5 Social Media Resolutions for 2016

Likeable Local’s Beth Henderson outlines five steps jewelers should take in the new year to reach a wider audience on Facebook, Instagram, etc. and, ultimately, bring in more sales.

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

We’re less than week into the new year; now is the time to plan your social media strategies for 2016.

Beth Henderson is the marketing coordinator at Likeable LocalStruggling to figure out where to begin? Look no further. Let us help you with five social media resolutions. These strategies will help maximize your jewelry store’s success on social media, reach a wider audience and, ultimately, bring in more sales. Diamonds will be (figuratively) flying off the shelves.

Let’s begin...

1. Customize Content for Different Audiences
There’s no need to confine your valuable content to only one form. Start transforming your content into different forms and post them through different mediums. Convert an informative webinar to an easy-to-read blog post. Expand an article and make it into a visually appealing e-book.

Remember, what your audience likes, and where they consume it, should inform your content strategy. Expand your audiences by creating multiple forms of content.

2. Introduce a Partner or Referral Program
In the jewelry business, friends can be very valuable, but these friendships generally take the form of mutually beneficial business relationships.

At Likeable Local, we’re always looking for new opportunities, which is why we have our Partner Program. Our partners enjoy numerous perks as part of the program and in return, represent our company and product in front of their clients and prospects.

A referral program is also extremely useful when it comes to business friendships. Setting up a referral program allows you to access customers without having to do the work. Your customers and partners can refer their friends to your company.

The reality many companies come to realize quickly is that it is difficult to do everything yourself. That’s where partners and referrals come in.

Partnerships will strengthen your business. Even some of the largest companies, such as Facebook and Google, have partners to help them perform the functions they don’t necessarily have the time to perform themselves. No matter the size of your jewelry company, partner and referral programs are something you should definitely start.

3. Improve your Social Listening Skills
Listening is the single most important skill in social media. Those on social media tend to be really great when it comes to talking; however, they tend to fall short when it comes to their listening skills.

Social media gives jewelers the opportunity to listen to customers and prospects effectively. Listening

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and demonstrating empathy builds brand identity and trust. Also, by paying attention to what your customers are saying, you can find out what they’re looking for.

Where is the best place for jewelers to begin social listening? Where their prospects and customers will go, social media and Google.

4. Take Advantage of Instagram Ads
Instagram ads are here. It’s true; Instagram ads are now available to everybody. So you should jump on board. Trust us, it’s worth it.

Although it is still early, preliminary reports are showing that Instagram ads are seeing higher engagement than standard Facebook ads. In fact, for web click conversions, Instagram ads are seeing an average 1.5 percent click-through rate, versus 0.84 percent for a comparable Facebook ad at a similar cost per click, according to The Motley Fool.

Come on! Hop on the Instagram train. Show off those sparkly jewels you are selling.

5. Perfect your Hashtags
From a business perspective, hashtags are a great way to create a unified campaign across your social platforms. Recently we used the hashtag #SearchisSocial for a webinar. The hashtag explained our partnership with a search engine optimization expert and explained that he webinar would be about the benefits of SEO and social media for businesses. We used this hashtag in all our tweets, email marketing, and on Facebook, and we encouraged people listening to the webinar to tweet along with us live.

When constructing a hashtag for your marketing efforts, here are a few things to keep in mind.
A) Make it unique: In order to make sure nearly everyone who is using your hashtag is actually interacting with your marketing, you need to make a unique hashtag.
B) Make it simple: As much as you might want to put lots of campaign details into your hashtags, simple is always better.
C) Make it fun: When making a hashtag for your marketing campaign, you want people to use it, so make it catchy and conspicuous.

For more information on hash-tagging and utilizing them specifically on Twitter, check out our free eBook on Twitter success, 7 Proven Strategies to Maximize Twitter for your Business.

We’ve done our part; now it’s your turn to put these strategies to work. Which resolutions will you choose to carry out in 2016?

Beth Henderson is the marketing coordinator at Likeable Local, a partner of Jewelers of America and the creators of Likeable Hub, a powerful platform with an easy-to-use mobile app that helps small businesses, like jewelers, succeed with social media. Reach her at beth@likeablelocal.com.

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.