Storytelling in your jewellery business
Blog
As part of the new book ‘Start and Grow a Profitable Jewellery Business’ with Jessica Rose, a handful of talented and successful, handmade jewellers were invited to be interviewed about various different elements of their business.
Each jeweller was chosen specifically to talk about a particular area of focus within their business which they were doing brilliantly at, to share their real life experience and demonstrate how its done. One of these areas of focus was how to use storytelling to showcase your work, connect with your audience and grow your jewellery business…
Storytelling is an important part of marketing your jewellery business, humans are hard-wired for stories. Sharing a story, either yours or your customers’ is a powerful way to connect with your audience.
So for this chapter of the book, Jess invited successful jeweller Anna Sweet who has based her whole business around telling stories and is really good at connecting with her audience on Instagram and other social channels.
Here’s what Anna had to say…
Anna Sweet of This Story Jewellery
Could you tell us a bit more about how you use stories, reels and posts on Instagram and the content that you create for each?
I use stories, reels and posts to tell a story about my brand and the jewellery I create. I like to mix between curated photos and behind-the-scenes videos. Lots of my reels are making videos and my imagery is mainly photos of finished jewellery or styling ideas.
What would your top tips be for creating engaging stories/content?
Always try to think about what captivates you when you spend time on Instagram. For example, I really love to see the person behind a small business, how they make their products, and their day-to-day life of running their brand. So that’s the content I create for my own platform.
One of the advantages of being a small business is that it’s easier and less intimidating for people to connect and engage with you, than if you were a bigger faceless brand, and because of this I try to let my personality shine through as much as possible. I find it important to be relatable, so I sometimes show when things don’t go right with jewellery-making and running a small business – because sometimes they don’t!
I like to share the process and story of everything I make, because I think when it evokes an emotion in someone, it adds value and meaning to my jewellery. I think the more authentic you can be, the more relatable your content will be, resulting in a more engaged audience. So don’t be afraid to show yourself and the gritty and funny moments of running a business, as well as the beautiful moments.
How do you come up with your ideas for Instagram?
Lots of trial and error. Sometimes my content doesn’t always work, so I’ll go back to what I know does work. But I always find it important to experiment. I try to stay relevant because Instagram is an ever-changing platform, so I look at the current trends, trending music and what people are engaging with. Sometimes I’ll plan my content around that, and then other times I’ll take a photo/video of something, love it, and will post it straight away. I’d be lying if I said I always have ideas for Instagram. It can be hard to be creative with content sometimes. So, if I don’t feel inspired, I will do things that spark inspiration.
Anna’s packaging
How do you create your content? (Canva/iPhone etc?)
I mainly use my iPhone to take photos and videos. I also use Canva for creating graphics, and I like to plan my content using a planning app called ‘A Color Story’ or ‘Planoly’, which gives you an idea of how your content will look on your grid. I find this helpful because I can keep track of what I need to post and can devise a plan for up-coming content.
I also sometimes use a video editing app called ‘Filmm’ to create reels because it allows you to stitch videos together and speed them up or slow them down.
What kind of content/stories do your audience most enjoy seeing on Insta?
My audience really enjoy seeing process videos. So, I like to take short videos of myself making jewellery and will use them for content. Most of my work is made using the Lost Wax Casting method, and it’s really fun to show how it was originally formed from wax and turned into precious metal.
How has your Instagram helped your business to grow?
Instagram has been such a pivotal part of growing my business. Because of Instagram I’ve been able to turn jewellery-making into my main source of income. It’s also been amazing for growing a community and making friends with people who have similar interests - which has also led to some exciting collaborations. So many opportunities have opened up for my business because of Instagram.
Want to know more?
If you’d like to learn more about how to use storytelling to market your jewellery business, as well as read Anna’s top tip for new jewellers starting out, then you’ll find it all here in the new book - ‘Start and Grow a Profitable Jewellery Business’ with Jessica Rose.
want to learn more about growing a jewellery business?
If you’d like more help with learning how to launch and grow a jewellery business then why not consider joining our flagship programme - The Jewellery Business Bootcamp which is open for admissions at the start of every year. Click below to find out more…
