Facebook Live Jewelry Sales
You may have noticed when scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed people posting live videos and asking for interactions from their viewers. These Facebook Live events are becoming the new way to have sales and create a buzz about your store on social media. It’s a great platform to generate sales through a Facebook Live jewelry sale from customers who can’t or won’t come into your store.
For this week’s Trading Tip of the Week, we asked Lacey of Lacey’s Custom Jewelry in Bismarck, North Dakota to give some insight on what makes a successful event and what is helping her dominate this sector.
Her first step was to watch as other stores held Facebook Live jewelry sales and see what worked. She then cherry-picked ideas that she watched and adapted them to fit Lacey’s Custom Jewelry brand.
Before her first event, she set a sales goal, and then she set a dream sales goal: one she didn’t expect to reach or think was realistic.
“I was blown away by our first live,” said Lacey. “It blew past my dreams.”
Her auction was not only more successful than her set goal, it was more successful than her dream goal. Knowing she had found an extremely lucrative and successful avenue for sales, she made holding Facebook lives a top priority and even transitioned one of her employees into a social media manager.
Ofcourse, before you begin selling via Facebook Live, you will need to create a Facebook Business Account for your store. You can find a “How-To” by visiting one of our previous Trading Tips here.
Be Prepared for Production of your Facebook Live Jewelry Sale
Lacey’s number one recommendation when hosting a Facebook Live is to be prepared. She prepares by having the price on the screen as she is showing the item, as well as the stock number. This helps cut down any confusion, as viewers won’t miss hearing the price, and won’t continue to ask throughout the showing.
As a memory aid the back of the display has the price and stock number, and she writes little notes about what she wants to say about the item. This can be extremely helpful when you’re showing dozens of pieces.
She stresses practicing. Do a run-through of the sale before going live. Ask an employee or friend to watch you run through your presentation and make recommendations. You might find that you talk quickly when nervous, or that you speak too quietly.
A sure-fire way to see how you respond to being in front of the camera is to record your run through. When watching the run-through, check your camera angle, how close you can bring items before losing focus, and if your mic is working. This will give you a chance to make your own critiques, and see where you can improve.
It is also extremely important to have a reliable and uninterrupted Wi-Fi connection. If this is not possible at your store, turn off your phone’s Wi-Fi connection and use reliable phone provider service. If your connection lags or your live freezes due to a poor connection, viewers will grow irritated and leave your virtual store. Keep them captivated!
Details Matter When You Have an Audience on Live!
On the back end of her Facebook Live sale, she has an employee watching and answering questions submitted in the comments. She faces the front camera on her phone towards herself, so she doesn’t get distracted watching the screen or reading comments.
She recommends not segmenting your sale into multiple events. During her first event, Lacey took small breaks to stay organized and take notes. Her viewers did not understand why she took a break or know when to come back for the next event and their interest dwindled. In order to be better prepared for her next live sale, she made sure she was ready to speak and show jewelry for a solid hour and left the organizing of said sales and the payment details to her employees working on the backend.
Find a Bubbly Personality to Present
It is important that the person in front of the camera representing your store is comfortable. Lacey recommends that a bubbly and friendly personality is best for a live sale or auction. It’s okay if that person is not the business owner. Sales associates are often successful because of their personalities, it’s ok to ask them.
For those putting on a Facebook Live, “the biggest fear is screwing up on camera,” says Lacey. “Be prepared,” she recommends. “It’s going to happen.”
And it’s alright if it does happen. You are your own worst critic. Lacey recommends that you power through any mistakes or stumbles, and just keep going.
One mistake she catches herself making is using the same adjectives and descriptions for multiple items in a row. “Our staff just LOVES this one” and “Isn’t it dazzling!” are two of her go-to phrases when showing beautiful jewelry. She recommends thinking before-hand about what you want to say about each piece so that you don’t use your crutch phrases.
Tactics to Use When Live
A large part of why audiences enjoy watching Facebook Live sales is because they don’t feel pressured to buy something like they would when they are in a store. This does not mean you won’t make sales, you just have more relaxed potential customers who are interested in viewing your jewelry.
In order to increase engagement with these viewers, and in turn, boost your post on followers’ timelines, you can ask questions of your audience.
“Give us a thumbs up or a heart if you like this purple amethyst”, this is a question of preference. It will let you know which styles your customers prefer, will make your viewers feel that their opinions are valuable to you, and does not place any pressure on your audience to buy.
This question is paired with a call to action. While you cannot invite every person who viewed the Facebook Live event to like your page, you can invite everyone who liked the live event! This is a great way not only to gauge what audience is most engaged with your product but to invite them into your online community.
First and Last Steps
It is extremely important to post a photo before the live event of items you will sell, as well as an after photo to show what is and is not still available. The before pictures act as a teaser and get your audience excited for the virtual event. The after photos show those who missed your event what they missed out on, and what they can still purchase.
When posting an after photo, she recommends placing x’s over the sold items. Offer to sell the remaining items in-store at the same price they were listed on the Facebook Live. Announce at the end of your broadcast that you are going to guarantee this price for a week for those who are not confident buying online. This way, viewers still have an opportunity to buy and come into your store.
Promote Your Facebook Live Sale
Just as you would promote an event that you hold in your store; you have to promote an event you hold digitally as well.
Lacey starts off by making a Facebook Event. These are on the left-hand menu of your store’s Facebook Page. This is an important step and makes the event more promotable. You can share an event page with those on your friend’s list, to your timeline, and to your Facebook Story. Sharing to your Facebook Story gets around Facebook’s algorithm, and your story is always at the top of the news feed.
After announcing the event, she will hold a short Facebook live video to show 1-2 items that she will be selling. She won’t say the price, but she will show the audience what the item is, how it looks, and how it sparkles. The goal of this is to promote the Facebook Live Sale and get followers used to watching you live. She says that the Facebook algorithm then notices that you are an active account, and will put your regular posts higher up on users’ timelines.
You can also promote your event by making a Facebook ad! Advertising on Facebook can be very inexpensive with a high reward. You can target a specific audience for your advertisements and specify by gender, region, interests, and age groups. Watch out for an upcoming Trading Tip dedicated to advertising on Facebook!
Hosting Facebook Live jewelry sales may sound like a very difficult and time-consuming process, but the pay-off will be worth it. They can help you shoot past your sales goals without the added costs of marketing for an in-store event. Use these to engage with customers in a way that you never have before, and make a successful debut into the digital marketplace.
Ways to Stay Connected
For more ideas and tips on how to grow your business call or text us at 440-442-7280. You can also call toll free at 888 800-BLUE. To be the first to know about our Trading Tip of the Week and Bluestone’s latest news, subscribe to our newsletter.
