← Success With Jewelry
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- [00:00]
A
Welcome to the Success With Jewelry Podcast. Your go to source for real conversations about business marketing and what it actually takes to succeed as a jewelry brand Today.
- [00:09]
B
I'm Larissa, the strategist, systems queen and the one who finds joy in turning big marketing challenges into step by step plans that actually work. Email marketing and generating revenue through it is a specialty of my agency, Joy.
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A
Joya and I'm Liz, your creative compass and advocate for designers doing things differently. I live for brilliant brand storytelling, beautiful visuals, and helping designers confidently show up and shine. I founded the Stay Gold Collective to create community and support for independent jewelry brands.
- [00:39]
B
Together we bring you nearly two decades of jewelry marketing experience and on this podcast we're pulling back the curtain on everything we've learned. Whether you're just starting out or scaling to your next big milestone, you'll get honest insights, helpful tips, and maybe a few giggles along the way.
- [00:57]
A
This is episode 149. Today we're talking about one of the most effective ways to build trust and connection with your audience behind the scenes content. Showing the process behind your work helps people understand what makes your jewelry special. It highlights your craftsmanship, the intention behind your designs, and the values that guide your business. When your audience gets to see the real work that goes into each piece, they become more invested in your story and more confident in choosing you. We are breaking down what to share, where to share it, and how to make behind the scenes content part of your regular marketing without it feeling overwhelming. If you want your audience to care about your brand and not just your products, this is a strategy worth paying attention to. Let's get into it.
- [01:44]
B
I love this topic.
- [01:46]
A
Yeah, this is a good one. I think that I've been seeing more and more brands doing this over the years and especially higher end brands, which wasn't normally something that was happening. Usually it was just like here's this really perfected front that we're showing in these like really produced or beautiful images and we're not going to show you behind the scenes, but now people want to see it.
- [02:10]
B
It's so true. Well, over the years too, like the algorithm has changed. I feel like user behavior has changed in terms of social media consumption. So it's just moved more in that direction in general?
- [02:25]
A
Yes, I think so. I've seen that a lot and I love behind the scenes content and I've seen, I mean I've seen things made in real life and I've seen things on the bench and I've seen things done before, but it's still exciting and it's nice to know the process. People just want connection. I think they want to like really understand a brand and what they're buying. And yeah, a connection is everything and really showing. Like your bench, showing your sketchbook, it does build trust because you're, you're not hiding anything. This is what you're doing, this is your process, this is what you're passionate about.
- [03:02]
B
Yeah, but it doesn't take no effort. Otherwise we wouldn't be having this episode.
- [03:06]
A
Or talking about this topic. It does take effort, but I think you can do it in ways that are more manageable. And I think that's what we wanted to talk about here because it is pushback that I get. It's like, oh, I forgot to take a picture or it interrupts my flow or I don't want to do all that video editing. And it doesn't have to be any of that. Like Hemerly just posted this slide, like this carousel post of bench images. And it was super engaging and it was really just. I mean it must have just been iPhone photos. And Hemerly is like a big brand, a well known brand. And I've been seeing stuff like that from some of the larger design houses recently too. Like just a sketch maybe taken with a phone. So it doesn't always have to be this like really produced thing and it doesn't always have to be like a video where you're showing, you know, you at lighting your torch or you know, a, a time lapse type situation. It doesn't have to be like that. It can just be a photo of your bench.
- [04:12]
B
That's such a good point. I was trying to look up the Hemmerly post while you were talking because I was interested to see.
- [04:20]
A
Let me find it for you. But it's. And they, they have really beautiful images and then sometimes they put out content that is not as produced. But I always love that. Let me see. Where is it?
- [04:36]
B
I wonder.
- [04:37]
A
Oh, here it is. Okay, so it's their first post. They lead with a really pretty image of the finished piece and then you can swipe to see they're on the bench shots. And they also have an image of the thing from nature. It's some sort of flower or something. But anyway, they have the natural thing from nature that. The natural thing from nature. Oh my gosh. Can we cut all of this? What am I even saying? So anyway, that natural thing from nature. But they have a really beautiful image in the front. Um, but then you get really raw images from their bench, which I love to see it.
- [05:24]
B
Yeah, it is cool to see that for the grid they put like a more polished image. But the thing with algorithm is if you have a carousel, like any one of those pictures can show up in your feed. So you kind of don't have control over it. And you don't, don't be like too precious about it because I think being able to engage your audience is really the goal here.
- [05:46]
A
Definitely engagement is what we want. We want people to be interested in what we're doing. My first role in the industry was working for a higher end jeweler and we grew organically to a pretty big number in social media following because just walking into the shop and just taking photos of what the jewelers were working on and people really loved it. And he had like glass walls around his workshop. So people who came into the showroom were able to like peer at the jewelers working as well. And for parties we would like open up the shop and let people walk through and look at the tools and all of that. And they just loved it. And they feel like, you know, when it comes to like being a part of an experience and like spending money on experiences versus things like showing the process and bringing people into that really helps with that. Like people feel like they're buying something that has a really great story and they're a part of it and so they feel more excited to wear it.
- [06:45]
B
When you are at Todd Read list because that was like at the time when Instagram was a little bit more polished and they didn't have all the different, whatever tools and features that they have now. Was it more unique to be showing behind the scenes content at that time? I can't even remember to be honest with you.
- [07:07]
A
I think so. I think that coming into it from a lack of understanding of the jewelry industry, like I just didn't have experience with it. I just knew social media because I had a digital marketing background and I was a blogger and you just shared behind the scenes, like that's what the content was. I was never, you know, in blogging or in writing for consumer brands and things like that. Just sharing a finished thing. I was talking. You were sharing more. You were trying to build a story and a connection always. So that's kind of the approach I took with it, I think. But for like a luxury brand, yeah, it definitely wasn't as common. Yeah, I would say like, especially like, you know, bigger brands too, like Hemerly and Tiffany and Cartier. Like showing behind the scenes wasn't something that was done as much. I do remember maybe this wasn't as far back as 2012, but David Webb does some really great behind the scenes content as well. I always love looking at that because it's just really beautifully done. And I just, I mean for high jewelry, just to be able to see how something's made.
- [08:22]
B
It's.
- [08:23]
A
It's super interesting or super exciting. And I just went to David Webb's Instagram now and they have like this beautiful photo of this, like finished cuffs sitting on tools, which is another really beautiful way to do it where maybe you don't want to show the process or you. It doesn't feel right to you or it doesn't make sense. But showing like a finished piece on tools or on a sketch pad or next to, you know, something that involves the process can help tell the story in a way without necessarily showing behind the scenes.
- [08:55]
B
I'm looking at that same picture. Yeah, it's such an interesting contrast to like the finished piece of jewelry versus, like, the grunt work, the hands on, like the dirty part of like potentially creating that piece. That contrast is like, very interesting to people.
- [09:13]
A
It also really helps, like, articulate how much goes into making something without saying, I spent a lot of time on this, which you don't want to say, oh, I spent so many hours on this. It was really hard to do. But you want to show it because not everyone can make jewelry and a lot of work does go into it. So sharing, like, looks like peeks at the process can help articulate that.
- [09:38]
B
I love you put a note about stone sourcing. And I particularly love this for brands that work with like, color gems, especially, like, one of a kind pieces to show the stone stone before the piece is even, like, created to pique people's curiosity and interest about, oh, like, what's gonna happen with that? Like, a lot of people have trouble imagining how something can turn into a finished piece. So bringing that like, curiosity element into it.
- [10:10]
A
It's so fun to see Tucson content when that time of year rolls around and to see designers showing, like, what they're. They're looking at, what they're thinking about bringing home, like, what kind of color story they're pulling together for their next collection. That's really cool because an end consumer doesn't necessarily understand how you source stones or where you source stones or how many stones you have to look through to find the perfect thing. And if you love stones, if they're a big piece of your work, especially, like if you're kind of like into ethical sourcing or there's more of a.
- [10:44]
B
Story there, sustainable stone Gemstones, things like that.
- [10:48]
A
Telling that story is really important.
- [10:50]
B
So true.
- [10:52]
A
Yeah, I love behind the scenes content. It's really all I, I want to see. I like seeing finished products too. I think that you know, if you're going to show the process of something like follow up with a finished piece, so. Or like if somebody clicks through then the finished piece is on your website so they can get to it easily. Or maybe you're working on a one of a kind and it's not ready yet. I like to hold back my behind the scenes content for clients. Like I like to have them collect it or collect it myself. And I used to do this when I would visit the shop. I would take photos and I would just put them in folders and I would hold onto it until the piece was done. So then you could have a strategic plan of like okay, well I'm launching this thing or this thing is available. Let me put together content that shows how it was made versus like posting as soon as you take a photo.
- [11:43]
B
Yeah, I mean what you said, I think maybe it's like obvious but I don't know a lot of people that do that, like organizing a folder by a piece and then just like accumulating the content as you go. A lot of times just like all on a phone, which I guess is fine if you can make sense of it. But it is nice to remind yourself of like the whole story so that like you said you can then tell it in a sequential way.
- [12:11]
A
And the searchability of like having your folders like say you have a, I don't know, emerald cuff bracelet and it's still like that's the thing with higher end jewelry as well or fine jewelry is that sometimes you have it in your collection for a long time. It takes a while to sell and there's nothing wrong with that. So if you are, you know, coming back to telling that story again in the future to be able to search emerald cuff bracelet and have your folder pop up where you have all the high res images and all the process shots. Like that's huge, huge. Or we used to do this a lot too is if somebody did buy a one of a kind piece, we would give them behind the scenes photos and content which was like just cool addition.
- [12:54]
B
If you like printed it, if it was like a very high end piece and you kind of made like a little like photo book or something to ship with it. So nice.
- [13:03]
A
I mean that goes a long way and like the jeweler who made it and their hands at work and the thing in Process like that is exciting and it doesn't have to just be for like super high end things. Like that's a really cool thing to include, you know, for, for any price point, if it makes sense.
- [13:22]
B
Yeah.
- [13:24]
A
All right, so we kind of went over some of this, but it works for jewelry brands because it builds connection, it educates customers on the craftsmanship, it helps differentiate from mass produced competitors. And I just to like highlight that for a moment. The fact that you are like making or designing and hands on with what you're creating or what you're putting out into the world is a big differentiator. Like, that's really important and that will help you stand out right now in this, this world. So share that because it's exciting and it's different and it's interesting. Yeah.
- [14:04]
B
Thinking also about the cost of gold and materials and everything. It almost makes you, if you can tell the story, you know, it's like you're like this mythical, talented person who can like shape this like precious material into something so amazing because the value of it is just so insane right.
- [14:24]
A
Now to like be able to really.
- [14:26]
B
Tell that story in a 360 way. I think. Don't take that for granted.
- [14:33]
A
Yeah. I mean, and like, here's another really good example of process is kindred from artifacts. Sharing videos on TikTok of her engraving process. That's what captured the attention of Taylor Swift, is the process and the finished product being beautiful. But the process is what? I don't know this for a fact, but just hearing the interviews and piecing them together, it seems like she found her on TikTok because of these process videos she was doing.
- [15:04]
B
There you go. I like that.
- [15:06]
A
Yeah. So when you're thinking about what to share process shots, I love just a bench flat lay. Like just tidy up your bench a little bit and snap a photo. It doesn't have to be fancy. If you do want to get into video content, like you could set up, you know, a tripod or like, you know, something over your bench with a camera. You could certainly do that. That is engaging content. But if that totally overwhelms you, just a photo is fine. Or if even taking a process photo overwhelms you, like your workspace, your tools, your materials, the stones that you're choosing, your sketchbook. There's a lot of things that you can share. Just keep it real, keep it simple, keep it real.
- [15:46]
B
Do a day in the life like I did.
- [15:49]
A
How did that turn out for you?
- [15:53]
B
Like engagement wise, you mean?
- [15:55]
A
And feelings wise?
- [15:58]
B
Well, I did do it as kind of like an experiment because we were talking about it and I always like to see like, what, what reels can like help you create or, you know, use my imagination. I mean, I don't think it resulted in anything different or unusual from my other content, but it was fun for me to like, show people what my day is like. So I had fun doing it.
- [16:28]
A
I enjoyed it. I had never seen your whole desk before, so that was cool. Um, you know, you just feel like you know someone better when you see kind of their. That's their everyday life, which is nice. So you're building trust. I. This is a little bit off topic, but I need to. Well, I don't need to, but I've been thinking I need to go on camera and like, talk to my audience again. I haven't done it in ages. You do it all the time. I know you pre record some of that stuff, but, gosh, do you have any, do you have any encouragement? I'm scared.
- [17:05]
B
Um, when was the last time you did it, Liz?
- [17:07]
A
And why did you stop?
- [17:09]
B
Just like, kind of got hard to fit in.
- [17:12]
A
I did some lives this summer that I saved and all of that, and they were fine. But probably, I haven't done it probably in like a couple years. Just like getting on and talking. I used to do it in stories relatively frequently, but I think that just. I don't know. I. I wrote this in an email to my list recently, but I just feel weird promoting myself right now. That's not really what I said in my email, but that's where it came from. I'm like, I feel weird promoting myself. I wonder if other people do so. And yeah, anyway, that's where I'm at. We could talk about it more with insiders, maybe.
- [17:52]
B
Let's talk about it with the insiders. So if you're not a member, we're going to talk about it in the insider episode.
- [17:57]
A
Yeah. Come join us. Just Visit our Patreon successwithjewelry.com and you're welcome to join. Let us know if you have questions. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, where to share it. Like, social media, definitely. That's perfect content for social media, but also in emails, like giving your email list a sneak peek of what's coming or what's on your bench, I think is really exciting. Also on your, your website, like even the product pages, like coming back to this emerald cuff example, like, maybe you have the beautiful finished images, you have the emerald cuff being worn and then you have some process shots in Your on your product page. That could be cool.
- [18:39]
B
I think they work so well on a product page. There's this misconception that like everything else, like social media, that it all needs to be so polished. But having these other shots, one, in this age of AI, it will confirm that it's not AI because it looks more real. Like sometimes it's hard to know what's AI or not. And two, it could give just different perspectives. You can see the size better or see different angles. And so I wouldn't be so worried. Worried about everything being super polished no matter where you put it.
- [19:15]
A
Yeah, don't overthink the quality and just get into the habit of doing it. Just, you know, pause this podcast or when the podcast is over or right now, while you're listening, just snap a photo of your bench.
- [19:28]
B
Maybe. I don't know if anybody will do this, but DM it to us.
- [19:31]
A
I'd love to see your bench right now. Yeah, send us a DM to get started. I would love to see everyone's benches and or post it and tag us and we'll share it. I would love to do that too. I haven't posted a picture of my.
- [19:43]
B
Desk yet, but you did in your video, so maybe I'll post it. I cleaned it up.
- [19:49]
A
I'm going to have to clean mine up. It's crazy.
- [19:53]
B
But you know what I always like, Liz? A favorite beverage while you work Shot.
- [20:00]
A
That's a good one. Or a favorite mug. Yeah, anything like that. What are you snacking on? I'd be down to see that too. I have a really beautiful spider plant on my desk that it really needs to be seen by everyone. So I should share. Oh, share it anyway. Okay, so do one small thing today. Let us know if you have questions. Do you share behind the scenes content? Visit successwithjewelry.com let us know. And if you love the podcast, we'd love to hear from you. Send us a message or leave us a review. Thanks for being a part of our community.