As an entrepreneur who uses my artistic abilities to earn income, I have learned a great deal about the strange place where creativity and business meet. This tends to be an uncomfortable place for artists to inhabit, especially early on in their careers. Jewelry makers are artists at heart, but must develop practical business skills in order to allow their design abilities to flourish. Here are three marketing tips for artists who create and sell jewelry.
1. Use Emotional Branding
In the jewelry industry, you will find that what you are selling is much more than a physical object. Great marketers know that they are selling an emotional experience. This is why commercials for diamonds focus more on hard hitting emotional exchanges between people than on the diamonds themselves. Instead of thinking of the items you sell as a physical product, think about selling an emotion. What emotions would you like tied to your brand? Does your jewelry represent freedom, spirituality, luxury, or love? Get clear on the emotion that you are selling, and then brand your product in this way. For example, if your clientele are looking for jewelry that helps them freedom of expression and a sense of being wild, then brand your product with colors and symbols that represent “freedom” and “wild”, like birds flying, exotic animals, or bright orange and yellow flames.
2. Develop Your Website
You most likely already have a website for your jewelry products. If not, you should get one right away! Marketing is all about touch points, and consumers in today’s marketplace often research a product before buying it. Your website might be the first way that consumers are introduced to your product. A website can provide a valuable touch point for your brand. To improve your marketing, use only high quality images taken by a professional. Even if this feels like a frightening expense for your business, it will pay off in the long run if you have set it up correctly. People judge online objects by he quality of the photograph, not by the image itself. Advertisements that you put out on the web through social media and related websites can lead your customers to your website. If you have been focused on brick and mortar business models, widen your scope to include online marketing, and be sure that your website images are up to snuff!
3. Match Your Packaging, Business Cards, and Displays
Once you are clear on your what emotion you are selling, and have developed a logo and colors for your jewelry brand, the next step is to make sure that everything matches. Order packaging that is made with your brands colors. Order labels that have your logo on them. Use only materials and textures that support your branding vision. For example, if you are selling simple silver jewelry with spiritual themed designs, you might come up with a logo “inspired silver“, and only use the colors silver, pale pink, and white in your branding. In this case, you would want all packaging to be within your color pallet. You would use the words “inspired silver”, written in a minimalist font in all lowercase letters, on all of your labels, bags, boxes, advertisements, business cards, and physical displays. This creates a cohesive experience for the buyer.
