Do you really know your cuts from your carats? By enrolling in ICI’s Jewellery Design course you can learn everything you need about the jewellery design industry and what it takes to succeed.
Jewellery design is not just about designing and making jewellery. From design and technique to business acumen your course units will include everything from equipment and supplies and how to design jewellery to preparing for your career and how to get hired. If your plan is to start your own business and sell your designs, the course will help you to craft your story so that you can tell your narrative and create an identity with a competitive edge. Your next step will be to market that edge effectively.
The jewellery design industry is dynamic and it doesn’t stop growing. There are different types of jewellery aimed at different types of audiences and it pays to carefully plan your marketing strategy using both demographics and market psychographic segmentation.
Selling jewellery is as much an art as the design itself. It requires you to attract the right people in order to achieve effective results. Marketing your designs properly to the right people not only helps to sell your products, it creates a mutually beneficial relationship that fosters your customer growth.
Jewellery is an emotional purchase and when you understand both demographics and the beliefs, values, thoughts, hopes and goals of your audience you can start to build a ‘buyer persona’ – a detailed picture of who will buy your jewellery today and who will buy it in the future. From here you can position your product and craft a story that talks directly to your consumer.
Demographic segmentation divides your market into broad strokes but psychographics gives you greater leverage in influencing purchasing decisions. Demographics are things like age, gender, occupation, ethnicity, geolocation and education level, whereas psychographics includes lifestyle, attitudes, principles, interests and personal characteristics. Individuals who fall into the same demographic group don’t always have the same psychographic group which is why it’s so important to do your research into both. Demographics help you to identify who your audience is but psychographic factors tell you what moves this audience into the action of purchasing a product.
Adding value to a consumer’s experience is crucial. One of the most important things you can do when promoting jewellery is to educate your audience on the product. Let’s say you’re talking diamond melee – it’s not just about the 4 c’s, it’s about how you source the diamonds, test your diamonds, bag your diamonds and then customise these diamonds to best suit a person’s individual needs.
Crafting your story requires you to describe your products and services in a meaningful way. Your words evoke emotion and descriptive words will inform potential customers about the details of your jewellery and why they should buy from you.
Think about what YOU would want if you were buying new jewellery. Is it a lifetime warranty, custom design, regular cleaning, adorable packaging??? Starting with what you want from a purchase is a great way to start capturing the attention of others.
Also, look at your competitors. What are they missing? What knowledge and expertise can you offer that would set you apart from them? What are your points of difference and how might these differences be communicated to potential customers? Knowing how to communicate your differences can transform your niche into a huge business opportunity!
When you know what you want and what your audience wants you can focus your messages so that your audience connects with what you are saying. Let’s say you’ve identified that your target audience is a modern mother who works from home. She lives in the suburbs but enjoys nights out in the city. She’s married and has young children and while her family is her priority she is currently working hard on her freelance business.
A modern woman does not expect gifts to rain down on her. She works hard and rewards herself for her efforts. She loves to look nice but with young children, her jewellery also needs to be practical. Her jewellery needs to suit both daytime suburb wear but also look nice when dining in the bright lights. Directing a slogan, image and message that reflects this will resonate and achieve results.
Emotions are the main force behind any successful marketing campaign but this is never more true than when selling jewellery. Jewellery is often a significant reward or gift and it symbolises something special. Jewellery is not often a ‘purposeful’ purchase, which is why your marketing campaigns need to create emotional responses. Think inspiring, persuasive and expressive promotions that commemorate special events and personal stories.
Once you’ve fine-tuned your emotive narrative, nurture your customer relationships. Having purchased a personal product the customer has now made a personal connection with your brand – use this to your advantage! Encourage them to sign up for a newsletter. Get them to follow you on social media. Incentivise them to share your promotions. Keep the communication going long after their purchase and use your current client base to grow your new client base.
Want to fast track your jewellery design business? Join ICI’s Jewellery Design course today to learn more about how you can start your own successful business.
Gladys Mae serves as the General Manager and Head of Student Services at the International Career Institute. Gladys holds a degree in Mass Communication - Broadcast Media from the University of San Jose-Recoletos. She joined ICI in 2010 and has over the past 12 years been instrumental in providing leadership and guidance to staff and students alike. Prior to joining ICI Gladys led a multifaceted career with key roles in the banking and business process outsourcing industries.
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