Kay Jewelers is gearing up to drive sales ahead of Mother’s Day with the rollout of Pinterest and Instagram pages that offer guests eye-catching visuals and more means of engagement with the brand, alongside a sweepstakes for a shopping spree at a local store, proving that social-enabled contests are still potent.

Kay Jewelers will likely find an ideal communication vehicle in Pinterest, where users frequently enjoy pinning posts and visuals of accessories and jewelry to their inspiration boards, or to share with friends. The brand is also introducing the Best Mom Ever Pin-To-Win Mother’s Day Sweepstakes, which enables fans to find their favorite pieces from Kay’s Pinterest board, pin items to their own boards and use a designated hashtag for a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree.

“The beauty of Pinterest and Instagram is that both of these platforms thrive on visual user-generated content, and are focused on empowering brands with the ability to create visual stories,” said Amir Zonozi, chief strategy officer of Zoomph, Reston, VA. “Without a doubt, Kay Jewelers has a visual story to tell, which they can now tell through Pinterest and Instagram, and inspire their community to be involved.

“Another thing to note specific to Pinterest is the virality of the content,” he said. “Unlike Twitter or Facebook, content pinned to Pinterest can last longer; think of it as ‘long-term’ content.

“It can be pinned over and over again, so it’s still fresh to some users, despite its original posting date.”

Expanding outreach
By rolling out Pinterest and Instagram pages, Kay Jewelers will be able to reach a wider audience of on-the-go consumers who frequently scroll through the social networks on their mobile devices. As a jewelry brand, visual imagery is of the utmost importance in terms of marketing, making Pinterest and Instagram smart choices to invest in.

“When it comes to apparel and jewelry retailers, Instagram and Pinterest are a must,” said Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile, New York. “The value proposition for these retailers is largely centered around their aesthetic appeal.

“Both Instagram and Pinterest are fueled by the sharing of beautiful pictures—making it an ideal place for Kay Jewelers to showcase its eye-catching jewelry.”

Fans may visit the brand at www.pinterest.com/kayjewelers, where the brand will offer boards centering on engagement rings, pinnable jewels and a Mother’s Day gift guide. Kay Jewelers will also showcase its collection with actress Jane Seymour, titled Open Hearts by Jane Seymour, by displaying some of her favorite picks on Pinterest.

Meanwhile, Instagram users can discover images of the latest trends, newest products and classic styles, all of which are shareable.

The brand already has Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages, and believes this social media expansion will help highlight its offerings and collections to more consumers, especially those who prefer to browse for jewelry purchases on mobile.

Leveraging sweepstakes
Kay Jewelers is also hoping to inspire future purchases via its Best Mom Ever Pin-To-Win Mother’s Day Sweepstakes, which is running through May 10. Entrants are asked to note interesting pieces from the brand’s “Best Mom Ever” Pinterest board and pin their favorite Mother’s Day presents to their own social boards using the #BestMomEverSweeps hashtag.

Users must also be following the brand on Instagram and Pinterest. To be eligible, fans should visit the designated microsite, www.KayBestMomEver.com, to fill out the entry form and share the URL of their curated Pinterest boards before the sweepstakes’ end date.

Consumers will also receive additional entries each time they share the sweepstakes on their Facebook or Twitter accounts, and encourage fellow jewelry enthusiasts to enter. Up to 25 entries will be delegated per person, for each friend who enters through the Web site link.

The contest winner is set to receive a $1,000 shopping spree at a local Kay Jeweler’s store, a round trip limo ride to the location and a bouquet of flowers. Five first prize winners will also be selected to collect a Diamonds in Rhythm 1/5 carat white gold necklace.

“Good content is the key to engaging fans,” Ms. Lowy said. “However, posting good content to a social media profile that has no follows is just about as effective as putting up a billboard in the middle of the Sahara Desert—nobody’s there to see it.

“When launching a company page on a new social media site marketers should simultaneously consider efforts that would drive people to connect with the brand’s profile,” she said. “Once the brand has built up a sizable following it can shift its focus back to just the content.

“A sweepstakes is an effective method to drive action. Incentives encourage fans to follow Kay Jewelers as well as pin and repost the brand’s content.”

Leveraging upcoming holidays is a sound strategy for brands to use, as consumers are frequently searching for gift ideas. Kay’s may see sales spike, thanks to its increased posts on social media that may plant a seed of inspiration in users’ minds for a future purchase.

Kay Jewelers is not the only brand tapping the upcoming holiday for its marketing tactics.

In anticipation of Mother’s Day, Macy’s is asking consumers to upload their favorite motherly moments onto Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, with the brand donating money to a charity for each post, showing how social continues to gain steam for promoting cause-marketing efforts (see story).

“Announcing this launch over Mother’s Day is simply genius – many women turn to these platforms for inspiration, dreams, ‘wish lists’ etc. and Kay Jewelers can capitalize on those sentiments,” Zoomph’s Mr. Zonozi said. “Girls want to find their moms something special, dads & husbands need inspiration –  and with the brand recognition Kay Jewelers has, they will have a competitive advantage on these platforms.

“In fact, according to Shareaholic Social Media Traffic report, Pinterest is the 2^nd-largest driver of social refers (behind Facebook). Kay Jewelers is positioning themselves at the right time on a platform proven to be successful.”

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York