This holiday season, look to pieces that will help to fill out customers’ everyday diamond jewelry wardrobe, experts say.
5 tips on getting more sales out of social media
Likeable Local’s Vice President of Marketing Nicole Kroese and National Jeweler Editor-in-Chief Michelle Graff give advice on how retailers can best use their social media channels to optimize sales this holiday season.
New York--When the holiday season rolls around, social media can be a great way to reach even more customers and boost sales.
But it’s important that retailers don’t use it to just post pictures of the jewelry they carry or announce a sale; social media requires a little more effort and thought to ensure it’s not only reaching existing customers but also reaching potential future customers and building relationships as well.
Last week, National Jeweler teamed up with Likeable Local to present a webinar called “5 Ways to Use Social Media to Increase Holiday Sales,” led by Likeable Local’s Vice President of Marketing Nicole Kroese and moderated by National Jeweler Editor-in-Chief Michelle Graff.
Below are the five major points from the webinar. The full presentation can be found here.
1. Show personality and product. While it is, of course, acceptable to post products and pieces that the store carries, it’s also important to include stories about culture, employees and customers to show what makes the retailer unique. “As the holidays are approaching and you’re looking to increase holiday sales, you want to convince people why they should buy from you over the competition, and sometimes a personal touch is really all that it takes," Kroese said.
Graff also recommends engaging clients by asking questions as well as providing content, whether it be articles the store created or outside content that is still relevant to customers and that they might find interesting.
2. Ask for engagement to capitalize on social word-of-mouth. According to Kroese, 77 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from a business recommended by family or friends, so it’s important for the store to encourage this with customers.
The best way to do this is to make it easy for customers to refer their friends, whether that’s a landing page on the store’s website meant just to send an email to a friend or a post on a social account that asks clients to tag a friend if they like it. Most people will only be too happy to tell their friends of a place that has done a good job for them.
Engagement also is important because it enhances the reach of a post into more users’ feeds. When a friend “likes” a page or comments on a post, it will show up in front of even more friends. To maximize engagement
3. Listen and respond to everyone. When people are interacting with the store on any social media channel, employees must respond back. Even if the retailer gets negative feedback, don’t delete or ignore it as that shows them that the store doesn’t care. No response can still be seen as a response, Kroese said.
Likeable suggests the LAST strategy---listen, apologize, solve and thank. The fact that the store acknowledges that a bad incident happened means it’s listening and puts it ahead of the game, according to Kroese. It’s also a good idea to respond publicly and resolve privately--respond directly to the comment where it happened, acknowledge the comment and apologize for any issues, and then let the poster know that the store would like to send them a private message to resolve it.
Graff noted that if the employee or store owner is too emotional to respond in a professional and productive manner right away, it might be a good idea to take some time before responding. Kroese added that Likeable’s best practices say to wait no longer than 48 hours to get back to someone.
4. Advertise on social. As anyone who uses Facebook for business has likely seen, the “Facebook Reachageddon” resulting from the social network changing its algorithm means that organic reach is much smaller now. In fact, for any business that isn’t paying to boost posts, only 1 to 2 percent of fans will see posts organically. Therefore, to be successful, businesses do need to pay in order to see any sort of significant reach.
Given that Facebook allows business to target very specific demographics and that they now also offer the ability to advertise on Instagram at the same time, businesses can more strategic than ever.
During the holidays, retailers also should look into promoted pins on Pinterest, Graff said. Pinterest users in general have a higher income and a higher rate of purchase from brands they connect with on the social channel, so this would likely be worth a retailer’s time and money.
Overall, be sure that advertising investment is going to a channel in which the store already has a strong presence.
5. Make tools and automation your best friend. It’s important to stay active on social media to remain top-of-mind with customers.
When time is limited, there are a number of tools retailers can use to set up and schedule posts ahead of time and keep on top of responding to comments. This also allows businesses to reach social media users where they really are--on mobile. Tools that businesses can use for this include HootSuite, the Likeable Hub and TurboPost Technology.
The Latest

The Natural Diamond Council is now The Diamond Collective and has announced a new strategy under CEO Amber Pepper.

Paul’s Jewelers sells coffee, chocolate, and cookies from a custom gold-wrapped trailer parked outside the store starting at 7 a.m.

Experience gemstones with greater precision and comfort than ever before.

Part of its brand relaunch, the marketing around the campaign includes a contest involving a jacket set with 550 diamonds.


The curation, opening soon at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, honors the jeweler’s heritage through a distinctly American lens.

The jewelry giant has partnered with the famed makeup artist to create a colorful new collection of charms and rings.

Submit your pieces for a chance to win in this year's competition.

The association will mark the milestone at its convention next month.

The jeweler donated school supplies to Memphis, Tennessee, students during the event combining basketball and mentorship.

A federal judge denied Pandora’s motion to dismiss Foundrae’s claim for copyright infringement of its medallions.

People aren’t thinking rationally when they are buying luxury products, and we shouldn’t be selling them that way, Peter Smith writes.

The Baltimore Business Journal recognized the entrepreneur for her leadership in business and the jewelry industry.

The facility is located within SEEPZ and is GCAL by Sarine’s second location in India, joining its existing grading lab in Surat.

The four-day show is slated for Nov. 19-22 at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood.

Offered at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the one-of-a-kind white gold watch now holds the title of most valuable Cartier wristwatch sold at auction.

Bernstein-Gulla has been working in the jewelry industry for 40 years, most recently as chief engagement officer for Hill & Co.

The relocated Glendale store, now at The Americana at Brand, was designed to be a contemporary “timepiece haven” inspired by luxury resorts.

The top lot of the auction house’s Hong Kong jewelry sale was an Art Deco Mauboussin necklace with ruby beads, which sold for $2 million.

Retailers and manufacturers headed to the Capitol this week to discuss tariff exemptions for diamonds and gemstones, among other issues.

Our Piece of the Week is a pair of drop earrings from the “Sway” collection featuring Nanis’ first use of mirror-polished gold.

SynthDetect 2 can scan a full tray in less than five minutes, De Beers said, making it six times faster than its predecessors.

Two metal detectorists discovered the ring, which may have belonged to English noblewoman Matilda of Lancaster, in Suffolk.

The bill has a provision that allows the president to raise tariffs on countries that import Russian oil and gas to as much as 100 percent.

The American Gem Society presented the annual award to a former president of its board.

The “Chrysalis” capsule centers butterfly motifs representing growth, transformation, and the unfolding of who you are.

Jewelers of Louisiana presented Patton, the third-generation president of Pattons Fine Jewelry, with the award at its annual convention.























