B2C and B2B marketers are quickly seeing the potential of what a brand builder Pinterest can be. Many businesses have asked me, should we add Pinterest to our social marketing strategy?
Here is where I see the value in using Pinterest for business.
• Pin items to engage people. Tap into peoples emotions. Tell stories with pictures. Increasing engagement with people is a brand builder.
• Add visuals that will resonate with your brand community. Focus on the impact your visual messages have on people.
• Pins can show what people can do with your product and where it can take them.
• Learn what people like by watching your repins.
• “Like” other members pins, “follow” members and make comments on pins. These all help make you social and build your brand community.
• Allow others to build your brand. Create group pinboards where you invite others to pin content. This builds you a brand community around a subject or interest.
• Although it is not meant to be used as your online catalog, keying the price of a pinned item in the description field places a price banner on the corner of your pin. Clicking any photo will take you to the web site of the pin’s origin.
You definately need to focus on visual branding to be successful on Pinterest. Visual collateral like infographics, videos, whitepapers, photos, are all effective.
Find your audience
Each social media site has its own demographic. For Pinterest, that demographic is largely female. If your small business appeals to men, consider Gentlemint, Pinterest’s male counterpart. Pinterest users are designers (all types), marketers, online retailers, fashion boutiques, home goods, restaurants, food brands, auto manufacturers, and even GE and other large corporations.
Use Pinterest for indirect marketing, not direct marketing.
Strategize on how you are going to use it. What boards should you have to support your brand? Telling your story with pictures is easy, right?
Building your boards…
• Keep your boards relevant and well organized.
• Remember… your content helps convey your brand. What is the culture of your company? What causes do you believe in? Who are your people, who are your customers and what do they like?
• Let your brand’s personality come through in your pinboards. Think about what brand related info/content will resonate with your customer, make those topics your boards based on their interests.
• Stay focused. Try to add only relevant pins to your boards. If a pin doesn’t fit any of your existing boards, create a new board making sure it is in keeping with the brand.
• Pin, not only your products, but more importantly, how your products make people feel and how they add value to their lives.
• Pin images that might represent a challenge for your customer, conveying your solution.
Research!
To see boards and pins you will need to join Pinterest. Then use the Pinterest url with the companys name after it (no spaces) like this, <http://pinterest.com/companyname>. You can also search for pins by subject matter.
