Starting a jewelry business is no doubt an exciting venture, but one that comes with a share of challenges, and a learning curve. Everyone in the jewelry business knows the value of a jewelry brand. In this niche, your brand is the face of your business and a glimpse of the authenticity of your products.
Building an authority jewelry brand often starts with a list of questions, like;
- Where do I start?
- Do I know enough to make this work?
- Do I know how a plain jewelry product can be transformed into an authority brand?
- What steps do I need to take?
- Where is your jewelry brand so far?
It's only reasonable to ask yourself those questions and answer them candidly to evaluate if your jewelry business is a viable venture, or not. While we may not help you answer all of them in one go, there’s one thing we know for sure; there’s a 4-stage cycle that you can leverage to build a jewelry brand that's geared for growth.
However, that’s not to assert that the cycle is a cookie cutter for all jewelry businesses—because the process of growing a jewelry brand is dynamic and unique to your objectives.
The life cycle of a typical jewelry brand starts as just a plain jewelry product item. With time and effort, that jewelry product gets a name, a logo, a website, a shop, and an attractive packaging, then we call it a brand.
It takes quite some work to transform a mere product into a brand.
When the brand explodes, it becomes a lifestyle that people follow, and in some cases, a movement.
In this insightful post, we share with you the four stages that a jewelry business undergoes in order to transform mere ideas into a renowned collection.
Let’s dive right into it.
· A Mere Product Item
It goes without a saying that jewelry businesses aim to design, develop, and sell superior quality products that satisfy their customers' needs. Before you start developing the product, you need to know that when you design or produce a piece of jewelry, it’s merely a product item with a function. A wearable fashion accessory. It may be similar to some jewelry that is already on the market or unique in a certain way, but people may not remember it or distinguish it from other products.
That’s to say, it has no identity, and if lost, two things can happen. One, the owner can’t sufficiently describe the jewelry she lost, and two, it can easily be replaced with another similar piece of jewelry. If this describes your jewelry product, then it’s only a product item at this moment — a product item with huge potential.
- The Item Gets A Label
At this juncture, what you need to do is to give your not-so-valuable jewelry product an identity. Luckily, crafting a logo or a name is more affordable these days, you can get an ace freelance graphics designer to craft three or more sample logos within your budget.
This is good news, but it also means that your competition can get a better label at an even lower cost, so you’ll need a truly authentic and unique symbol for your product. If you have the time to go over images on Pinterest and derive inspiration from the big brands and learn a thing or two from their designs to come up with something better.
You see, the aim here is for people to remember your jewelry line and relate to it. And the best way to make your jewelry collection stand out is to put a relatable story behind it. That way, everything with your label on it will resonate with a specific target market. Your logo will represent a certain style, values, and message.
Next, you can then go ahead and spend time designing or hire a professional to design your stationery, including a beautiful casing for your jewelry products with the label strategically printed on them. Ensure that the casing will keep the products safe and, more importantly, communicates your brand message on uniqueness, superiority, and authenticity.
Well, at this point you may even trademark or patent the business logo and name, to avoid the risk of someone claiming them.
So, is that all? Not quite.
With a high-quality, sensational jewelry item, a beautiful logo on it, and an exquisite packaging, you may be thinking that you finally have a jewelry brand. Not quite. Until your customers are coming back for more and your sales skyrocketing, you still have a long way to go. This far, you are doing well but well is not good enough if excellent is an option.
The next task is to go on the overdrive to a level that if someone mentioned your brand name to a random group of fashion-conscious people, they should relate the name to your jewelry collection, instantly.
In order to get to that level of popularity, there are two more steps left.
· Fortify Your Brand
Simply put, branding is how the consumers of your products recognize and experience the products—from how it looks, feels, and sounds. To develop a brand, as I hinted earlier, there should be a relatable story behind it. A story that a particular section of the market can resonate with.
This story should not necessarily come out in the form of a story but in a facet of a brand message telling your customers that by buying your product, they will satisfy a particular need of their souls.
For example, while Alison Lou’s jewelry collection is focused on producing fun or chic jewelry products developed by women by fellow women, another renowned collection, AUrate, is focused on minimalist jewelry designs for modern culture. Both are huge success stories.
The idea here is that if only a few random fashion-sensitive people can recognize and associate your brand with a given need, then your brand is not hitting the fashion industry hard enough.
To help, find out what the big brands stand for, what they represent and who they target, then carve your story in the same manner. If you can, find a niche (or gap) in the jewelry industry that you are passionate about, and that is underserved, then work on becoming an authority brand in that niche.
Once you have all that figured out and outlined, set the objective of your brand. Make them as clear as can be. Let them run deep in your soul and be willing to do what you have to do to achieve your brand objectives.
The obvious next step would be to develop a marketing strategy. Develop and publish high-quality content across all the traditional and digital media platforms you can reach out to. If you can, use influencers, pressers, social media, and digital content marketers as much as you can afford.
Once the media has considerable coverage of your brand and your brand message is constantly flashing across your audience’s mobile devices, desktops and probably TV’s, Hooray! Congratulations! That’s what we call a brand.
Also, it’s important to note that your brand is not what you think it is; it's what your customers think it is. You may firmly believe that yours is an affordable brand for middle-aged females when your target customers think its pricey brand suitable for teenage girls. In that case, your brand is indeed pricey and for the teenage girls, whether you acknowledge it or not.
· Branding Is a Lifestyle
Branding is not a one-time-off thing; it's a lifestyle. It's dynamic and lifelong. When you stop paying attention to the dynamics of the market, you stand a risk of becoming obsolete. If you become obsolete, guess what? Someone brand out there is willing to take up your customers and serve them, consistently. That’s how great jewelry collection brands get run over by younger and more vivacious competitors.
Most importantly, always remember that by choosing your brand over your competitors, your customers are simply saying that your products represent who they are, their clique, and social hierarchy. That's something you don't want to take for granted but instead build on.
So, your jewelry business is more than a brand name; it represents social status and a culture! Once you reach that level of dominance, your product line can be easily expanded into other fashion accessories and clothing as long as they all represent the same style.
Takeaway; the most challenging part of a war is not winning it; it’s keeping the victory!
Parting Shot
When starting a jewelry collection business, it’s crucial to focus on your product and brand message when starting out. Decide on what your target market is, their disposable income, and what style they love. Above all, be consistent.
The truth is, there’s no one-strategy-fits all jewelry business plan, but all jewelry businesses have to undergo all the steps outlined in this post. Follow it succinctly to get everything right the first time, and you will be glad you did.