Community Q&A: Marketing, with Ruby McGonigle, Lebrusan Studio
After the resounding success of our panel in March 2024 we wanted to dig deeper into some of the insights shared by our featured experts. Marketing is always an area our community wants to focus on so we asked Ruby McGonigle, digital marketer and copywriter at Lebrusan Studio to share some of her insights with all our blog readers.
Ruby digital marketing professional and self-confessed word nerd. She began her marketing career in the museums sector whilst studying for a BA in Linguistics, before her first foray into the jewellery industry with award-winning ethical jewellery brand Lebrusan Studio. She has spent the past five years managing Lebrusan Studio's entire marketing output, pioneering a number of formative fundraising campaigns and helping to win the brand four prestigious industry awards in that time. Fuelled by a fervour for all things sparkly and a passion for ethics within the jewellery industry, Ruby is a long-standing member of voluntary campaign group Fair Luxury and has built up a portfolio of jewellery industry clients.
“How do I create a marketing plan?”
Define your goals. Start by identifying exactly what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts. For example, you may wish to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or increase revenue. Your goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.)
Understand your target audience. Who are you speaking to? What do those people need and what problems does your brand solve for them? &Worn Studio’s founder Rebecca Maddock recently shared some invaluable insights on identifying your customer profile and how you might strike a chord with them.
Identify your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Determine what sets your jewellery designs or service apart from your competitors and plan to differentiate yourself from the market by articulating that clearly and constantly.
Perform a SWOT analysis. Evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to identify internal and external factors that might impact your marketing efforts, then use this analysis to capitalise on strengths, address weaknesses, exploit opportunities and mitigate threats.
Choose marketing channels that you know will reach your customer effectively. For example, if your target audience is primarily 18-24 year-olds, TikTok is probably worth considering. If you’re keen to reach wedding band shoppers, you might wish to partner with some printed bridal publications. If you brand yourself as a local jeweller and wish to market to customers in your area, local SEO could be an avenue worth exploring.
Develop your marketing strategies based on your SMART goals, target audience and chosen channels. To assist with focus and time management, you might wish to plan implementing these strategies using a Gantt chart or Kanban-style lists. Trello is a brilliant application for both.
Set a budget for each marketing tactic and channel based on their expected Return over Investment (ROI) and importance to your overall strategy. There are all number of free budgeting templates available online.
“How can I create content that my target audience will engage with?”
Once you’ve defined your target audience and the channels they’re most likely to use, think about content that is relatable to them, placing your jewellery directly in the context of their world. What might they need to see and learn in order to truly envisage themselves buying one of your pieces?
Content that answers practical questions is a great place to start. If you specialise in engagement rings, perhaps your target audience might seek advice on how to suss out their partner’s ring size, or the differences between popular gemstone setting styles. If you’re a bespoke jeweller, blog posts and reels explaining how to prepare for a design consultation or set about repurposing old jewellery could prove a hit. The key here is to adopt titles that your target audience are likely to tap straight into the search bar, like “Should I propose at Christmas?” or “Where to buy ethical wedding rings in London” – positioning you on their result feeds as a trustworthy source of knowledge. For inspiration, compile a list of FAQs that arise from conversations or comment sections and refer to Google Search Console for common Google search queries and keywords. When successful, landing pages, articles and YouTube videos of this nature have the potential to become evergreen content, garnering year-on-year engagement with minimal maintenance required. We’re sitting on a handful of blog posts here at Lebrusan Studio that have ranked consistently higher than all others for the past five years! They can also form the basis for saveable social media content.
Don’t let pure practicality dull your magic, however. Useful and informative content is great for SEO and reach, but the real challenge is converting those initial clicks into commitment and sales. To truly engage a customer, your content must also be aspirational and rousing. Inspire your target audience with lifestyle photos and styling tips, illustrate your blog posts with awe-inspiring imagery that showcases your materials, designs and craftsmanship at their very best, link to exemplary products wherever relevant, and offer exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpses into the inner sanctum that is your brand.
Again, Google Analytics is a great opportunity to understand your target audience’s behaviour, from the devices they use to browse your website to the channels that sent them there in the first place and the kind of content they tend to engage with most. This data should help you to refine your content output.
“Why are customers visiting my website but not purchasing anything?”
Great news! Customers are finding your website because it’s being indexed by search engines, or your advertising is doing its job. In terms of reaching your target audience, you’re already halfway there.
If you’re noticing a struggle with conversions once customers have entered the door, however, there are a number of factors you might need to consider.
Slow loading times, lack of mobile responsiveness or difficult navigation are all examples of user experience issues that could be putting people off sticking around. Thankfully, functionality problems are often pretty easy to identify and fix, with the back-end of your website host probably offering some in-house metrics. On noticing a little while back that our Shopify website was loading more slowly than it should be, we took time to optimise any high-resolution photos hogging the bandwidth and remove any behind-the-scenes media clogging up our Files folder.
Aside from these basic housekeeping matters, the underlying issue could be a lack of trust. Jewellery purchases are rarely transactional; more often than not, they are symbolic, emotive and memorable. It’s really important that your client feels comfortable opening up their heart to your brand, and there are a number of facets to building their trust.
Your product descriptions don’t need to be rambling, but they must include essential details like size, material specifications and care instructions. If you can share the provenance of your metal and gemstones and the craft journeys of your jewels, do so with pride. Fortify these descriptions with clear, high-quality imagery and videos. Ensure your pricing is simple and easy to understand when product variations are an option. This detail-orientated approach will not only help your customer to make straightforward and informed buying decisions; it implies honesty.
Position yourself as a knowledgeable authority, offering a comprehensive FAQ page, style and purchasing guides, and a blog sharing news and information that you know to be useful to your target demographic.
‘Social proof’ like customer testimonials and collaborative content can validate your brand’s legitimacy, offering reassurance to prospective buyers and creating a sense of community they aspire to buying into. Encourage your happy customers to share photos and leave reviews, perhaps even offering an incentive for doing so. Underpin this external approval by displaying any relevant trust badges and discussing partnerships with your suppliers, manufacturers or peers.
Maintain consistency in your aesthetic, creating a branding style guide to cement your typography, colour palette and logo. A recognisable look is a strand of your personality, helping customers to remember your brand beyond your products.
Don’t forget that external factors like seasonal trends, economic conditions and current affairs have a significant influence on purchasing decisions. For example, we noticed a huge change in customer behaviour in the months ensuing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanction on Russian diamonds. Stay informed on world news and marketing dynamics, and maintain an agile and responsive marketing strategy. Differentiate your brand from your by demonstrating an understanding of the world and your customer, offering them a sense of sanctuary that your competitors cannot.
“How can I measure my marketing success?”
First of all, identify your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Some basic examples of KPIs are website traffic, conversion rate, and social media engagement, though beneath each of these umbrellas falls some finer specifics.
Then, identify consistent means of measuring your KPIs moving forwards. For example, I monitor Lebrusan Studio’s website traffic and conversion rates using Google Analytics and our social media engagement using Meta Business Suite. Create a place to record and compare your analyses of these KPIs on a regular basis; some simple Excel spreadsheets work fine for me.
I find my time to be optimised by monitoring simple metrics like social media reach and engagement on a week-by-week basis, whilst reserving deep-dives into website traffic acquisition and behaviour for quarterly reviews.
Eventually, as you begin to observe peaks and troughs, trends and anomalies, refine your marketing strategies and tactics to optimise your results. Do more of what appears to work well, less of what doesn’t, and continuously test new approaches too, regularly adapting your marketing plan to evolving market conditions, customer preferences and algorithm demands.
“What are the essential elements of a successful social media content strategy for jewellery brands?”
I believe the key to success is to plan a short while ahead. Set aside a dedicated block of time (ideally on a fortnightly basis) to fill up a content calendar which honours important dates and developments within your business, within the industry, and sometimes, for wider reach, even nationally. Remember that ‘feed appeal’ is crucial for engaging curious travellers who have found your profile via their Explore tab, so employ a free resource like Canva or Preview to preview the content you’ve created side-by-side, ensuring their assembly is cohesive and aesthetically pleasing. Use a scheduling service like Hootsuite, Buffer or in-app scheduling functions to load up content in advance.
Of course, the rollercoaster of life might call upon ‘reactive’ social media content from time to time, but the best content is generally that which is considered, created with your brand’s tone of voice, story and aesthetic in mind. This mark is much easier to hit when you are unhurried and thinking ahead.
Although a consistent three feed posts per week is optimal, remember that a successful social media strategy is grounded in quality over quantity; share content with purpose, not just for the sake of making noise. This leads me back to the notion of content that serves as a valuable resource, answering questions, imparting tips or sharing inspiration that social media users will remember, useful enough to save or pass on. Think about how your brand’s core values might double up as ‘content pillars’ and use those notions to refine what you will and won’t discuss.
Finally, strive for versatility, avoiding ‘content fatigue’ by offering a varied rotation of formats; from reels to carousel posts combining both photo and video and, for stories, more ‘scrappy’ content like behind-the-scenes insights. Though reels are currently favoured most highly by the Meta algorithm, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to ‘hero’ content. Check your in-app engagement insights on a weekly basis and take note of what’s generally received best by your followers.
“What strategies can jewellery brands employ to engage with their followers and create a sense of community around their brand on social media?”
One benefit of planning your social media content in advance is the headspace subsequently freed up in the days that ensue. It’s very easy to forget the ‘social’ aspect of social media, so I advise using a small fraction of this time – perhaps five minutes per day – to browse your socials mindfully, engaging with content that you appreciate. Respond directly to comments and DMs and dish out likes, comments, shares and DMs of your own where they’re due. Not only is this a friendly way to forge meaningful connections with your clients and peers, it’s activity that will keep your profile ‘warm’.
This exchange works both ways; encouraging your followers to engage directly with you tells social media algorithms that your content is relevant, interesting and worth championing. Instagram, in particular, is abundant with tools that foster participation. Ask questions in your feed post captions, encouraging comments. Use the ‘Questions’ sticker on your Instagram story on a weekly basis to create conversation and encourage your followers to think, introspectively, about the role your brand plays within their life. Tell your followers that their opinion is valuable to you by inviting them to offer their input, like Lebrusan Studio’s recent ‘Which gemstone should we use?’ poll, opened up in the process of creating a new ready-to-wear engagement ring.
Likewise, using real-life interactions with your clients as direct inspiration for content demonstrates an understanding of their needs. Our Creative Director Arabel Lebrusan once offered an ‘Engagement Ring FAQs’ series on Instagram, opening up our DMs every Thursday evening for questions from engagement ring shoppers which she answered directly via talking videos, now stored in a highlight reel as evergreen content. Don’t be afraid to show yourself in this way! Honest portrayals of your voice and personality foster a deeper sense of emotional investment, which is important for jewellery shoppers.
Allocate a fraction of your content strategy to client content, sharing selfies and testimonials in a dedicated highlight reel. Writing your clients directly into your narrative is an opportunity to build trust and to contextualise your jewellery within settings that other social media users would find relatable. It also alleviates some of the pressure to create 100% original content of your own!
Finally - remember that your tone of voice is your personality. Sport it proudly at all times! Often, it’s the caption that makes the social media post, slicing through the thousands of similar visuals we scroll past every single day.
“How can jewellery brands effectively leverage high-quality visuals and videos to showcase their products and capture audience attention?”
Although it’s definitely worth investing in high-quality, professional imagery of new products or collections every once in a while for the purpose of editorial and press opportunities, don’t underestimate the power of your smart phone camera.
During her utterly fantastic Gold Dust Masterclass series, Kate Baxter recently laid down the 5 Golden Rules for DIY Jewellery Photography. They’re pretty simple:
Find the light: Jewellery is meant to sparkle and shine. Keep an eye on the weather forecast and plan to shoot on days when you know the sun will do some of the work
Hone in as close as possible. Jewellery is small, and so are our mobile phone screens – even smaller are the squares in which these photos appear. The bigger you can present your jewels, the better!
Harness colour and contrast to make your jewellery pop
Don’t dilute focus by creating a busy frame, distracting from the jewellery with unnecessary styling features or by dispersing it in various directions. Draw the eye into what matters
Don’t concern yourself with contrived concepts; simplicity is what will enable your jewellery to do the talking
Remember when photographing your pieces that you’re not simply selling jewellery, but a feeling. Carve out a defined aesthetic that feels true to you – perhaps creating a mood board of limited colours, textures, patterns and props – and stick to this religiously. Incongruous visual content is damaging for engagement and customers’ understanding of who you are, whilst consistent branding is memorable and helps to build trust, perhaps building on your existing branding style guide document if you already have one. Again, the vision needn’t be too stylised. At Lebrusan Studio, we simply rotate three or four neutral-toned backdrops of marble slabs or velvet ring trays and utilise the daylight to photograph our jewels and gemstones up close, often using our fingers to move or model them. Sometimes, to tap into the ‘design’ pillar of our brand’s core values, we include a jewel’s bespoke design drawings in the background of a shot. Every once in a while, we enlist our go-to photographer to snap a new collection professionally, adhering to this simple style that we have both come to expect from one another.
Don’t overlook the breadth of image styles available to you; try to cycle your options on social media for variation. For example, lifestyle photos using on-brand backdrops or props help your customer to visualise your jewellery within a relatable context, perhaps imagining it featuring in their own life; on-body photos offer a sense of scale; flat-lay shots are an opportunity to play with simple composition; and white background product shots, whilst NOT favoured by the Instagram algorithm, are an important asset for press call-ins.
Our thanks to Ruby for taking the time to answer our communities questions and offering up her insights and expertise. You can find her on LinkedIn or see the work she is doing for Lebrusan Studio to get inspired for your own brand.