Parlaying Pinterest: What you need to know about using a virtual pinboardBy Amy Jacques
This past fall, I became inundatedwith invitations to join Pinterest. Thesite bills itself as a virtual pinboard, andsoon, the requests (and other people’sactivity) began appearing on myFacebook and Twitter feeds as well.
Although the site officiallylaunched in March 2010, it suddenlybecame one of the most popular newsocial networking platforms during thepast six months.
According to an April 9 CNNTechpiece, Pinterest is now the third mostvisited social networking site in theUnited States, behind Facebook andTwitter. The 2012 Digital Marketer:Benchmark and Trend Report notesthat this doesn’t include mobile traffic.And by March, Pinterest had more than104 million visits from people in theUnited States. The report refers to thesite as, “the hottest social media start-upsince Facebook and YouTube.”
Pinterest is a place for people toshare photos, bookmark images, com-ment on posts and generate conversa-tion around a visual centerpiece. Thepinboards focus on topics like style,design, advertising materials or advicefor new mothers, for example.
Another big part of the culture is“repinning,” which is similar to re-tweeting someone or Liking aFacebook status. It’s also similar toTwitter in the sense of the “follower”culture — you don’t necessarily have toknow someone personally, but you candecide if you like their personal style orthe content they are curating, and tagalong for their journey.
Who is using it and why?The site has gained prominence
among women (particularly those whotrade recipes, avid scrapbookers, shop-pers and young mothers). Infact, about 60 percent ofusers are women.Geographically, theMidwest pins themost (Missouri, Utah,Alabama, Oklahoma,Kansas).
Image-based clonesites are already spring-ing up, including: Sworlyfor music sampling, TheFancyfor high-end lifestyle, Fyndesters forrésumés, Lover.ly for wedding ideas,Wanderfly for travel recommendations,SparkRebel for style tips — and thenthere’s Gentlemint, which caters more
to the male demograph-ic.
The key to thewebsite’s success, saidco-founder BenSilbermann, is the peo-ple who “pin photos ofproducts they’d like tobuy and other interest-ing bits of info they findwhile trolling theInternet,” according toCNN.
It didn’t hurt thatPresident Obama andfirst lady Michelle Obama recentlybegan using the site, as well as othermajor celebrities like singer Katy Perry.Even the U.S. Army is on Pinterest, withboards devoted to images of basic train-ing and uniforms, as well as patrioticfood and home decor.
And the travel and food industries— along with retail and design — havefound success with this site, as strongvisuals are already a driving force forthem.
“To me, boards are a very humanway of seeing the world,” Silbermannsaid at the South by Southwest confer-ence in March. “The site is about help-ing people to discover things they didn’tknow they wanted, things that feel likethey’ve been handpicked just for you.”
As for the platform’s own market-ing and communications efforts,Pinterest has jumped into the socialmedia pool headfirst. It has its ownTumblr blog about trends generated onthe site, “How Pinteresting!” and anactive Facebook and Twitter presence.Its Twitter profile bills it as “an onlinepinboard” to “organize and share thingsyou love.”
Why should PR people care?Communicators can appeal to
clients’ visual sensibilities and bringbrand image to life by tailoringyour profile toward your audi-ence.
Pinterest opens commu-nications channels in animage-driven, easy-to-dis-tribute manner. But there arestill some gray areas regardingcopyright issues, monetization
and measurement.If you’re not sure if your company
should be using Pinterest or pinningitems on your own boards, then youshould at least be using the platform as asounding board and aggregating tool tohone in on what customers or industry
competitors are talking about.During a recent Social Media Week
event in New York, Beth Reilly, digitalmarketing lead, Kraft, said that the com-pany keeps a watchful eye on Pinterestand other burgeoning social networksbecause of the conversations about foodand recipes.
Ellen Hahn, vice president, brandcommunication and advertising, Hyatt— who also spoke at Social Media Week— said that people should define anengaged and passionate voice, andrespond to fans in a human way. “Youhave to decide where you want to bepresent,” she said.
Chris Brogan urged readers tocheck out Pinterest in an April 23 poston his site. “I’m not an expert on it yet,but especially if women were a key buy-ing element of my business, I wouldlearn fast,” he said.
As with any new site, you shouldexercise caution before diving in. Yourbrand might be better suited toFacebook or Twitter instead. Followyour audience and reach them wherethey are.
What now?Since Pinterest moved into the
limelight so quickly and continuesexpand, it has been difficult for brandsto figure out best practices.
However, there is a built-in referralmodel that can help drive and tracesales. Friends can invite you to join thenetwork, or you can log in to Pinterestwith your Facebook or Twitter account.
On behalf of Pinterest, The OutcastAgency’s Carolyn Thomas offered somebrand best practices and some examplesof how several brands have successfullyused the site.
“As simple as it sounds, best prac-tices for using Pinterest for brand pur-poses center around pinning like a regu-lar user,” she said. “Pinning can be agreat way to highlight aspects of your
brand that may not come tomind at first.” Tips include:
• Pinning from varioussources rather than one spe-cific site
• Repinning from with-in the site to engage withothers and build a network offollowers
• Creating a few boardsthat cover a broad range ofinterests, rather than main-taining a single board
“Pinterest can also be agreat tool to learn what your audi-ence/users/customers want and like,”she said, mentioning that The TravelChannel asks their Facebook users whatboards to create and what to pin, WholeFoods uses Pinterest to show what itsfoundation is doing, and retailerBergdorf Goodman asks their Facebookfollowers questions and repins theirresponses.
But remember to use proper eti-quette on the site. Credit your sources,use accurate links, be authentic, writecaptions and be respectful, Pinterestadvises. Pin images and videos that areconsistent with your brand, optimizedescriptions of your posts, link back toyour website and invite your audienceto participate. Brands can use this sim-ple, intuitive platform to share informa-tion about products, projects and ideas,as well as gain insight.
At its best, Pinterest can help yourbrand curate content, galvanize a com-munity around your values, inspire cre-ativity and generate traffic — therefore,driving sales. You can measure yourimpact by using marketing software likePinClout, too.
Once you decide if Pinterest is theright platform for you, then the chal-lenge will be building up your followerbase and retaining an audience for thelong term. The stronger your images areand the more micro-targeted and nicheyour boards are, the more followers youwill have.
With social platforms like the newFacebook Timeline layout, SlideShareand Instagram, it’s clear that the rise ofvisual storytelling for communicatorshas only just begun.
digital media
10 May 2012 TACTICS
Amy Jacques is the news editor ofTactics. She holds a master’s in artsjournalism from SyracuseUniversity’s S.I. Newhouse Schoolof Public Communications. E-mail: [email protected].
To see Copyblogger’s list of “56 ways to market yourbusiness on Pinterest,” visit:
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