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Merrick, NY—Our second installment of One Smart Thing features Ellen Fruchtman, Fruchtman Marketing, Toledo, Ohio, a marketing company specializing in the fine jewlery industry. Her topic is marketing.

The Centurion: What's ONE smart thing a prestige jeweler can/should do to start off the year right? 

Ellen Fruchtman: The most important thing any jeweler should do is create and solidify their marketing plan for 2015 no later than early January.  For our clients, we have already provided them their plan for the year – all solidified by December.

It starts with setting your overall marketing budget which should be anywhere between 5% and 8% of gross sales, as a rule of thumb. We try to stick to 6% when feasible, however, all of this is based on a number of factors, including the size and cost of the market, competition, and what the jeweler's goal is for their brand. Once you have the number, begin to build your budget. Be formal about it! Take a look at gross sales for four to five years on a month-by-month basis, taking note of the average for each month over that entire time span. Then, prioritize each month based on the percentage of sales.

Think of your goals and build your plan accordingly. For example, do you want bridal to grow to 65% of your business (and it's currently 30%)? Then, you might want to allocate approximately 50-65% of your budget to market to this segment. The budget should be broken up between retention programs for existing customers and acquisition programs for new. Within the new, you want to segment based on the market you're trying to reach.

Pay serious attention to your digital budget (or those dollars out of your overall budget allocated to this area), which should include those dollars allocated to your website (and website updates), paid search, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest etc.) and email marketing. At least 25% (minimum) should be planned in this area.

Think and plan ahead. You may not know the name of the promotion you are planning in October (or have the creative), but you should know what type of promotion you want to be doing and how much money is being attributed to it—yes, in January.

Creating a formal plan is a roadmap to success. Of course, everything needs to be re-evaluated quarter by quarter. But, by planning ahead, you will secure better pricing on materials and media and will save a tremendous amount of money rather than knee-jerk and last minute spending!

Missed last week's installment on personnel? Click here to catch up.