MEDIA |
MARCH 2023
Why Branding Matters and How You Can Build A“Forever” Brand
Laryssa Wirstiuk
The beginning of the year is an excellent time to revisit the fundamentals of your jewelry business, including brand identity. Even if you’ve been serving your customers for decades, you can always bene t from checking in with your core values, storytelling, and visual presence. Are they authentically representing the heart and soul of your jewelry business? Do they still resonate with today’s customers?
For most jewelers, the word “brand” can feel enigmatic. Many equate their brand with the look of their store or the inventory they carry. But few take the time to intentionally establish an identity and to adjust it over time as needed. Keep reading this article to discover what it really means to have a brand identity and why it matters, especially for Laryssa Wirstiuk jewelers today and in the future.
WHY DOES BRANDING MATTER?
The modern consumer is savvier than ever before. No longer are they limited to shopping at one jewelry store in their community. Instead, they’re engaged in online research and seeking the best value. They’re not afraid to order something from a different part of the world if that means a better deal. When you don’t have a brand, something that establishes emotional ties with the customer, then you’ll always be competing on price with all the Internet has to offer. You become a commodity rather than a trusted resource and partner for your customers.
WHAT DOES “BRAND IDENTITY” MEAN?
Most people associate the word “brand” with a business name or logo. But it’s much more than the sum of those two things. Basically, a brand is the feeling the customer has when they interact with your business; it’s sometimes difficult to articulate, but it’s deeply felt. Products themselves, even if they’re beautiful diamond rings, do not inspire genuine feelings. The fun that a customer has in your store while shopping or the trust a customer feels when you promise to x their heirloom jewelry piece are all important elements of a brand, and most jewelers are too close to their own businesses to even recognize these abstract things.
HOW TO FIND YOUR BRAND
If you’ve never taken the time to think about your brand beyond the products you carry in your cases, the services you offer, or the logo on your business cards, then it can be dif cult to begin this exercise. One way to jumpstart your imagination is to ask employees and customers to describe your business in their own words. Consider inviting some of your best customers to complete a survey or focus group in exchange for an incentive like a discount or free gift. Which adjectives pop up regularly? Are you surprised to learn how the people closest to your business think about it? Use this feedback as a springboard for storytelling in the future.
HOW TO COMMUNICATE YOUR BRAND IDENTITY
Above all, communicating your brand identity effectively means being consistent and showing up regularly to your target customers. The biggest mistake in branding is not necessarily getting your brand “wrong” but instead it’s failing to be consistent with your brand – and amplifying it loudly. If you think something is obvious to customers, think again. Most of them are probably too busy with their daily lives to see your business the way you do.
Create a consistent look, tone, and feel on your website and ensure that all your language is telling the same story in the same voice. Send frequent email campaigns and post on social media with a regular cadence. If you send direct mail campaigns, ensure that they look like your website and other marketing content and that the language matches as well. If you have multiple team members working on your marketing, then they all need to be on the same page about your one uni ed brand identity.
Are you ready to futureproof your business and build a sustainable brand that transcends fads in consumer behavior? Start by building an unshakeable emotional Jye’s connection with your customers.
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