By Shane O’Neill, Vice President
Who cares about fine wine and nice cars? We should all be drinking two-buck-Chuck and driving a practical car, right? It would be cheaper and cloth seats are the new leather. And while we’re at it forget about the Jimmy Choo stilettos. You can match a sensible pair of shoes from Payless with that skirt… think of the money you’ll save. So, why don’t we? Because, you would never bring two-buck-Chuck to a dinner party. Nice cars are reliable and fun to drive. And Jimmy Choo stilettos…come on. What do all these things have in common; image, reliability and brand recognition.
It wasn’t that long ago that people were adamant about being different, building their brand and separating themselves from everyone else. But now a dark shadow of complacency has settled upon us, fueled by cheap services. Most of this comes from the fast growth of digital media and the slew of small companies that have popped up offering services from social media to paid search and email marketing. With most jewelers still not fully understanding this “New Media”, it all comes down to cost. There are a couple of reasons for this; first is a lack of buy-in. There are many retailers that don’t really believe in social or digital media. They just know everyone else seems to be getting involved, so they probably should too. As a result, they seek out resources who will do the work cheaply and with minimal marketing dollars behind those efforts. That’s also the number one reason why their efforts fail. The second reason is believing these services are all the same. They’re not. Posting on Facebook or managing paid search in and of itself, is not marketing. Without a sound strategy with objectives, you actually could be doing more harm than good. You don’t really think you get that for a couple hundred dollars a month…do you?
It’s sad but true, you get what you pay for. Most of the time, it’s templates, spitball marketing, below average results and a lot of time on the hamster wheel. What does that say about your store, your brand? When we all get over the cheap services, cheap websites, cheap everything, we’ll realize that there is something about being different, building the brand and separating ourselves from everyone else. That’s the day we’ll look back on the age of the cookie cutters, open a bottle of Chateau Margaux, and say; let’s build a marketing plan.
Want to know more about digital media, how it works and what to know? Here are some of Shane O’Neill’s other articles that might give you some insight.
Here are some of Shane O’Neill’s other articles that might give you some insight. Your Business, the Stock Market, and Your Future
