The Best Ways to Make Your Jewelry Business Stand Out

As a jeweler, you face some stiff competition, especially with the advent of online marketing. The industry is crowded with tons of other jewelers. Jewelry is now mass-manufactured and you have to compete with high-end luxury jewelry brands too.

Let’s say that you have the most stunning pieces of jewelry. Your materials are ethically sourced too with high quality and value. You have amazing craftsmen making you the finest necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Even your customer service is top-tier! But is all of this enough for your business to stand out?

Let’s talk about the different ways in which you can make your business stand out among the rest!

#1. A Summary of the Jewelry Market

Finding information is a great place to start figuring out a strategy so we’ve compiled a few statistical data to help you get started.

Regarding the jewelry industry market size, it’s expected to reach $480 billion by 2025. China, the US, and the European countries are all great and established jewelry markets. However, newer countries are experiencing a rise in per capita income in jewelry sales. Thus, they’re also expected to make up a larger portion of the industry.

Specialty jewelers also take a significant portion of the industry’s US-based sales. If you can find your niche in the jewelry marketplace, that’s a step to standing out from the competition.

Between fashion jewelry and fine jewelry, fashion jewelry has been selling a little bit better than fine jewelry online. This is because fashion jewelry is made to be more affordable and shoppers are more willing to shell out money for that.

Meanwhile, fine jewelry costs $1,000 a piece at least. Consumers would usually prefer to try it out in person before buying it. Therefore, they’re hesitant to purchase fine jewelry online.

#2. Identify Your Niche

Because of the jewelry industry’s competitive nature, you need to find your specialty that’s unique. Clean Origin, for example, is a jewelry brand that sells lab-grown diamonds. They market their diamonds as ethically sourced and environmentally friendly.

The way they highly value ethics and the environment draws consumers whose beliefs align with theirs.

You can also try thinking of your jewelry from the perspective of someone giving it as a gift. What kind of jewels will you give your loved ones if you were the consumer? A good way to start is to do keyword research. The most popular keywords in your industry will show what consumers look for.

In Google Adwords, you can use the Keyword Planner to look up the popular terms people use. Google search also has an autocomplete feature so you’ll get a list of popular terms. Etsy and Pinterest offer this similar autocomplete feature too if you want to widen your scope.

Another niche you can have is through any of these three types of jewelry: fashion, fine, and handcrafted jewelry.

A. Fashion Jewelry

Fashion jewelry, also known as costume jewelry, is made for daily use. They’re manufactured using low-cost and imitation materials. For example, wood, plastic, and synthetic diamond. Brass and copper are also some of the less costly metals they use.

A piece of fashion jewelry typically has a price range of $1 to &100. You can start by specializing in affordable jewelry before expanding to offer high-end luxury products. You can make a product pricing strategy that caters to your target customers.

B. Fine Jewelry

Fine jewelry is created using precious metals and gemstones. Examples of these are gold, platinum, diamonds, and rubies. They’re products that are stylish, made from high-quality materials, and normally worn during special occasions. It’s no wonder they’re often associated with a luxurious way of life.

Fine jewelry can range from $100 to $3,000 a piece and still go for more. It all depends on the materials used, size, and the brand’s reputation.

To stand out, some fine jewelry brands opted to be more creative and interactive with their online shops. They allow shoppers to fully customize their jewelry by letting them choose the type of metal, shape, gemstone, and more.

C. Handcrafted Jewelry

There are popular online marketplaces that offer handmade jewelry. Even though they can’t be mass-produced, it’s still a viable business option. It means your niche will be unique jewelry and custom pieces.

Jewelers under this category still experience strict competition. They need to be both the jewelry designer and the marketer to attract customers. It’s a difficult task when you’re making the jewelry piece by piece or if they’re made-to-order.

#3. Know and Understand Your Target Audience

You need to understand that trying to please everyone will get you nowhere. As an entrepreneur, you need to determine who your target audience is.

Part of this is asking yourself what their general demographic information is. What is their annual income? What is their age range and can they afford the products you offer? Are they single, married, or in cohabitation?

No matter what business you run, your idea of prospects should be crystal clear. Knowing who your products are for dictates your decisions and the way you’ll run our business. For example, what would motivate your consumers to buy your products?

The more you get to know your target audience, the more your products, services, and marketing efforts will cater to their needs.

#4. Study the Competition

Studying the competition comes after finding your niche and knowing your target audience. You have to research your competitors’ pricing, offers, social media, and social commerce strategy. What are the customers’ reviews about them? Is there any press coverage about the brand or its product?

Knowing your competitors will narrow down the way to differentiate your product. For example, your competitor sells fashion jewelry but receives feedback that it breaks easily. You can then promote your product for its durability, coupled with an extended return policy.

Another idea for competitive advantage is delivery speed. Shipping can quickly build customer loyalty. A lot of online shoppers want their products delivered within two days so you can take advantage of that. You can partner with couriers and third-party logistics to make this happen.

#5. Be Meticulous with Your Materials and Unique with Inspiration

When researching your competitors, you might find out where they’re getting their materials. Knowing that is all well and good because you might want to avoid using the same supplier. If you want to stand out, you need to find other unique sources.

Vintage materials can be a wonderful way of making your jewelry special, but the materials are also just as hard to find. You’ll need to scour antique shops and thrift stores to find the pieces for your jewelry.

More importantly, you have to think outside of the box when searching for materials. Who knows if inspiration will strike you at a hardware store? It’s the unexpected that can make for outstanding works of craftsmanship.

Looking at traditional jewelry designs might spark some ideas but have you tried looking at other art forms? For example, architecture is rich with inspiration from different styles and eras. Poetry and literature might spark some ideas too. Maybe you’ll find yourself entertaining a unique diamond cut.

#6. Be Consistent in Everything You Do

Behind the scenes of the industry’s razzle-dazzle is the consistency workers put into their brand. The identity that you’ve built with your brand is important to maintain. This is the image you present to your prospects and the image they’re attracted to.

Does your location, website, marketing, and appearance all reflect the nature of your brand? Does your work ethic reflect the kind of service you said you’d provide? Is your tone in reality consistent with your online image?

All of these aspects must align so your customers will have a consistent experience regardless of where they encounter you. This includes not just your physical and online store, but also the words of their friends.

#7. Improve Your Craftsmanship

Regardless of your niche, it’s always important to improve your craftsmanship. If you’re handcrafting jewelry, you can learn how to solder and make your jump rings. This takes you up a new level from just stringing beads and adding a clasp.

If you’re someone who manages your jewelry store, you can try different ways to approach your customers. You can upgrade your store’s brand or attend seminars to boost your knowledge.

Generally, we encourage you to seek classes in-person or online. Being able to make things for yourself will always be better than assembling anything store-bought or impersonal.

#8. Make Yourself Special the Way You Want Others To Be

What you’re selling goes beyond that of a mere product, but an experience. We adorn ourselves with jewelry because they make us feel beautiful, strong, confident, and loved. The jewelry pieces you sell come hand in hand with those emotions.

The more you think of it this way in your marketing methods, the more special your brand will be. In effect, your marketing will be more effective and will stand out.

What also makes your jewelry designs different is the combination of your interests, skills, and experiences. These will influence the way you run your jewelry business.

Another tip is to develop close relations with your customers. Some customers may be motivated by price alone but you can try building long-term relationships with them. These customers will come to value you as a person, not just for the products you sell.

If a customer is happy with the entrepreneur, there’s a high chance that they’ll keep patronizing your business. They’ll most likely recommend it to their friends too. What they feel about your business and products will be hard for your competitors to take away.

#9. Develop Your Jewelry Marketing Strategy

Any new jewelry business finds it a challenge to find prospects on the first day. We’ve talked about marketing toward target demographics that will most likely purchase your wares.

While building your customer base, you can use your research on your competition to create a marketing strategy. The channels you can use are the following:

A. Social Media

It’s almost customary for prospects to research products and check reviews before deciding on a purchase. With social media, you can post highlights of your brand’s uniqueness.

For example, if you focus on affordability and quality, post samples of your products that embody those traits. If it’s fashion jewelry, what kind of outfits and fashion are they good with? If it’s wedding day diamonds, what makes them different from other diamonds?

B. Email Marketing

Email marketing is one way to improve customer retention because it ensures your brand is remembered. But you also need to be careful because sending too many emails will lead to unsubscribes.

We recommend following the best email marketing practices to avoid this from happening.

C. SMS Marketing

SMS marketing is a rapidly growing channel used by online businesses. Anyone on your SMS subscriber list will surely see your messages and promotions for your products.

But again, we recommend doing this in moderation to avoid being spammy.

D. Paid Advertising

It’s no secret that the largest DTC e-commerce businesses today grew due to ad campaigns on social media. Ad costs are still rising but they remain a viable channel for jewelers too.

If you intend to run ads, you need to optimize your audience targeting so they will be featured towards your respective prospects.

E. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It’s true when they say that free traffic is the best traffic. A lot of businesses rely on social media ads to make sales but you can use a good SEO strategy too. Using SEO, your products, videos, and other content can be found on the top search results.

Therefore, a good SEO strategy can get you more traffic without having you spend more on ads.

Conclusion

The jewelry industry is a highly competitive environment. Many brands have been established over the years with their niches. Some specialize in luxury goods while others specialize in affordability. Some decided to focus on sustainability and ethics.

Frankly speaking, it would be difficult to find your niche in this day and age, but it’s not impossible. There are many types of niches in the jewelry industry and different kinds of people. You need to figure out where your products will fit and who will purchase them.

That said, you need to plan your way through. Do your research on your prospects and competitors. Find your supplier for materials and get your inspiration from unexpected places. After which, you need to develop a consistent brand and work ethic for your business.

You’ll also need to think about how to market your products. Social media is a popular channel, especially for aesthetic wares. But you can also opt to pay for advertisements on Facebook and Google. Email and SMS marketing are good approaches to keep in touch with your customer base as well.

Finally, having your website is a necessity these days. There are many benefits to having an online presence and utilizing SEO will help achieve the online visibility you want.

It’s a tough job competing in something as established as the jewelry industry, but there will always be something that others haven’t thought of. Be creative and impactful, then surely your brand will stand out among the rest!