At the time of writing, South Africa is back under level 3 restrictions, and rumours abound that a harder lockdown is on the cards. With the pandemic still a pervasive part of daily life, this year’s Valentine’s Day strategy must take this challenge into account. As COVID-19 infection rates increase and people avoid malls and retail spaces, your online presence will need to do the heavy lifting, and the focus this year should be on your digital marketing campaigns.
Data from McKinsey indicates that even under normal conditions, two-thirds of jewellery buyers start their search online, and as many as 93% of all online experiences of a brand begin with a search engine (according to SearchEngine Journal). With big name companies spending small fortunes on Google Ads, your digital channels, referrals and JV partnerships are crucial marketing vehicles for small business.
Early January is the time to get your marketing strategy sorted. While about a quarter of consumers will begin shopping before the end of January, most get into gear in early February, and this is where statistics say most jewellery purchases will be made. Partner up with gourmet food delivery services or other players in the hospitality and restaurant industry – they’re struggling now and should be open to cross-promotions. Bonus points if you can run a competition that includes prizes like a bottle of bubbly – as it looks very likely that the alcohol ban will be extended.
Jewellery is an investment and buyers make their decisions based on emotions, usually taking their time to do so. As such, it takes more effort to convert visitors into buyers compared to other markets, and trust needs to be established.
Step 1: Ask for reviews on Google and Facebook, and share these via your channels
Research shows that 88% of people trust customer reviews as much as a referral, so reach out to your past customers now and ask for a testimonial. Since people are busy this can be a bit of a hassle, so consider offering a small discount on their next purchase or entering them into a lucky draw in exchange for their effort. You’ll need to register for a free Google My Business account, which must feature accurate, complete information or it could penalise you in search results rankings. Make sure customers know how to leave a review and send them the link so it’s easy as possible for them to do it. Try to set a deadline for submissions before the end of January that will ensure the reviews are live before most of the cold traffic searches find you. Share these stories about customers’ good experiences with your products on your social media channels and in your emails.
Step 2: Get inside your customer’s head
The most successful campaigns tell a story and create a deep connection with customers, so as usual, a thorough understanding of your ideal client is crucial. What kind of messaging will inspire them to take action? Study established, successful brands that you aspire to be like and that target a similar audience to yours. How do they speak to their customers? What imagery do they use, especially around Valentine’s Day?
Galentine’s Day is now a thing:
Falling on 13 February every year, Galentine’s Day is a celebration of female friendship. It emerged from a 2010 episode of the US sitcom Parks and Recreation and has gained traction in recent years, with an increasing number of women using the day to acknowledge the strength of their bonds, and commemorate this with gifts. If you think your target market would respond well to this concept, create a Galentine’s Day strategy alongside your Valentine’s Day one.
Step 3: Leverage social media to create buzz in January
71% of consumers are likely to purchase an item based on social media referrals, and 25% of search engine results go to user-generated content. On Instagram for example, user-generated content has been shown to increase purchases of jewellery by 2.4x.
- Find an influencer who fits your brand image and appeals to the target audience you’re looking to reach, and offer to send them a piece from your range. In exchange, negotiate a set amount of photographic posts they should make (by a certain date) in which they tag your brand and mention why they love it. Bonus points if they will also demonstrate how the piece/s can be worn and styled.
- Ask your followers to post a photo of their purchase and stating what they love the most about it. You could offer an incentive like a lucky draw discount or giveaway.
Step 4: Asking for the sale
Remind your customers via email and social media that Valentine’s Day is coming up. Your timeframes here will depend on your lead times for manufacture, but remember the crucial period for most buyers is the first two weeks of February. Schedule a few emails at least for this fortnight to ensure that your products remain at the forefront of the customers’ minds (without being overbearing), and post at least every day. Alert your clients that custom Valentine’s jewellery needs to be ordered ASAP, and perhaps offer a great discount for orders placed immediately. Reinforce your shipping and order deadlines to prompt shoppers to make the purchase, and don’t forget about those statistically significant last-minute buyers, for whom gift cards might be a last resort. Create a gift guide so your customers have a ready list of ideas, and highlight products that people might not have normally thought of gifting.
You’ve no doubt been busy producing enough of the stock that sold well in previous years and cleaning, polishing and photographing your inventory for listing. Buying jewellery is a sensory experience – most customers prefer to feel the product in their hands and see it from all angles. To secure online sales, consider creating videos of your pieces showing how they look when worn, or invest in a professional for outstanding photos.
By now, you’ve hopefully implemented promotional offers on-site, created content around specific products, and built out a Valentine’s-specific landing page. Your website must be capturing leads for follow-up. Cart abandonment rates are especially high during Valentine’s shopping (76% for retail) so be sure to implement cart abandonment solutions that will help you increase sales conversion during this period. As they say, the fortune is in the follow-up. That being said, messages to your client’s phone are more direct and personal than email, so utilise WhatsApp to send promo flyers and include a personalised message too. Even better would be giving your past clients a phone call.
Step 5: Share the love to build your brand as well as moving product
Create a loveable content strategy that will underpin all of your social media posts for the first 2 weeks of February. You could ask your followers to post about how they met their beloved, or interesting ideas for how to spend quality time together safely during this pandemic, or the inspiring love stories of their parents or grandparents. The goal here is to spark conversations and encourage comments for better engagement and sharing. It must be in line with your brand values and essence. More ideas to try include:
- Donating a portion of sales to a shelter for abused women and using your voice to support the anti-GBV campaigns that hard lockdown highlighted as a necessity
- Encourage your audience to engage in random acts of love, large all small, and to tag your brand when they do. These can be as simple as making a cup of tea for their partner or paying for a stranger’s parking, and perhaps focus on support for our medical professionals. You can reward your favourites with a discount code.
- Celebrate self-love: Ask for ideas on how we can to be kind to ourselves on Valentine’s Day.
- Acknowledge the great sacrifices our frontline workers are making by offering them discounts on your range throughout the month
- Worst gift ever competition: award a gift certificate to the winner and take the opportunity to promote excellent (and easily shareable) alternatives from your range. You can also pick your top 5 submissions and hold a public vote to decide the winner for higher engagement.
- A similar competition theme is worst ex or worst breakup, and asking people to answer these kinds of questions using only gifs and emojis also gets amusing results that attract eyeballs.
- “Tag someone who…” would love this / should buy this for you (posted with a photo of your jewellery)
- “Love is…” (prompt people to comment their answers or tag loved ones)
The couples that survived the last 10 months will be eager to commemorate their bulletproof relationships. Stage your marketing to play to the sentimental, emotional nature of jewellery by telling stories with your images that will resonate with your market, and acknowledge the times we live in. People buy from people, we’ve all had a one hell of a year, and it would be tone-deaf to ignore the challenges we’re all facing. You can review CPM’s previous Valentine’s Day article here for more general marketing ideas. Here’s hoping that this occasion brings a much-needed boost to our beleaguered industry!
