Twitter Glitter – Using Twitter to Enhance Promotions

This month we’ll examine how to incorporate Twitter into your promotions to make them sparkle!

Every month when I close out this column, I invite you to contact me with questions or comments and always enjoy hearing from those of you who e-mail or call. The questions I get range widely from topic to topic, but last month someone asked me about the “Partners” in GJB Partners, so I thought this would be a great time to introduce you to one of our partners, A.J. Sales.

Many of you know A.J. from his more than 40 years experience in the jewelry industry which includes manufacturing, retail, wholesale, and store turnaround and reorganization. He has been involved in the corporate as well as the entrepreneur spectrum of the industry. He has over 25 years experience in single and multi-store restructuring, turn-around and evaluation of related activities.

A.J. was formerly with KWHS, Inc as COO and Gordon Brothers Group, Boston, MA as a Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions for the jewelry division. His industry credits have included:

• Approved speaker/trainer for Jewelers of America.
• Monthly columnist writer for trade publications.
• Past President, Kentucky Jewelers Association.
• Executive Director, Kentucky Jewelers Association
• Board of Directors, Florida Jewelers Association
• 24 Karat Club, Southeastern United States
• Jewelers of America Certified Senior Management Professional

During the month of May, A.J. worked with Wesche Jewelers in Viera, Florida on a 14-day, $2 Million Dollar Estate Liquidation Sale. Along with utilizing the regular channels of advertising, Wesche Jewelers took advantage of the opportunity to promote this sale by using their Twitter account in several unique and creative ways.

First of all, although Wesche Jewelers has been on Twitter for about 8 months, they had never reached out to their e-mail base to let their customers know they had set up a Twitter account. So Wesche Jewelers owner Holly Wesche Conn sent an e-mail to her list that combined an announcement of Wesche’s presence on Twitter and information on the $2 Million Dollar Estate Sale, and included a 10% discount coupon for the “Private” sale that kicked off before the $2 Million Dollar Estate Sale opened to the public.

Within the first 24 hours after the e-mail went out, Wesche Jewelers added 10% to its Twitter follower numbers, and we’re pretty sure they came from the e-mail, because those 10% were almost 100% followers from the local area!

Once the sale got under way, Wesche continued daily promotions through Twitter by reminding followers of the sale and spotlighting one particular “Twitter Glitter” special each day – a piece of jewelry that was marked at a promotional rate specifically for Twitter followers.

Keep in mind Twitter is a tool that should be incorporated into the rest of your promotional/marketing mix. Use it to enhance what you already have in place. If you are running a restyling event, as one of our clients, Milkins Jewelers in Wyandotte, Michigan recently did, create some “Tweets” about the event that will catch their interest, such as these:

“Everything old is new again with Milkins Restyling Event! Join us Wed, May 12 & update your old jewelry. Appts Preferred, Call 734-284-9044”

“Join us Wed May 12th for our in-store Restyling Event & update your old jewelry while you watch and wait. Appts preferred, call 734-284-9044”

“Your $$ are golden on Wed, May 12, at Milkins Restyling Event! Top dollar paid for your old gold = a new ring you’ll love. Appts Preferred.”

“Your $$ are golden on Wed, May 12, at Milkins Restyling Event! Top dollar paid for your old gold = lots of sparkling bling. Appts Preferred.”

If you are having a trunk show and want to spotlight the event on the day of the show as another client of ours did, you can create a “Tweet” like this:

“Stop by our Konstantino trunk show today and view their fabulous line of beautiful jewelry. Enjoy a margarita while you shop and save!”

So how can Twitter work for you to help your next promotion “Glitter”?

Follow these guidelines:

1. Decide on the promotion & dates
2. Set your objectives: What is your goal with this promotion?
3. Define what part Twitter can play in the success of the promotion and how it can be measured (coupons, Tweet back2win, etc)
4. Define your target markets (online customers, walk-in customers, new clients, etc.)
5. Decide on your media mix (advertising that will be used to support the promotion)

Once you’ve established your promotion guidelines, then you can determine how Twitter will best work to fit into your promotional mix. Keep in mind that with Twitter, you can use links to point customers to pictures, videos, slide-shows, audio files and all kinds of interactive presentations that will make your products shine!

If you have additional questions about using Twitter to enhance your promotions, we will be out in Vegas for the JCK show, so if you would like to schedule some time with us, just to sit down and chat, we’d love to take some time to meet you face to face and answer any questions you might have, too!

Feel free to call me at 504-615-1191, or e-mail me at Ann@GJBPartners.com and let me know if there is a particular day and time that might fit with your schedule and we’ll make sure to meet with you while we’re there. And if you’d like to touch base with A.J., you can e-mail him at AJ@GJBPartners.com or call him at 270-331-3000 or visit his website at http://AJSalesassoc.com.

If Vegas isn’t in your plans then you can always call me at the number above or e-mail me at the e-mail address above with any questions, comments or concerns you might have about using Twitter, or about structuring Twitter to support all aspects of your Promotions to bring you some “Twitter Glitter!”