It was a big year for social media—as has been the case for the last decade—with growth and changes across a number of platforms. Changes (and controversy) at Facebook may have altered how you use—or view—the site. Instagram made it really easy for you to part with your money. And TikTok had you feeling the music (or it had you asking, “What in the world is a TikTok?”).
Though I didn’t do as many as I would have liked in 2019 (there was too much social media-related news this year), my Social Life series, which gathers insight from some of our industry’s most prudent social media users, still turned up some gems.
I’d love for you to read each in its entirety, but thought it fitting to bring together a few of the best quotes from a year’s worth of Social Life features to guide us as we move into 2020. We can’t be sure what the next decade will bring, but while we wait to find out, we can heed these tidbits that have been collected over the past year.
On using Instagram Stories as a jewelry business: “We love Instagram Stories and use it all the time! We share several different things on our Stories, and it is a great place to post not-as-high–quality images and behind-the-scenes shots. One of our favorite things to share in Stories is our client’s proposals. We find that people love being connected to the real love stories, and our clients love being featured. When clients send us images we are always sure to get their permission before sharing. We also like to share behind the scenes at photo shoots we attend. Sharing videos of our stunning rings when they are finished is a must, but we are very careful with this. If we know a client’s significant other follows us, we always wait until after the proposal to share, as we don’t want to spoil anyone’s surprise!” —Kaeleigh Testwuide, president, The Diamond Reserve
On the next big thing in social media: “Videos are continuously more important, and I think the interactive nature of the live stories and the ability to communicate through social media is huge.” —Stephanie Gottlieb, Stephanie Gottlieb Fine Jewelry
On paying for sponsored ads: “I do not believe in sponsoring posts or creating ads. This creates a lot of randomly generated likes from users who aren’t really engaging with your product. The result is a onetime post with inflated numbers that skews your overall results and makes it difficult to properly assess your organic reach.” —Vanessa Guarino, director of social media, Louis Anthony Jewelers
On kickstarting a social media presence: “I believe it is important to stay authentic, be social, and treat Instagram as a party rather than a hard-core networking event. I recommend creating quality content through creative styling. Photography and video content is is key, and I recommend mastering your photography, video, and art-direction skills.” —Liza Urla, founder of Gemologue
(Top image: Pexels)
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