PR Advisor – Lilian M Raji | When You Know It's Time For More

Why Should a Customer Buy From You?

msraji — Fri, 01 Jul 2022 19:41:10 +0000

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

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Understanding why customers purchase from you is the key to capturing their hearts, minds and loyalty.

Greetings from the Ritz Carlton Resort in Naples, Florida, where I am currently attending the Glossy Future of Fashion & Luxury conference! I am learning so much here, some of which I’ll be sharing with you as we continue the Customer Journey.

Right now, though, I want to collectively address the responses I’ve gotten from people who have no clue where to start with last month’s questions. Since I crossed my heart and pinky swore, I will not be revealing who said what. However, you’re all perfectly welcomed to be vain and think this article is about you.

Let’s start with my first question: why should a customer purchase from you?

If you were sitting across from me and asked me this, I would begin with my process. And that process begins with you as a company.

You see, before you graced me with your physical presence, I have already scoured the internet for your digital presence. I will arrive to our meeting knowing already why you wanted to meet with me. By the time our meeting concluded, you’d be convinced you need me by your side. Not because of my vast experience and success with other companies, but because you feel like I get you and understand your company.

You would buy from me because I make you feel special. I make you feel understood. I make you feel heard.

How are you making your customers feel special, understood and heard?

Answering this question well is how you capture the hearts, minds and loyalty of luxury consumers. It’s what makes customers purchase from you. But this is a broader discussion for a future article.

In this article, know that I’m trying to trick you.

Yes, this is a trick question, because I know your mind is immediately going towards how you think your customers feel about your brand.

Let me make an utterly shocking revelation: it really isn’t about your customers. It comes back to you.

Continue this article on The PR Advisor website!

As always, lovelies, send me your most press PR and marketing questions!

Originally published in National Jeweler, June 2022

Beginning the Customer Journey

msraji — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 20:42:37 +0000

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

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You have a lot more influence over how someone first learns about you than you think.

Greetings, my beloved readers! When we last left off, I gave you the rallying cry of “give me evolution or give me death!,” preparing you for changes ahead as I guide you into becoming a lean, mean jewelry selling machine – and then I disappeared for four months!

My sincerest apologies, alas, as the last few months have not been without their challenges, including a sudden and unexpected need to move into a new apartment within 30 days; an emergency room visit in the middle of the move that yielded a kidney infection; and my mother suddenly falling ill, requiring me to fly to Atlanta for several days to take care of her. She is now in good health and back to her fighting self, which, since you know her daughter, was really the only possible outcome.

I share this with you as caveat emptor in preparing for your evolution. Things are going to arise beyond your control as you venture down this path and you’ll just have to roll with the punches. I believe the saying is “man plans and God laughs?” I always insist on punching back.

Now, shall we begin? And where we begin is with the customer journey.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

As always, lovelies, send me your most press PR and marketing questions!

Originally published in National Jeweler, May 2022

Getting Back Up After You Fall

msraji — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 20:24:18 +0000

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

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You’re only as big as your imagination allows.

Can you ever forgive me?

I now sit in my new writing salon at St Regis Bal Harbor after saying farewell to my former writing locale, St Regis Atlanta, following my relocation to Miami earlier last year — one of many changes since we last connected.

I wonder how to begin again after abandoning you for so long, dear readers. I can only beg your forgiveness, and then share with you all my newly gained wisdom from my 24-month absence.

Truth be told, Dan Scott of Luxe Licensing is to credit for my return. Remember him?

He and I were speaking about the challenges of being a business owner. I told him I’m fond of dissuading people from entrepreneurship just to see if they will listen. Those that take my terrible advice to forget it aren’t meant to be in business. But those who rightfully spit in my eye and tell me “To hell with you and your negativity!” might just have a chance.

Well, that is, until they fail the first time. It’s what they do after that first failure that determines if they will make it.

Until, of course, they fail again. And then, THAT will determine if they’ll make it. Until, well, the next failure. And the one after that. And then the one after that.

If you don’t have many failures under your belt, then you’re not really trying to succeed in business.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

As always, lovelies, send me your most press PR and marketing questions!

Originally published in National Jeweler, January 2022

What is the Customer Journey

msraji — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 08:32:11 +0000

In 2020, Focus on The Customer Journey

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If a customer is familiar with a brand because that brand has made itself and its stellar reputation consistently visible to the customer, that customer will happily drop $10,000 online because the brand has earned their trust.

Happy holidays, dear readers!

We’re breaking from our usual Q&A to dedicate 2019’s final column to those who’ve shared with me their business-crippling challenges of this year.

Those that know me well know I’m a 20+ year student of astrology and will happily interpret your personal astrology chart if you ask me nicely. No, I’m not talking about those silly horoscopes that give astrology a bad name. I mean a real, mathematics-driven chart, composed of numbers and formulas and calculations (oh my!).

While I don’t believe we’re governed by the stars, I do believe the stars can decipher the energy and environment around us. For instance, those born in the 70s and early 80s have been riddled with obstacles for the past two years because the astrological numerical values of that era conflict with the values of this era. (This also applies to some born outside these years, based on the mathematics of their personal chart, but that’s a different discussion.)

Anyhoo, the two astronomical figures representing the energies of chaos and discipline have been warring with each other, leaving us 70s babies (with our conflicting numerical charts) to endure one disappointment after another.

A battle between chaos and discipline only ends one of two ways: either by complete destruction, never to rise again, or by total transformation, bursting through ash and rubble like a phoenix.

Me personally? I prefer the latter.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

As always, lovelies, send me your most press PR and marketing questions!

Originally published in National Jeweler, December 2019

How Do You Use Influencer Marketing

msraji — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 08:13:37 +0000

In 2020, Focus on The Customer Journey

Schedule a Complimentary Strategy Session

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Don’t worry about how long it takes to reach 50,000 followers. Your followers are arriving organically; they’re authentically interested in what you have to offer.

Hello, my dear readers! Please forgive my absence! I’ve spent the summer laboring over my first e-book, “Influencer Fraud: Weeding Out the Fakers, Liars and the Delusional.” Given that influencer fraud is now a $1.3 billion racket, I’m certain you’ll forgive me once you’ve picked up your free copy. Identifying influencer fraud is too immense a topic to cover in this column, so use this e-book with my compliments to protect yourself from scammers.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled column, already in progress, as we finish our three-part series on building your very own Super Influencer, Anastasia.

Dear Lilian,

Rather than paying influencers to help promote our business, how can I turn my staff into influencers?

Signed,

Keeping the Bacon at Home

How’s your hashtag strategy now that you’ve learned how to do it correctly? Have you been dazzling the 2,300 people who want to know #howtoaccessorize? What about the 35,000 who must know your jewelry #goeswitheverything?

If you’ve never considered hashtags like these, you’re not stretching your creative mind far enough. Our favorite grand dame, Patricia Faber, knows what we’re talking about.

To promote Aaron Faber Gallery’s Barbara Heinrich collection, Patricia used #personalstyle, #putaringonit, #loveisallyouneed, #letmechoose and #powerofthering. Altogether, these five hashtags exposed Aaron Faber to over 3 million Instagrammers.

More kudos to Patricia for choosing hashtags with a broad range of followers. While #personalstyle has 2.6 million uses, #powerofthering only has 233. I assure you, however, those 233 followers are serious about the power of the ring. All 233 are more likely to see your post than all #personalstyle’s 2.6 million. Since Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags for posts and 10 for stories, there’s no reason not to diversify your selections.

Next, do you know how I landed Beth Farber’s jewelry in the TV show Gotham?

Simple. I asked.

And that’s what you must do.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

Originally published in National Jeweler, October 2019

Making an Instagram Influencer Part III

msraji — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 05:09:53 +0000

Creating an Influencer Part III

Schedule a Complimentary Strategy Session

Need more? Click here to get on our calendar right now for a 30-minute strategy session.

Engagement breeds relationships, which yields new customers.

Hello, my dear readers! Please forgive my absence! I’ve spent the summer laboring over my first e-book, “Influencer Fraud: Weeding Out the Fakers, Liars and the Delusional.” Given that influencer fraud is now a $1.3 billion racket, I’m certain you’ll forgive me once you’ve picked up your free copy. Identifying Instagram influencer fraud is too immense a topic to cover in this column, so use this e-book with my compliments to protect yourself from scammers.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled column, already in progress, as we finish our three-part series on building your very own Super Influencer, Anastasia.

Dear Lilian,

Rather than paying Instagram influencers to help promote our business, how can I turn my staff into influencers?

Signed,

Keeping the Bacon at Home

How’s your Instagram hashtag strategy now that you’ve learned how to do it correctly? Have you been dazzling the 2,300 people who want to know #howtoaccessorize? What about the 35,000 who must know your jewelry #goeswitheverything?

If you’ve never considered hashtags like these, you’re not stretching your creative mind far enough. Our favorite grand dame, Patricia Faber, knows what we’re talking about.

Continue reading at The PR Advisor…

Originally published in National Jeweler, October 2019

Creating an Influencer Part II

msraji — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 18:33:39 +0000

Creating an Influencer Part II

Schedule a Complimentary Strategy Session

Need more? Click here to get on our calendar right now for a 30-minute strategy session.

Above everything else, it takes time to grow a significant following. Be neither impatient nor ashamed at the slow growth. Instead, be ecstatic about every single follower Anastasia earns. Those followers are there because they want to know what Anastasia will post next. That kind of desire is what carries you from the doorstep of authenticity to the bright lights of influence.

Dear Lilian,

Rather than paying influencers to help promote our business, how can I turn my staff into influencers?

Signed,

Keeping the Bacon at Home

When we last rendezvous-ed here, your homework assignment was to grab a free copy of my Influencer Marketing Toolkit, and use the workbook, “The Creative Brief,” to help brainstorm Anastasia’s content strategy.

In your strategy development, did you include how you can involve your customers? If not, tsk, tsk.

My dears, the most important rule in sales, marketing or PR, is that it’s never about you.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

Originally published in National Jeweler, July 2019

How to Turn Your Staff into Influencers

msraji — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 03:04:21 +0000

Creating an Influencer Part II

Schedule a Complimentary Strategy Session

Need more? Click here to get on our calendar right now for a 30-minute strategy session.

When you go beyond follower counts and examine influencers who get people to act on their recommendations, you find people who’ve established authentic voices with their followers.

Hello again, dear readers! So sorry to have missed you in Vegas, but my Instagram didn’t! Thanks to all-stars like Tanya Dukes, Cheryl Kremkow, Robyn Hawk, Patricia Faber, and, of course, the grand dames of National Jeweler, I’m in the know about what to know from the shows.

Very big congratulations to my dear friend, Natalie Rodrigues, and the whole Omi Prive team! And congratulations to all of you for surviving another jewelry week!

It’s back to business as usual. Ever since my webinar, Harnessing the Power of Social Media Influencers, bombarded the PR Advisor with questions, our ongoing business is all about influencers. Let’s get to it!

Dear Lilian,

Rather than paying influencers to help promote our business, how can I turn my staff into influencers?

Signed,

Keeping the Bacon at Home

My dear Bacon lover, this is an ingenious idea of great magnitude, matched only by the sheer difficulty in making it happen. Yet the PR Advisor doesn’t believe anything is ever impossible. Creativity, perseverance and a strong work ethic are known to create miracles!

Your question is rather timely, as I’ve lately been focusing on growing my own social media presence. Having been the proverbial shoe cobbler whose children are running around barefoot because I’ve been too busy helping clients with their social media to pay attention to my own, I’m learning firsthand the challenges of reaching 10,000 followers.

There’s a certain dedication to this task that I personally am unwilling to commit. Becoming an influencer requires a comfort with sharing TMI. And while many of you have seen me sauntering around in my 5” ruby stilettos and colorful dresses, I’ve always preferred the backstage to the limelight. And dare I confess? I’m an introvert.

I know! You don’t believe it! But it’s true! I’m more comfortable promoting other people than myself. But as an introvert who spends my alone time analyzing human behavior, I understand the psychology behind what makes the most powerful influencers.

When you go beyond follower counts and examine influencers who get people to act on their recommendations, you find people who’ve established authentic voices with their followers. This is what your staff must do.

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

Originally published in National Jeweler, June 2019

How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Brand

msraji — Tue, 21 May 2019 09:57:10 +0000

Finding Influencers in Your City

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If you take nothing else from this article, please remember you ALWAYS have other options. What one influencer won’t do, another will. And there are currently too many influencers to go around. It’s your company, your brand, your investment. Only work with those who immediately understand this will be a partnership, where both sides are gaining something from working together.

Dear Lilian,

How can I find a valuable micro-influencer and woo them in my small community?

Signed,

Where Do I Begin?

Hello My Lovely Readers,

I know you’re preparing for Vegas, but I couldn’t possibly not finish our previous conversation!

When we last left off, you were making a list of who’s hot and who’s not from your Instagram followers; your competitors’ followers; your best customers; and all the social butterflies preening in your local magazines. If you’ve started contacting them, you’ve probably discovered there are some influencers you’d rather not deal with.

Case in point: I once executed an influencer event where we brought eight social media stars to my client’s headquarters for a fun-filled weekend. We flew them in from all over the U.S., put each in their own luxury hotel room, and paid for every meal, Lyft, taxi ride and airline baggage fee.

Generous, yes?

Continue reading on The PR Advisor…

Originally published in National Jeweler, May 2019

How Do I Find the Right Influencer?

msraji — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 16:09:11 +0000

Finding Influencers in Your City

Schedule a Complimentary Strategy Session

Need more? Click here to get on our calendar right now for a 30-minute strategy session.

Start building your influencer list from your own followers, your competitors’ followers, and all the beautiful people who pose for pictures in your local magazines.

Dear Lilian,

How can I find a valuable micro-influencer and woo them in my small community?

Signed,

Where Do I Begin?

Happy Spring, my dear readers! Forgive my long absence – I’ve been traveling the world and spent much of January channeling the girl from Ipanema. I won’t tease you with details of my extraordinary, mind-opening month in Brazil – that’s what Instagram is for! Head over to my Instagram page to see more about my travels.

Head over to Instagram anyway, because this, dear readers, is where we’ll focus for the next few columns.

The lovely Susan Posnock of Jewelers of America recently invited me to do a webinar on Harnessing the Power of Social Media Influencers. If you missed it, no worries! You can catch a replay on my website.

I highly recommend watching it, if I do say so myself. I cover the big topics, including finding the right influencers, not falling victim to influencer fraud and keeping the FTC off your back.

This webinar brought an avalanche of questions. And as you know, I’m all about the questions! I promised webinar viewers I’d cover each question in detail here over the next few months.

So, shall we begin?

Continue reading at The PR Advisor…

Originally published in National Jeweler, April 2019

PR Advisor – Lilian M Raji | When You Know It's Time For More

Why Should a Customer Buy From You?

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

You Might Also Like…

Understanding why customers purchase from you is the key to capturing their hearts, minds and loyalty.

Beginning the Customer Journey

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

You Might Also Like…

You have a lot more influence over how someone first learns about you than you think.

Getting Back Up After You Fall

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

You Might Also Like…

You’re only as big as your imagination allows.

What is the Customer Journey

In 2020, Focus on The Customer Journey

You Might Also Like…

If a customer is familiar with a brand because that brand has made itself and its stellar reputation consistently visible to the customer, that customer will happily drop $10,000 online because the brand has earned their trust.

How Do You Use Influencer Marketing

In 2020, Focus on The Customer Journey

You Might Also Like…

Don’t worry about how long it takes to reach 50,000 followers. Your followers are arriving organically; they’re authentically interested in what you have to offer.

Making an Instagram Influencer Part III

Creating an Influencer Part III

You Might Also Like…

Engagement breeds relationships, which yields new customers.

Creating an Influencer Part II

Creating an Influencer Part II

How to Turn Your Staff into Influencers

Creating an Influencer Part II

When you go beyond follower counts and examine influencers who get people to act on their recommendations, you find people who’ve established authentic voices with their followers.

How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Brand

Finding Influencers in Your City

How Do I Find the Right Influencer?

Finding Influencers in Your City

Start building your influencer list from your own followers, your competitors’ followers, and all the beautiful people who pose for pictures in your local magazines.

PR Advisor – Lilian M Raji | When You Know It's Time For More

Why Should a Customer Buy From You?

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

You Might Also Like…

Share this entry

Understanding why customers purchase from you is the key to capturing their hearts, minds and loyalty.

Beginning the Customer Journey

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

You Might Also Like…

Share this entry

You have a lot more influence over how someone first learns about you than you think.

Getting Back Up After You Fall

Why Should a Customer Purchase From You?

You Might Also Like…

Share this entry

You’re only as big as your imagination allows.

What is the Customer Journey

In 2020, Focus on The Customer Journey

You Might Also Like…

Share this entry

If a customer is familiar with a brand because that brand has made itself and its stellar reputation consistently visible to the customer, that customer will happily drop $10,000 online because the brand has earned their trust.

How Do You Use Influencer Marketing

In 2020, Focus on The Customer Journey

You Might Also Like…

Share this entry

Don’t worry about how long it takes to reach 50,000 followers. Your followers are arriving organically; they’re authentically interested in what you have to offer.

Making an Instagram Influencer Part III

Creating an Influencer Part III

You Might Also Like…

Share this entry

Engagement breeds relationships, which yields new customers.

Creating an Influencer Part II

Creating an Influencer Part II

How to Turn Your Staff into Influencers

Creating an Influencer Part II

When you go beyond follower counts and examine influencers who get people to act on their recommendations, you find people who’ve established authentic voices with their followers.

How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Brand

Finding Influencers in Your City

How Do I Find the Right Influencer?

Finding Influencers in Your City

Start building your influencer list from your own followers, your competitors’ followers, and all the beautiful people who pose for pictures in your local magazines.