Just over a year ago, Mark Schneider stepped into the role of influencer for his eponymous jewelry company. Since then, the Long Beach, California-based designer, who has been working in the industry for 60 years, has become a social media sensation.
Running his accounts are social media consultant Ethan Handelman and marketing and sales associate Jackeline Trujillo, though Schneider is the star of all the company’s posts. Handelman was the one who suggested that Schneider himself become the influencer, rather than pay an outside influencer to promote his work.
“I approached it from the perspective of ‘What would a content creator do?’ instead of ‘What would a business do on social media?’ and I think that’s really led to a lot of the more organic and authentic content that we’ve come up with,” says Handelman.
A star is born
In the beginning, the team filmed several different types of videos before settling on content primarily featuring Schneider, Trujillo recalls. “The ones that we posted of Mark just blew up, and people were so in love with him. We were like, okay, this is the route to go.”
Handelman felt it was important to introduce Schneider to the audience, reasoning that a viewer who was thinking about getting married in a few years might think first of the jeweler they’d seen on Instagram or TikTok.
Like any influencer today, Schneider and his team make an effort to create content that’s in line with the latest trends. An important part of that, says Handelman, is to curate your own algorithm so you can see what’s trending before you make your post.
All of Schneider’s views are organic – the company did not pay for any content boosting, Handelman stresses – and Schneider himself is very involved in the process.
“I don’t want to understate that Mark puts a lot into these videos, too,” Handelman says. “It’s not as if it’s just me and [Trujillo] coming to him and being like, okay, do this. He puts his own spin on it, and he wants to understand what the content is and what the ideas behind the videos are.”
The reel deal
One of the jeweler’s most viral reels on TikTok starts with a slide asking “Do you have anything for men?” In response, Schneider nods into the camera and walks over to the table to pick up a contactless card reader. As of this writing, the post has over 21 million views on TikTok and some 14 million on Instagram, according to Handelman.
Posts like this have also sparked a lot of activity in the comments, he adds: People will post things like “Oh this must be the nicest man” or “This is the greatest guy.” But the most notable comment for the team was when someone said, “I know this man’s been happily married for years.”
Handelman replied to the comment with a picture of Schneider and his wife Nancy, who have indeed been married for over 50 years.
“It’s really cool to see people engage with Mark as a person,” Handelman says. “You don’t get any of that from running just an ad of a ring or an ad of Mark [reciting] some manufactured script. These are people who really want to know more about him because they’re touched by this.”
Another of the team’s favorites is a reel of Schneider walking around filming the store himself, with his phone on a gimbal, and talking about his favorite pieces. Handelman set it up to show both Schneider’s face and what was in front of him.
“I think people found that really endearing and kind of like, we’re all part of the grind,” reflects Handelman. “Like, if this guy can do it and he’s been in the business for years…then I must be able to do it as well.”
Return on engagement
The big question is whether the social media posts are translating into a boost in customers – and the answer, according to the team, is a resounding yes.
“I work on the counter a lot with Mark, and almost everyone who walks into the store now mentions Mark,” Trujillo says. “Mark’s a celebrity here, so they want to take pictures and videos with Mark.”
Schneider’s social media platform has also helped potential clients learn about the company before coming into the store. “It’s just helped a lot to show that we’re friendly and open,” continues Trujillo. The potential clients “already know that they can trust us and that Mark’s a little bit goofy, and he’s not just a serious man.”
People have even started recognizing him at a local coffee shop, Handelman adds.
Social media, says Schneider, “is a way, for me, of communicating that’s beyond my experience, but it has definitely been effective.”
His advice to other jewelers on how to start promoting their brands on social media: Just “experiment with it.”
Handelman and Trujillo “are constantly coming up with new ways to engage,” he says. “Our industry has evolved so differently over the years, and it’s evolving so fast now…but [posting on social media] is basically a way that I can engage customers and get a conversation going that I haven’t been able to do recently through different avenues.”
Main image: Schneider in his store. (Jackeline Trujillo)
