I’ve never looked at a social media marketing campaign in the same light as attending a cocktail party, but I suppose there are similarities. You are networking and building relationships, not necessarily making the cash register ring. You are laying the groundwork for a conversion at a later date. I suppose that is what you do with social media—building trust and goodwill, before you close the sale.
At the JCK jewelry show in Las Vegas, the best-of-the-best in the jewelry world covering social media for the jewelry industry came together and dazzled the crowd. Well, not exactly, they were pretty subdued and un-enthusiastic. But, seeing that 50% of the educational programs offered on Friday covered ‘e-business’—in one form or another meant that the jewelry industry is ready to embrace social media. The afternoon session picked up the pace; Megan Meinerding from Fruchtman Marketing is obviously passionate about what she does and she knows her stuff. She had lots of good tips and a common sense approach to social media. My favorite was her advice on posting on FaceBook:
• Don’t be rude
• Don’t be boring
• Give to get
Those are good rules to live life by! What I really liked was her approach to change ‘monologue to dialogue’. In this writer’s humble opinion, that is what it is all about. Encouraging a two-way conversation and engaging with your followers early and often.
The last speaker of the day was Nick Pirie from SCVNGR. Now, I’m a little biased- I’ve had experience working with his company. SCVNGR put on a scavenger hunt for Charles Koll Jewellers in San Diego and it was a tremendous success. A thousand people took part in the Charles Koll Diamond Dash in Balboa Park competing for a $15,000 Hearts on Fire diamond ring. On Nick’s 25th birthday (yes, he’s only 25!), he informed, overwhelmed, and sometimes scared some of the retail jewelers in the audience by pointing out that if the younger generation doesn’t find your business on the first page of a Google search, you don’t exist in their eyes. Most of us don’t like to hear that…after all, they are our engagement ring customers! His message was clear; adapt or fade away.
All-in-all, a pretty good and educational day. Thank you JCK.
June 7, 2010 @ 7:47 am
I was there, Eugene–I would have loved to have met you! Megan is a great speaker, a great social media marketer and a great friend. I was so excited to see her finally speak. I was also happy to hear her talk about Quality over Quantity. I think that, too often, businesses feel a sense of panic if they don’t have a mass following. Meanwhile the interaction on their page is not high and the number of people “hiding’ the page or ignoring it is. Wish I had heard Nick speak. We covered the Charles Knoll scavenger hunt on the HOF Twitter and FB pages. Sounded like a terrific event. Thanks for the great post!