What Will You Stand For In 2016?

2016 – believe it or not, a new year is on the horizon. Before you know it the Thanksgiving turkey will be devoured, the Christmas tree will be down, Auld Lang Syne will have been sung and we will be wondering where 2015 went. For many, the New Year signifies a time to make a change, a time to make oneself better. A time to drop that extra 10 pounds, to quit that bad habit, to attempt to save more money. Business and marketing are no different. At Fruchtman Marketing, we’re committed to get even more ahead of the game than we already are, to up our game, to think even more “outside the box,” to develop the very best and most forward-thinking ideas in the jewelry business. We’re encouraging our clients to take a step outside of themselves and do the same – commit to making positive changes to their businesses in 2016. As we’ve mentioned in several articles now, most of our clients recently came into our Toledo office to review 2015 and discuss plans for a successful 2016. One of the topics we discussed with our partners was how to differentiate yourself from your competitors in 2016. Now is the time to decide what makes you stand out from the crowd and own that from this point forward. Determining what makes you different from the jeweler down the street is extremely important; letting us direct your marketing efforts this coming year to push your message out to existing and potential customers is the next step. Common sense? You’d think, but maybe not. When asked why shop with them, we hear too many jewelers say,“We have exceptional customer service,” “We have a wide selection of brands,” “We go above and beyond - we clean customers’ jewelry while they look at our cases.” Well, no kidding – the jeweler down the street most likely believes they offer exceptional customer service too. The chance of the jeweler down the street offering an extended line of brands is pretty high as well. And most jewelers these days clean customers’ jewelry (if they don’t then they probably aren’t your competition). All of these things are important, sure, but we challenge you to look above these things and determine what really sets you apart from your competition. Perhaps you offer phenomenal custom work. Now we’re talking – we can work with that. Consider branding a custom piece of your own; give your line a name and market it to the community. We’ve had our jewelers offer custom breast cancer charms and custom collegiate jewelry; we’ve encouraged our jewelers to create a custom piece for service men and women, or create a custom gift coin instead of a standard plastic gift card. The key is to showcase your custom work. Display your custom work in your TV ads, on your web site, and in your print ads. Talk about it in your radio ads. Give customers a behind-the-scenes look at the time and detail you put into your custom work – custom work that the jeweler down the street can’t offer. Maybe you’ve decided to concentrate on bridal business and have a large showcase of bridal inventory. Brand yourself as THE bridal destination in your community. Give customers a reason to drive a distance to visit you. Partner with area businesses to make yourself a one-stop bridal shop – have a custom gift ready to give to your bridal clients when they pick up their ring, perhaps containing gift cards to a local florist, limousine company, travel agency, and tuxedo shop. Offer packages to your bridal customers that encompass not only the engagement and wedding rings, but gifts for the bridal party. When a man buys an engagement ring from you, consider including a piece of jewelry with that purchase for him to give his wife on their wedding day. Let’s face it, anything to make it easier on men is going to move you to the top of their place-to-shop list. The goal is to give people a reason to visit you, to drive past your competitor and pull into your parking lot. Let us help you key in on that in 2016, and use our expertise to brand what makes you, well, you. Do that and you’ll see amazing results in the coming year and for years to come. Ready to take your marketing to the next level? Contact us at suits@fruchtman.com, and let’s get started.