Your Customers are on Social Media
You look around and see people constantly looking at their phones. They are more than likely on some sort of social media channel. As a business owner, you want to put your brand where people are spending their time. Posting on your favorite social media platform is a great way to share your brand with potential customers. You can inject a lot of personality into what you post, put your brand in front of new people, and have fun at the same time.
The jewelry industry is huge on visually driven platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. Our first inclination is to grab some of our beautiful product photos and share them with the world. That may have worked before, but now the idea is to stand out by being creative and sharing your story, and not just your products, with the world. This is where good content (information and experiences that are directed towards an end-user or audience) comes in.
Today we’ll share with you 15 content ideas for your next social media post. Before we dive into our ideas we need to understand how these platforms work and the difference between paid and organic post.
Paid vs Organic Post
When platforms like Facebook and Instagram first came out they needed content to get new users on their channels, so anytime businesses would post something on Facebook and it would show up on their follower’s page. This was known as organic content because the business did not have to pay to have their content seen.
Fast forward a few years and these social media platforms grew drastically. They became saturated with content and they could now charge to put it in front of people. Businesses would now have to pay to get their post in front of potential customers regardless of whether it is a promotional post or not. While every social media platform is different, most of them follow this same way of operating.
This shift has caused a lot of business to completely abandon posting organic content on social media. Does some organic content trickle through? Yes. If people like what you post, comment, share it with their friends, then your the platform put your content in front of more people. Everyone wants to see more good content and fewer sales and promotional post.
Two questions often come up when comparing organic and paid content. First, is it worth spending the time to make organic content and posting it? The answer is yes. Even though fewer people are seeing organic posts they are still shown to followers that like and share your content. Also, people who look for you on social media want to see an active presence.
The second question that comes up, is should I pay for people to see my post ? The answer to this is also yes, but with caution. If you have a post that you feel is good and people will like, then spend $2-3 dollars a day for a week getting it in front of people. Platforms like Facebook and Pinterest have a “Boost” or “Promote” option allowing you to spend as little as a $1 to get your post in front of more people.
Note: This is different from running ads on social media which are more complex and targeted.
3 Types of Social Media Accounts That Need A Change
“Catalog Feed”- Scroll through your feed. Does it look like a store catalog? Photo after photo of your products. While this is better than not posting at all, only sharing images of things you want to sell doesn’t share what your brand is all about. Be creative and mix things up.
“Abandoned Page”- Your last post is from over 6 months ago or you post once every 2 months. Shoppers like to research a company before they buy. This means going through the company website and social media pages. If your feed looks abandoned or neglected, then customers will assume your business operates the same way. Take a few minutes a week to post a quick message, video, or photo.
“Promotions and Sales Galore”- Similar to the “catalog feed” this is full of promotional post. Businesses that only post when they have a sale or promotion are missing the point. Your store is more than sales, discounts, and products.
Questions to Ask When Creating Content
Will people find my post informative, entertaining or both?
Don’t just post for the sake of posting. Make sure you’re sharing something that people will want to consume.
Am I having fun?
Sharing parts of your business should be fun. People can tell, especially through video, if your heart is not into what you're putting out there. Make sure you are coming from a good place when posting.
15 Social Media Post Ideas for Jewelry Stores
- Host an “AMA”- Known as Ask Me Anything. These sessions are basically Q&A sessions that you hold online. They can easily be done by going live on a specific day. The key is to build up the AMA by announcing it in advance through social media or in-store. AMA sessions are a great way to show your knowledge, expertise, and passion.
- Highlight Your Company Culture- Share some of the fun times you have at your store with the world. Your employees, the physical store, and your customers all make up what your company is all about. There are dozens of stories that come up throughout your day. Take a photo or shot a quick video of you sharing an event.
- Run a Contest- Contests are always a lot of fun and a great way to get your customers engaged with your brand. Promote your contest both online and in-store to make them really effective.
- Charity- Highlight a good cause or event and get the community involved in something you care about. Don’t make this all about showing how charitable you are. It’s about doing the right thing and helping others.
- TBT- Participate in “Throw Back Thursday” back posting a photo from back in the day. Make sure you post it on Thursday.
- Spotlight customers or community members- Show your customers some love. Maybe someone in the community did something thoughtful. Share it with others and maybe reward that person with a certificate or other gift. Share a photo or a quick video.
- Ask followers a question- Set up a poll or a quiz and ask people a question. Maybe ask them to participate in picking a new design or idea for an event. People like to participate and answer fun questions, so encourage participation and respond with a thank you or comment when people answer your question.
- Share Helpful Tip- You can really build yourself as the town jeweler by sharing useful tips with your followers. Position yourself as a knowledgeable authority in the industry and people will trust and buy from you. Shoot quick video on something like jewelry maintenance, buying tips. Get ideas by listening to what your customers need help with.
- Celebrate company milestone- Is your store celebrating something special? Don’t keep it to yourselves. Share it with your followers.
- Partner with a local business- Partner up with a local business and run a special promotion or event. This works great because both businesses can share this with their followers and increase brand awareness to a new group of people.
- Customer testimonial- Do you have a customer that can’t stop complimenting you and their experience in your store? Ask them for a quick 30-second testimonial. Shoot it with your phone and upload it. If you want people to believe good things about your store, then have your customers do the talking for you.
- Share industry news, trends, or interesting facts- You may come across a great jewelry related article or video you think people would enjoy. Share it. Don’t just share the link and tell people to read. Instead, write a couple of sentences and share your view or encourage others to engage with your post by asking them a question.
- Seasonal Post- Holidays always bring common themes you can post about. Think about seasonal events that are just in your town or location. Festivals and events are also a good thing to share a video about.
- Share a personal accomplishment or success- Whether it's your accomplishment or an employee, it’s always good to give your company a face and share things you’re proud of. These are extra important if they are industry related because they demonstrate that you're always reaching for success.
- Share an offer- Share something special with your followers. You can have fun with this and make it exclusive to a certain number of people or make it time sensitive.
Final Thoughts
Treat your social media account as a fun bulletin board that people can follow. When you feel strongly about a post don’t be afraid to spend a small amount of money to promote your content. People will share it if it’s good and you’ll get free exposure.
Post content that is going to humanize your brand and show people what you’re all about. You’ll come across experiences throughout your day that capture what your brand is about. Take a couple of minutes to shoot a video, photo, or write something about it, and share it with your followers.
To learn more about marketing and how GemFind has helped jewelry stores bring more traffic to their stores please contact us.
Contact us today to get started. 800-373-4373