How to Use Images and Videos to Sell More Jewelry
Tough times require tough entrepreneurs — there is no reminder today more pertinent than this as some countries gradually reopen for business while others reinstate lockdown measures amidst the accelerating resurgence of COVID-19. The jewelry industry, like many other industries, has been one of the most impacted, yet it shows that in the jewelry world, there is no shortage of resolute entrepreneurs.
Throughout these months, we've seen jewelers explore strategies on how to operate in a post-COVID-19 world, and rightly so. This pandemic will inevitably create tectonic changes in the industry — changes that will extend and remain after this difficult time. However, to get to the recovery stage, you must first keep your head above water by staying nimble and always ready to shift gears wherever the market points. Right now, the market is pointing towards a digital pivot.
In our recently concluded webinar titled, "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Sales: How to Use Images and Videos to Sell More Diamonds and Jewelry", Picup Media and RapNet, the world's largest and most trusted diamond and jewelry trading network, discovered that about 42% of polled participants are not selling jewelry online. This was a bit high considering that e-commerce has been experiencing unprecedented gains pre-COVID-19 and now, with the menacing virus forcing brick-and-mortar shops to shutter their doors temporarily, online retailing and e-commerce could be the only saving grace.
How do you navigate uncharted territory?
If you're a jeweler who closed your shop to shift to the online operation or you are incorporating online retail into your strategy and selling diamonds and jewelry online is an unknown area to you, read further and we will help you navigate your way forward so, let's begin!
How to Use Images and Videos to Sell More Diamonds and Jewelry
Humans are innately visual. In a retail landscape where the tactile shopping experience is infeasible, you must be able to satisfy that visual demand to attract attention leading to sales. Your jewelry images and videos are powerful visual elements that convey crucial product information to your online shoppers and influence their choice and buying decisions. However, not all images and videos are equal because your visual content may differ from other jewelers in terms of quantity, quality, and messaging. These factors enable you to leverage visual content to sell more diamonds and jewelry.
There are three ways to use images and videos to sell more diamonds and jewelry.
1. Tell a story with your photos.
Jewelry has always been associated with love; thus, it is a perfect product to tell memorable stories that resonate with your target shoppers. There's nothing more memorable than a wedding proposal or engagements and weddings and so, on both of these occasions, you'll see engagement rings and wedding bands as complementary objects to the celebration.
For what it represents, jewelry is an extremely emotional purchase and the emotion works both ways. You want to tell your consumers’ story while your consumers also get excited about your story as a brand. When you share your story with them, you create the emotions that lead to desire and ultimately, lead to purchases.
There are many ways to share your story with your consumers. Some ideas include, but are not limited to the following:
- Show the before and after creation process of a refurbished item.
- Show the entire creation process, from a loose polished diamond to it being set into the ring and the final product.
- Create collages to show all angles of the ring in one photo.
- Shoot a theme. Themed photography does not only tell a story but also keeps the creative juice flowing as you focus on the story you want to tell.
- Pair your theme shots with mood/aspirational shots. For example, shooting a nice diamond ring next to a beautiful, soft leather purse and a glass of champagne or a pair of diamond cufflinks, with a nice heavy pen in the background shows the significance that the cufflinks can bring to the customer. These ideas stimulate different moods but show consumers an ideal lifestyle they’d probably like to lead.
2. Use clever messaging.
When it comes to marketing, language is your most powerful tool.
Product descriptions and/or names can make or break a purchase. Always give your products a personality and use impactful words but avoid hollow, cumbersome ones that convey nothing but unnecessary verbosity.
Do something fun but make it witty and efficient just like how other brands have found success in it. We are finding that most successful jewelry companies are coming up with cool and brilliant ways to name their products.
For example, the hip-hop jewelry market has found magic in iced-out jewelry so much so that it has become an integral part of hip-hop culture. “Iced out,” a reference to flash jewelry with prolific quantities of diamonds, is named as such because large diamonds literally cover an entire piece of jewelry as if those diamonds were inexpensive as ice cubes.
And lastly, who would forget De Beers’ “A Diamond is Forever” slogan, which contributed greatly to De Beers' tremendous advertising success? It was so huge that the slogan became the #1 slogan of the century in 1999.
What makes De Beers' slogan marketing magic was the fact that it captured the exact sentiment De Beers wanted to convey — that a diamond, like a relationship or love, is eternal. It evoked emotions while at the same time, encouraged people to invest in diamonds given their long-lasting value.
3. Show customers that what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG).
If you’re a jewelry and gemstone supplier, your product photos and videos are your primary content and your sales depend on them. It can also make or break your business relationship.
Dealers want to take high-quality photos that represent the “what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)” look, so there are no surprises when purchasing online.
This means the retailers want to see the diamond AS IT IS and the jewelry AS IT IS; hence, photographing on a white background helps establish that WYSIWG-look as it eliminates all the distractions and makes the photos ready for business. As such white background jewelry photos can be attractive for your wholesalers and retailers who plan to reuse the same photos and videos on their own channels instead of taking the photos and videos themselves again.
You see, professional-quality photos and videos benefit everyone. It saves time and effort for everyone involved in the sales process, not to mention its impact on sales and conversion.
How to Take Professional Quality Jewelry Photos and Videos Yourself
The quality of the photos and videos you put out there matters more than you know. Your brand and product messaging might be impeccable but if the photos and videos are blurred and captured in a slapdash manner, your target shoppers might just end up scrolling past you.
In a noisy online world, you only have seven seconds to grab viewers' attention, and converting web visitors and clinching sales could very well start from that seven seconds.
Enhance every shopper touchpoint by taking studio-quality images and videos through the following:
1. Do it Yourself
Yes, you can DIY!
To be able to capture studio-quality jewelry images and videos, you must first master lighting, camera, and skills.
Start researching and learning in the 3 key areas below to get photography perfected:
Lighting
- Strobe
- Light tents
- Soft lighting setups
- Using reflectors to minimize reflections
- Using white balance to correct the color temperature of your lighting environment
Camera
- Decide between DSLR or smartphone.
- Decide who will be taking the photos and videos.
- You can use a range of Photography apps on your smartphone - the GemLightbox app is also free to download so you can use our app to get started. It was designed to maximize your smartphone camera for jewelry photography.
Skill
- Study composition techniques.
- Stock up on props and backgrounds. You can purchase white background alternatives like a roll of white paper and a matte finish vinyl backdrop. I would also recommend purchasing a colored background paper instead of trying to achieve a white background if achieving a perfectly white background is really challenging for you.
- Be creative and artistic. Always look for photography inspiration.
If you're doing it yourself, expect that capturing one perfect shot of jewelry takes time, patience, and effort, especially if you're not a professional photographer. In fact, our poll showed that getting the right result was one of the major challenges jewelers encountered with jewelry photography.
2. The GemLightbox
We would recommend investing in a proper photography solution if you are in business.
We’ve had so many of our clients tell us, "I wish I started earlier", and that’s a very valid realization, especially after calculating how much you have lost using cost-benefit analysis.
Jewelry photography is resource-draining. The most expensive part of it is the learning process and the ongoing time spent taking the photos and videos, not to mention the time you have to spend in post-production.
You can either purchase a GemLightbox, our out-of-the-box solution that allows you to take 360 photos and videos on a perfectly white background using our app. There is no experience or learning needed and depending on which GemLightbox set or add-ons you have, you may have access to the following:
- The GemLightbox is equipped with a lighting environment and other features specially designed for jewelry photography only.
- The GemLightbox turntable allows you to capture 360 jewelry videos
- Aerial, an add-on device built to shoot 360 videos and images of long necklaces and dangling earrings in style
- Eclipse for beautiful black background images and 360 videos. While white background promotes image consistency, represents neatness, and means business, a black background creates a subtle yet dramatic look while still maintaining neutrality. A black background is perfect for accentuating the reflective surfaces of the metals and the rich colors of the gemstones. For instance, on a black background, emeralds tend to have a deeper green color, paraibas will start to glow, and diamonds will sparkle more due to the contrast that a black background brings.
The GemLightbox functions with any smartphone and lets you post your images and videos directly to your social media accounts without hassle or send them directly to your buyer wherever in the world you are. It’s like inventory in your pocket!
Check out below the 360 video and photo of an iced-out Rolex captured with the GemLightbox and an iPhone XS Max.
The Best Practices for Getting the Right Images and Videos
Guidelines and common standards vary depending on your channel. Some are stricter while others give you enough creative freedom to style and sell your jewelry. It is important to be aware of different guidelines as violations of any will suspend your seller access, especially if you’re selling fine jewelry on Amazon.
Let’s begin with e-commerce platforms.
1. E-Commerce
White background photography is the best practice and is required for most popular e-commerce sites. Almost all platforms will require white background photos of at least 1000px and videos as they want everything to be consistent and have no bias towards any seller. It also makes shoppers’ experience seamless because there are not too many distractions and the products being sold are clearly represented in the image. This benefits you now and will continuously benefit you in many different ways.
For instance, once visual search becomes the norm, you have to learn not only to optimize your store for visual search (for standalone web store owners), but you also have to optimize the overall look and quality of your image; otherwise, AI will have a difficulty identifying objects in your image. When AI begins its visual search online, it identifies colors, shapes, and objects. A potential buyer will have a hard time finding you through visual search if AI is having a hard time identifying the objects in your image because of complex color combinations and cluttered backgrounds.
Further, you need to satisfy consumers’ visual appetites. One product image will not suffice, which is why most e-commerce platforms will allow you to add at least 3 additional product photos and videos (if the platform supports it) to help you stand out from your competition.
For example, if you’re listing a diamond engagement ring, you can capture photos showing the following:
- Front angle
Front angle images show the ring from the top angle so you can imagine what it looks like on the finger.
- Side angle
Side angle images allow consumers to see the details of the ring on the side if there’s any intricate design worthy to be showcased from that angle. It also communicates to the consumer how far the diamond comes off the band for them to see how far the diamond sits on the finger.
- Overall view
The overall view of the ring allows consumers to see some shanks and some of the front of the ring to help them understand dimensions and thickness.
2. Social Media
Videos get higher views! AND consistency beats everything. Consistency matters much more than quality when it comes to social media and it is one of the key principles of persuasion, so if you seek to influence, this is your weapon.
Consistency is exhibited by the frequency of your social media postings. It is much better to post 1 average photo or video per day than to do one perfect photo per month or one perfect photo or video once every two weeks. This is not enough.
3. Branding and Logo
Lastly, do not forget to add your brand logos to your images or videos before sending them to consumers.
Many times, your images and videos get forwarded to other buyers and decision-makers. It's worth it to add your logo to your photos, not only to stop people from stealing your images but more so to get maximum exposure and boost brand recognition. Increased brand recognition is an indication that you are reaching your target market, so put it there to amplify your brand.
As we mentioned previously, the GemLightbox app has a logo feature which automatically places the logo on the same part of the image every time—feel free to use the app as it's free of charge and you can take photos without the GemLightbox.
With just a click of a button, your image becomes your business card!
Are you just starting your jewelry business but don't know where to get your supplies?
The above practices would only work if you already have an existing jewelry business whether online or offline, but let's say, you want to start but don't know how and where to source your supplies — this is where RapNet's Instant Inventory comes in.
Instant Inventory can easily transform your jewelry business into an online powerhouse and allow you to reach more customers without worrying about the lack of inventory or the instant capital to own them.
To take advantage of Instant Inventory, simply go to RapNet's website to sign up and become a member. Then, start selecting diamonds and jewelry from suppliers you want across the globe, and begin setting your own markups.
Starting a jewelry business in the age of technology doesn't have to be costly and complicated. RapNet absolutely allows you to have access to tens of thousands of diamonds and jewelry without the cost of owning them. It reduces the cost of sourcing while also giving your customers a world of diamonds at their fingertips right when they need it.
It's an entirely different world post-pandemic. The competition is going to be tougher and the consumer behavior is going to be more dynamic, but the digitally bold will keep moving forward.
Go out there and start clinching those sales!