will manage the incoming inquiries. Here is the most vital part: if you open yourself up to allow a text/instant message, the customer is going to expect an instant reply. Statistically speaking, your window to reply before the average consumer bounces is less than 2 minutes. If you can manage all of this, get to chatting!
