released May 7, 2021
(recorded May 5, 2021) - 1 hours, 25 minutes



Is Your Jewelry Store's Online Identity Serving Customer Needs


Let's try to put ourselves in the mindset of someone who needs a jeweler.

For this exercise we will review these three possible scenarios
1. Someone who is beginning their journey to find an engagement ring.
2. Someone who knows they need to find a local jeweler for some reason.
3. Someone searching for a Mother's Day gift.

For this exercise we will do our searches on the smartphone since that's where the customer journey normally begins now. We will do the searches using incognito mode on our phones in order to show results that are not influenced by our own Google accounts that already have a bias towards showing results for the jewelry stores that we do work for.

For each of these scenarios, we will break down the potential search phrases that could be used by the customer.

Each of these scenarios represents one of the three types of online traffic that could visit your website. Those types are Need Aware, Product Aware, and Brand Aware. We will look at how the results we find fulfill the needs we have.



Sub Topic: Review of how your website visitors come to you with one of three types of needs.

Those types are:
• Need aware – The person has a need for something but they are not sure where to find the answer. This type of search is usually something that includes a specific topic, but may not include a specific product. In our scenario today our need aware search will be "Mother's Day jewelry gift" or "jewelry gift for mom."

• Product aware – The person has a need for a type of product. They have not chosen a style, vendor name, or designer name. They know they need a product and they might already be aware that that class of products comes in thousands of subtle variations. In our scenario today our product aware search will be "engagement ring near me"

• Brand aware – The customer knows the solution to their problem and they already know who they must go to for that solution. Sometimes the customer already knows the name of the company with the solution, in which case they will search for the local location of that company, and sometimes they customer knows the business type of company that provides the solution, in which case they will search for that business type. Examples of this would be search for "plumbers near me" or "real estate attorneys near me." In our scenario today our brand aware search will be "jewelry store near me."

Scenario 1: Someone who is beginning their journey to find an engagement ring

This is the person who is "product aware" but not "brand aware"

Search phrase "engagement ring near me"

What do we think this person will want to see?
1. Photos? – Potentially this person will only look for product photos in this visual heavy search.
2. Stories?
3. Ideas?
4. ????

The person will need to have their education guided in these potential ways:
• Education of different types of engagement rings
• Do engagement rings need to be a certain price?
• What will they need to know about the 4C's?
• Will you convince them that they need to know about the 4C's?
• Do you use these sales pitches in your store to educate and help convince people to buy from you? If you do, then how do you replicate this on your website?

Do the websites we are looking at answer any of these questions?

Do we expect that the customer will buy online or will they visit the store?

What are others doing to convince the person to buy online? Are they trying to convince people that none of the above questions matter? Or did they answer them?

Scenario 2: Someone who knows they need to find a local jeweler for some reason

This is the person who is "brand aware" because they already know they need a jeweler for the solution to their problem.

Search phrase "jewelry store near me"

What do we think this person will want to see?
1. Jewelry repairs???
2. Custom design???
3. Watch battery replacement???
4. Selling their old jewelry???
5. Thinking about buying a gift???

Will Google help with the results? Google My Business results?
• Store hours?
• Reviews?
• What else in the GMB results could help someone choose you?

Is there any expectation that a customer might have from looking at the GMB that is misleading from when the person visits the website?

Scenario 3: Someone searching for a Mother's Day gift

In honor of Mother's Day being this Sunday, our need aware scenario is to get a jewelry gift for mom. In this scenario we could buy online or in a store.

Search phrase "Mother's Day jewelry gift" or "jewelry gift for mom."

Motivations for this type of search:
1. The way we buy all depends on when we choose to buy and how long it will take to get the gift we choose. Are we buying the day before? Then the selection and purchase must be fast. Are we buying weeks before? Then shipping and time doesn't matter
2. Price?
3. What does mom already have that could be added to better her jewelry wardrobe?
4. Is it for a new mom?

Will Google help with the results? Google My Business results?
• Store hours?
• Reviews?
• BOPIS
• Curbside
• What else in the GMB results could help someone choose you?

Is there any expectation that a customer might have from looking at the GMB that is misleading from when the person visits the website?

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