Ask Jo Malone: Take your time to make this watch brand tick

Small business agony aunt Jo Malone on how to market a product without breaking the bank...

How can I market my watch brand effectively without breaking the bank? We have been using social media and do everything ourselves, bar the technical drawings and manufacture, so labour is a factor.

Most entrepreneurs will tell you they’ve been at their most creative when there is little or no money in the pot for PR and marketing. A lack of resources definitely forces you to think differently and sometimes leads to a lightbulb moment, so approach this positively and don’t think a big marketing budget guarantees big results.

When I started out, I had no money but believed in my products so I spent time growing a customer base through word of mouth. I created the desire by physically putting the product in people’s hands. Today you have so many other options to help you create awareness.

You mentioned you’ve tried social media but I get the impression you haven’t had the results you were expecting. Firstly, have you identified your target consumer and your competitors? I would suggest you understand who your customers are and how they interact with social media. There are so many platforms available to you and often it’s as simple as identifying which one is used by your specific audience and focusing on that.

Don’t worry about gaining a huge number of followers overnight. Instead build slowly by creating interesting visual and film content such as behind-the-scenes videos of watchmaking and highlight the people who wear them. Photograph your product using a good-quality smartphone giving the impression of a high-value production shoot or create five-second soundbites featuring the team talking about the watches and what makes them special.

Whatever you do, ensure you use the right hashtags to help establish your brand within the right communities. Keep an eye on what activity gets most likes or comments and create more of it. Another option online is to maximise user-generated content so whenever your fans post something about your watches, regram and retweet as a thank you.

Where is your product sold? If you have a distributor, ensure promotional support is part of your retail agreement which will guarantee additional marketing. If you are the sole retailer, are you able to work with an established store that complements your products to create a pop-up retail space? Are there key watch fairs and trade shows to reach the press, retailers and customers?

You are in the business of time, so accept that you need lots of it to figure out what works and what doesn’t and at some point, the rest will follow.