The Facebook Era Arrives

I laughed out loud when I read this article. In the last few weeks I hired a new marketing person here at John Medeiros Jewelry, and the first thing she did was get us on facebook and start a blog. At first I was hesitant and did not quite understand the significance but I must say in the two weeks since we went live we are definitely seeing a response. That\'s not to say that it doesn\'t take a lot of time to get the right people there, and we still have yet to get people to respond and communicate with one another, but the conversation is started and as we all know that is the hardest thing to do!

I laughed out loud when I read this article. In the last few weeks I hired a new marketing person here at John Medeiros Jewelry, and the first thing she did was get us on facebook and start a blog. At first I was hesitant and did not quite understand the significance but I must say in the two weeks since we went live we are definitely seeing a response. That's not to say that it doesn't take a lot of time to get the right people there, and we still have yet to get people to respond and communicate with one another, but the conversation is started and as we all know that is the hardest thing to do!

The Facebook era not only has begun, but it probably can be said that it started a while ago, and it’s pretty much just now starting to be talked about in the jewelry industry. This is a good thing. Maybe even a great thing! In an age where people like me are asked to either greatly reduce, reserve or even eliminate budgets, tools like Facebook are very valuable. Yes – it’s where the traffic certainly is. However, it should be noted that connecting with the right audience may take quite a bit of work. One page alone may not attract customers to your door automatically. Novell put up a Facebook page about three weeks ago (www.facebook.com/pages/Novell-Design-Studio/45691939078). Over the next few months, I anticipate that I will have to put in a decent amount of time to really get it noticed. In fact, I may even say that promoting Novell wedding rings through a variety of social media channels (blogs, message boards, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Digg, Flickr and many other news and linking websites) will be a big – if not the biggest – part of my job. If you wanna catch a lot of fish, then you definitely have to put your boat where the most fish are. And, of course, have the right bait. I am very happy to be hearing buzz within the jewelry industry about Facebook and social media in general. I look forward to the day when more manufacturers and retailers make an active presence known to existing and future customers alike. Personally, I want to be next to my competitors on many platforms. That way, consumers can easily compare and choose the manufacturer, product or even metal that’s right for them. People like to use the term “branding,” but often I wonder if many of those who throw the term into conversations really truly know what “branding” is. At least with Facebook, your message needs to be clear and focused for it to have a chance to work. Even with my page, I know that I have a lot of tweaking to do as well. It looks to be a fun – and educating – journey to take. Good-bye to relying on print ads and glossy brochures alone. Hello to more focused and multi-channeled messages.

The Facebook era not only has begun, but it probably can be said that it started a while ago, and it’s pretty much just now starting to be talked about in the jewelry industry. This is a good thing. Maybe even a great thing!

In an age where people like me are asked to either greatly reduce, reserve or even eliminate budgets, tools like Facebook are very valuable. Yes – it’s where the traffic certainly is. However, it should be noted that connecting with the right audience may take quite a bit of work. One page alone may not attract customers to your door automatically.

Novell put up a Facebook page about three weeks ago (www.facebook.com/pages/Novell-Design-Studio/45691939078). Over the next few months, I anticipate that I will have to put in a decent amount of time to really get it noticed. In fact, I may even say that promoting Novell wedding rings through a variety of social media channels (blogs, message boards, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Digg, Flickr and many other news and linking websites) will be a big – if not the biggest – part of my job. If you wanna catch a lot of fish, then you definitely have to put your boat where the most fish are. And, of course, have the right bait.

I am very happy to be hearing buzz within the jewelry industry about Facebook and social media in general. I look forward to the day when more manufacturers and retailers make an active presence known to existing and future customers alike. Personally, I want to be next to my competitors on many platforms. That way, consumers can easily compare and choose the manufacturer, product or even metal that’s right for them.

People like to use the term “branding,” but often I wonder if many of those who throw the term into conversations really truly know what “branding” is. At least with Facebook, your message needs to be clear and focused for it to have a chance to work. Even with my page, I know that I have a lot of tweaking to do as well. It looks to be a fun – and educating – journey to take.

Good-bye to relying on print ads and glossy brochures alone. Hello to more focused and multi-channeled messages.