The most successful business owners and managers know how to appeal to different target audiences.
If you aren’t familiar with millennials and Gen Z or how to sell to them, it’s time your jewelry business’ marketing strategy started to focus on them.
To successfully market to the next generation of jewelry consumers, you need to be three things— authentic, meaningful and unique.
1. Be authentic
The next generation of consumers are digital natives and they have grown up seeing everything a brand does, including negative PR and poor customer service. To gain the trust of your new consumer base, you need to be authentic.
What exactly does that mean?
Be in business for more than just the sale. Include consumers in conversations and ask them for their opinions.
If they leave feedback for you on social media or have questions about your business, respond and be honest! Once you embrace authenticity and transparency, you’ll find that next generation consumers may end up doing your marketing for you through personal recommendations and word-of-mouth on social media and review sites.
2. Be meaningful
You may have 10,000 likes on your Facebook page, but that doesn’t mean much to millennials and Gen Z. They would rather have a meaningful experience they can remember and want to share with others.
Brands that create purpose are what the next generation consumer is looking for. The same is true for hiring outstanding employees. If your staff is excited about your business or products, chances are they will share that experience and in turn bring in more customers.
Millennials and Gen Z love to share their experiences, especially when they feel a brand has gone out of their way to create an experience for them that feels customized just for them.
Here are three ways to be a meaningful business:
- Provide an excellent product at a fair price
- Offer a compelling shopping experience
- Give back to your community -- find your purpose beyond selling jewelry.
3. Be unique
According to Forbes.com, being unique is one of the top seven characteristics of a successful brand.
When trying to be unique in your industry, customization and personalization are key. This applies to your products as well your customers’ experience, whether it’s in your store or online.
Put forth the effort to make each individual customer feel special by treating them as a person and not a number. The next generation is more willing to pay a small premium for a unique experience.
This doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Utilize what’s already available to create that experience. For example, encourage customers to bring up their Pinterest page while in your store and show you the style of jewelry they like.
Hear from Jeff Fromm, president of FutureCast, a marketing consultancy agency specializing in millennial trends, in the video below as he shares his view on what it means to be authentic, meaningful and unique in today’s retail setting.
Takeaways for being unique, meaningful and authentic for future generations:
- Be honest and transparent with your communications and branding
- Create a memorable store experience for your customer
- Ignite a passion in your employees and they will share that enthusiasm
- Get creative with ways to provide a memorable customer experience
Comment below on how your business is authentic, meaningful or unique.
Jewelers Mutual offers several premium jeweler programs to support jewelry business owners in enhancing the overall customer experience by extending service after the sale.
These programs are also a great way to build trust with your customers and grow your business.
Be meaningful and share the incentives with your employees to get them excited and bring in more business.
