One of the best practices we recommend to our jewelry retailer clientele is the creation of an annual marketing calendar. Sketching out, in advance, the 6-8 major promotional pushes you’ll be making in the weeks, months, and seasons to come can help you boost your store’s overall profitability: not only will you make buying decisions more strategically, you’ll be giving yourself enough time to connect with your customers in a meaningful way, driving sales instead of desperately trying to come up with campaign themes at the last minute.

Some parts of the promotional calendar are easy to fill in. You know you’re going to need major campaigns around the holiday season and Valentine’s Day, for example. Additionally, if you have regular annual events, those will go on the calendar as well. But what about the rest of the year?

That’s where events like Pantone color announcements come in handy. Rose Quartz and Serenity – a lovely shade of light blue – will be in the spotlight throughout all of 2016. The apparel and beauty industries are extremely sensitive to Pantone reports, and you can expect top brands and designers to put forward their own looks in these two shades. Anywhere that apparel goes, accessories will inevitably follow – start thinking now about what rose quartz, rose gold, morganite, and kunzite fine jewelry items you can feature, as well as iolite and other pale blue gemstones.

There are numerous ways jewelry retailers can build a sales event around Rose Quartz and Serenity. Let’s begin with bridal – while colorless diamonds remain the top seller, simply drawing attention to colored diamond or gemstone accented bridal jewelry in your inventory can generate sales. Make sure you’re paying attention to what your partner brands are offering: they may have Pantone inspired items to spotlight. While you may not be able to discount these items, the name recognition the brands offer can help persuade customers to come in and shop – make sure to ask your reps what in-store and digital sales assets are available to help you make this happen!