I attended Centurion South Beach's Jewelry E-Commerce Conference and I cannot say enough positive comments about this! In only one day, I was able to bring back with me tips that will last me a lifetime (or at least until many new softwares come into play). Now I know why it is called The Jewelry Industry's Digital Marketing and E-Commerce Conference... the name says it all.
The conference was beautifully organized in a way that three presentations were going on every hour, with the exception of breaks and lunch, and anyone could attend the one they appealed to the most.
My day started with breakfast and orientation followed by "Winning the Local Online Marketing Game", where I learned about marketing strategies to attract customers to the store and even more sales strategies to close the sale once they are there.
After a coffee break, I continued onto "Keeping Connected with the Ever-Changing Millennial Market". As a millennial, I actually related to so many things Ali and Ray Moheet said. We are tech-driven and fast paced individuals, and marketing and digital campaigns have to be tracked towards that. On top of this, we are now the largest bridal market and constantly growing in economic power, and so jewelry companies that have kept a marketing strategy that has worked in the past must be mindful that they should be tweaking it to appeal to millennials nowadays.
Moreover, I also heard Caroline Stanley talk to us about Social Media Advertising and Ecommerce options with Facebook and Instagram. This was one of my favorite presentations- this is actually what I do for a living and even I got to take away a tip or two about Instagram that I did not know. It is important to have a presence in Social Media nowadays, since most times it is the first impression you are going to give to a prospective client! Moreover, it is crucial to have goof photography and relatable images, where potential customers can see the piece in detail and how it would look worn.
On this note, I also listened to a very important fact that Dean Nasifogula from Wedding Day Jewelers mentioned: only 6% of digital users buy items that are $5,000 or more. On "Online Selling: The Retailer's Perspective", the panel talked about extremely important points that a retailer should take care of before deciding to go digital. It is important to invest time in Social Media, but also to create a digital marketing strategy that includes Search Engine Optimization and advertising.
To finalize the day, I went to "How To Win With Your Pay Per click Ad Investments", by Gap Up Internet Marketer Benjamin Rosenthal. I don't know a lot about Google Ads and this was extremely helpful for me.
As I stated in the beginning, it couldn't have been a better way to end the JIS/Centurion October Show and begin the holiday season. As human beings, we should never stop learning, and I can't way to apply everything to my personal e-commerce, www.shopgugu.com!
For more information about the Jewelry E-Commerce Conference by Centurion South Beach go to https://centurionsouthbeach.com/jewelry-ecomm-live/