Leanne and Tony Argyle, founders of Jewellery Marketing Solutions
New e-classes for jewellery retailers
Posted May 03, 2011 | By Sonia Nair
Australian jewellery marketing business Jewellery Marketing Solutions, has introduced a series of 20 e-classes as part of its website, one of many new additions to the site.
Founded by jewellery retail consultants Tony and Leanne Argyle, Jewellery Marketing Solutions provides marketing advice, promotional ideas and resources to independent jewellers.
More than 40 Australian and Kiwi retailers currently use the website which has a steady following in 19 countries.
Co-founder Leanne said the e-classes were based on a step-by-step process that she and Tony used to double their own store sales.
“The e-classes have been very well received by members as they offer practical exercises that help a retailer identity their marketing strengths and weaknesses and implement to plan to lift their business to the next level,” Leanne said.
Held every one to two weeks, the e-classes are capable of reaching a large demographic as they are emailed to retailers regardless of where they are.
“[The e-classes] will help [retailers] develop their resources more fully and assess the where, who, when, how, why and what in terms of their marketing investment,” Leanne said.
Tony emphasised the importance of marketing and said it was an area jewellers often neglected.
“Considering it’s usually the third highest overhead for most jewellers after staff and rent, and one of the most crucial ways to grow the business, marketing seems to get neglected either because of time constraints or simply not knowing what to do,” Tony said.
Besides the emailed e-classes, regular free webinars are also set to be conducted on the website. The first few webinars will concentrate on helping retailers understand Facebook and the subsequent ones will move on to focus on general jewellery store marketing.
“Our first couple of webinars are going to discuss Facebook content, Facebook ads, and location-based social media as these are areas of marketing that are growing rapidly yet are being underutilised by many jewellers,” Leanne said.
Tony emphasised the importance of retailers learning about Facebook saying, “Jewellers are missing opportunities in social media and we want to raise the awareness in this area. Over 50 per cent of Australians are on Facebook but less than 20 per cent of businesses are.”
A further new Facebook-focused addition to the website is the ‘Fan Feed’ function, designed to help retailers who do not know what to put on their Facebook pages.
“Many stores just bombard their wall with images of product and prices, however social media is more about building a community than selling directly,” Leanne said.
‘Fan Feed’ will provide ongoing video and content that will prompt interaction between retailers and fans. Members can copy and paste the content directly to their Facebook pages.
The e-classes are only open to members of Jewellery Marketing Solutions and have already started running. The date of the first social media webinar is yet to be confirmed and it is open to everyone.
For more information about Jewellery Marketing Solutions, visit www.jewelrymarketingsolutions.com/welcome/ or contact Tony and Leanne Argyle at tony@jewellerymarketingsolutions.com.
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Benefits of social media for jewellers