How To Market Your Brand Using Pinterest
February 17, 2012 by Sandra Burciaga
By now, you may (or may not) have heard about the latest social networking buzz called, Pinterest. As a rapidly growing photo collecting and sharing site, Pinterest has reached over 10 Million U.S. monthly uniques faster than any standalone site in history—according to TechCrunch’s exclusive data from comScore.
With images that are intriguing to the eye, photo-addicted users can’t get enough of the social-media-flavor-of-the-month (or year). Pinterest is generating such a mass amount of users that it now rivals both Facebook and Tumblr. Strangely enough, the bud of Pinterest’s traffic comes from 18-34 year old upper income women in the Southeast or Northwest states. Perhaps it goes to show that the more business-oriented women in major cities don’t have time to engage on such time-consuming social sites (unless their job calls for it).
The invitation-only site (that is still in Beta), boasts a user-friendly gimmick/interface that allows users to "pin" any photo from the Internet to a virtual bulletin board. Similar to Twitter’s retweet function or Tumblr’s reblog, anyone can “repin” any users' photo to their own board. This makes the photos being shared virally contagious and propagates what is hot, and what is not. Pinterest even has a type of “popular” page (similar to Instagram) where the most repinned images go to the site-wide Pinterest topic pages which drives massive traffic to the original pinners of the photos, thus giving those users some serious Pinterest street-cred.
So, how can Pinterest help market your brand? With the majority of images being shared falling into the retail area, users collect images of their favorite retail items and brands with links to where you can buy them. Although not every user posts these wish list-type of images, the majority of photos are not news-generated—but are images of the things they like.
These images range from items such as cupcakes, antiques, hats, niche photography and so much more. Brands can drive more sales by having their own Pinterest boards and the possibility of users repining their photos so they go viral. In fact, Pinterest has already set up sales referral programs with retailers. Brands can get even more creative and attract more viewers by producing different types of boards for various segments of their brand (i.e. seasonal boards, interest groups, themed boards, etc.).
Unlike many social networks, which had trouble trying to figure how to monetize, Pinterest has been proactive about their earnings. They are making cash by taking a portion of the sales that pins on their site generate. Similar to that of a referral program, we wonder how long it will be until Pinterest starts paying top users and tastemakers for generating sales off their own boards.
Additionally, through Pinterest—brands can create a cohesive social experience with their social media communities. Although, Pinterest doesn’t have an API for third parties to build brand marketing management for the platform, social media marketers have been utilizing Pinterest in a variety of ways. You can follow the tips below to start getting your brand’s Pinterest popular!
- Tweeting photos and/or Facebook photo uploads from your brand’s Pinterest board.
- Announce your brand's Pinterest via all your soical media channels with an update and direct link.
- Optimize your brand’s Website and existing social media channels with “follow me on Pinterest”-type of buttons.
- If you have a newsletter, include a section announcing your Pinterest boards.
- Integrate some of your best Pinterest images into your brand’s Instagram with the URL to your board.
- Use URL shortners and redirection strategies that provide metrics and analytics (i.e. bitly, Ow.ly, etc.).
Pinterest is just emerging and needs to develop a lot of functions and tools before it can become a marketers best friend. Unfortunately, it’s missing analytics tracking and API tools. However, Pinterest is already creating such tools to streamline numerous marketing efforts and create an easier photo-sharing experience. Although it will hit some plateaus along the way (copyright complaints), Pinterest looks to be a very progressive and promising social media network that brands should start playing with immediately.
~ Written by Sandra Burciaga - Digital Marketing Manager at Pomegranate
