The PR Adviser: Dear Lilian

But until your site visitors become customers, they need reasons to contact you. They need to know what you offer.

Christina and I differ on which luxury website offers the most inspiring design. Christina is all-American with Tiffany & Co. And I, who’s never seen a flute of Taittinger (or any other French product for that matter) I didn’t immediately want, j’aime Cartier. 

We’re both right for different reasons. Albeit, for a budget less than a tenth of Cartier’s annual earnings, Tiffany’s website is your better muse.

What we want you to notice on Tiffany’s site, first and foremost, is the white background.  

“You want a white background because jewelry shows up best on white,” Christina advises. “Black is a very difficult color to work with in web design.”

Christina recommends banner imagery for your home page. Banners spread across a browser’s full width, and when properly designed, welcome in visitors. They highlight immediately your unique positioning while luring visitors deeper into the site.

Integrate Barbados by using subtle allusions to your island. Perhaps conduct a photo shoot with your vendors’ jewelry elegantly styled on beach sands. Or have a woman wearing your vendors’ gems standing before an exquisite golden sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.

If you don’t want to invest in a photo shoot, ask your vendors to provide you with high-resolution images. For your home page, include a few revolving banner images from brands exclusive to you. Make sure you prominently note somewhere on those images “Available exclusively at Heather Harrington Jones.”

Your vendors, Doves by Doron Paloma, Mattioli, and Oromalia, all have gorgeous pictures on their home pages they might be willing to provide in exchange for photography credit. I personally love Vendorafa Italy’s home page image of jewelry-as-leaves.  It tells a million stories, all of which end with “what else is available from Vendorafa?”

After your home page shows them a bit of leg, the rest of your site should whisper “come hither,” with “hither” being your “Contact Us” page.

Hmm … is it just a coincidence that I’m referencing mostly your Italian vendors, or have I drank one too many Limoncellos here on the Caeser Augustus hotel terrace to see anything other than prodotti di Italia?

Perhaps that’s a question best answered after another Chianti.

Back to your website.

The very essence of creating an experiential site is to evoke emotion from visitors. Emotions are the quintessence of luxury.

Your new website’s job, Heather, love, is to tease potential customers with products extraordinarily different from other Barbadian jewelers--products exclusive only to you.

After your home page shows them a bit of leg, the rest of your site should whisper “come hither,” with “hither” being your “Contact Us” page.

Use your “About Us” page to declare your ties to Barbados. Have fun with a Barbados-inspired photo shoot, where you serve as supermodel in stunning jewelry. Match your photos with a personal testimony as to why you love the island.

Your “Designers” page requires a white background. Multiple images set on a black background are visually disruptive. Luxury is all about ease. Make things easy on the eyes.

Christina and I highly recommend featuring more than two products on your vendors’ individual pages.  Give your potential customers something to lust after. If they’re not already familiar with Tagliamonte, two random images won’t solicit a call with their Centurion card number to get your latest Tagliamonte exclusive. 

We recommend at least six to eight product images per vendor.  Plan on updating images monthly so customers have reason to come back to your site regularly.

Assuming you’re not planning an e-commerce site, still allow customers to click through your vendors’ product images. The subsequent page should feature an enlarged image, product name or number, and description.

Because you are not selling online, rather than listing prices, use “Contact us for pricing.” The name and/or number will make it easier to know which item is being summoned to your customer’s jewelry collection.

Lastly, create a monthly email newsletter and encourage all site visitors to subscribe. A newsletter as simple as “what Heather found this month” will do, with a picture of your recently discovered gem and the designer’s bio. Mind you, “recently discovered” is subjective, so don’t feel you have to be on a monthly hunt for something new to feature. Last year is more recent than five years ago!

Now darling Heather, this is where I must leave you. I saw a gorgeous Damiani ring in Quisisana Hotel’s lobby showcase yesterday on my way to their pool and I must now contact them for pricing.

Thank you, Christina, for your contributions.

Ciao bello, beloved readers. Until next month--and please send me your pressing PR and marketing questions!

Lilian Raji is a strategic marketing and public relations adviser who helps luxury lifestyle brands sell more products to luxury buyers. Send questions for The PR Adviser to nationaljeweler@lmrpr.com or contact her at lilian@lmrpr.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.