It seems that everywhere you turn these days, the number one topic is Pinterest. Sure you’ve seen and heard all about the postives it has to offer, but here we’re going to talk about some key strategies that you may be missing out on.
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Lately, the recommendations for using Pinterest that I’ve been reading seem to be very vague. It makes me wonder, are the people providing recommendations actually using Pinterest themselves? Do they have accounts, and are they frequently pinning to their boards?
I’m in Pinterest’s target market, being 25, female, recently married and a homeowner, and I would like to create the label for myself as a very active “Pinterester.” I’ve got a few recommendations that I would LOVE to see from companies on my most favorite social media channel.
These four tips and strategies mentioned hopefully have given you a better understanding of what Pinterest really has to offer, from a marketing strategist and avid Pinterester’s perspective.
If you’ve got a brand that is well suited for Pinterest’s visual medium, here’s what you need to know:
Make sure your social media team knows everything about Pinterest
First, if you haven’t already, assign a social media team or hire the appropriate talent to establish relationships, monitor, and promote your brand on Pinterest. Having them pin products on Pinterest multiple times throughout the day will help gain visibility, reach and ultimately drive revenue to your brand in the end.
You also want your team to be actively engaging with the social media channels your company is using. Make sure your team knows the ins and outs of how Pinterest works and has their own personal account that they use on a regular basis. You want your talent to fully understand the social channels that you’re using, so you can be up to speed on what’s current.
It may seem pretty basic, but if you are not personally engaging with the social channel you’re using, you’ll never fully understand the capabilities it has to offer.
Marketing to Pinterest equals marketing to Facebook and Twitter, too
In order to create a Pinterest account, the user first needs to link their account to Facebook or Twitter to help find friends to follow their pins. They can also turn on a feature to share all of their boards to anyone on Pinterest, not just the people following them.
While Pinterest users do have the option to turn this feature “off,” most users do not. And, every time they log in through the Pinterest website, they are asked to sign in with their Facebook or Twitter account.
So, what does this mean? It means that the reach for a pin is not just limited to Pinterest. It means that Pinterest has found a seamless way to create multichannel reach with one medium.
If the Pinterester’s account is linked to their Facebook or Twitter account, every time they pin or repin something, it automatically appears on their Facebook wall. And, it appears on the newsfeed in Facebook and/or Twitter. So your brand’s pins are being seen by everyone that the Pinterester is friends with/follows them on Facebook or Twitter. In addition, their friends and follows on Facebook or Twitter can click the pinned/repinned image and go to your brand’s page.
No one is talking about the amazing reach capabilities and potential here, and I believe this is the most important thing your company needs to know. This is why your company’s pins need to be flawless.
Your captions do not matter
Do not spend too much time in developing what your captions say. If you start off with a great caption, guess what? It can be changed as soon as someone repins it.
Let’s say you’re a clothing retailer. If you start off with an image of a great dress with the caption, “$25.99 [at x store],” someone will repin that and change the caption to, “I LOVE this. Must own.” So, then your company is left with just an image of a great dress floating around. But don’t worry, there’s help on the way.
Your landing page is most-important
Captions may not matter, and images certainly matter a lot, but it’s the landing page that matters most. So, let’s walk you through it. The image of your dress gets pinned, your caption gets changed to, “I LOVE this. Must own,” and then the Pinterester clicks on the pinned image of your fabulous dress to find…?
Have you thought this far? If you are a fantastic Pinterester, you’ll want to find a landing page that opens to reveal the dress with an option to add to cart and purchase immediately.
Some companies like Jewlr.com have this process down. I went on their page, Jewrl.com gives the option to pin this ring, and when I click on my pinned ring from Jewlr.com in Pinterest, it goes directly to their purchase page every time.
Some retailers are pinning on Pinterest, but not giving users the ability to pin items on their website, and they should. That’s because your pin can stay on that Pinterester’s board forever (or until they delete it, but who deletes their pins?), and that Pinterester can easily go back and click to purchase that item at any time.
Think of Pinterest as a big wishlist of things they dream of purchasing. Now, go out there and link your product images/pins to your purchase page, please.
Brittany Landenberger is a marketing strategist with StrongMail.