Get Pinterested
February 29, 2012
Ever wanted a better way to organize and visualize your list of bookmarked links? Pinterest, a burgeoning social media tool, is here to help. Pinterest serves as a virtual pinboard where you can “pin” and curate images that you find online into categorized boards, such as “Creative Curtains” or “Great Garden Recipes.” This tool takes advantage - and harnesses the power - of something that we all do every day, by which I mean scouring the interweb and blogs for hours on end. In fact, according to Statista, American “pinners” spend an astounding average of 1 hour and 17 minutes on the site per visit, even more so than on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ combined.
While Pinterest hasn’t yet followed in Facebook’s steps and created official brand pages, that doesn’t mean that your company can’t use Pinterest to its advantage. West Elm and Trex, among an increasing number of companies, have already jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. Which leads us into the…
Top 3 Reasons Your Brand Should Get Pinterested:
#1. Become better acquainted with your consumer.
You can access a wealth of information about your consumers thanks to Pinterest, where you are able to get to know them on a personal and noninvasive level. People reveal their aspirations and dreams through their pins, which may include luxury furnishings that they wish to attain or the ability to make the perfect soufflé. In addition, you can also record what life stage your fellow pinners are in. They may be creating boards for the new baby, for their upcoming wedding, or for the newest addition onto their home. Pinterest helps you see what’s important to your consumers based on what they pin and who they follow.
#2. Align your brand with potential consumers.
One way to effectively grow your Pinterest community is by creating boards that are related to your brand, but may not be directly relevant. For our outdoor living products client, Trex, we didn’t just create boards related to decks and patios. Rather, we created boards related to the outdoor living category including outdoor entertaining recipes and grilling ideas. This helps reign in potential consumers who may not yet know about Trex, but who are interested in the lifestyle that Trex decks represents. Think burgers and hosting tips, sprinkled with some Trex deck images for inspiration.
#3. Align your brand with other like-minded brands.
Pinterest allows you to follow other accounts, which gives your brand the opportunity to strategically place yourself alongside and connect with other pinners. Whole Foods has aligned itself with Better Homes & Gardens by following the latter’s Pinterest. It’s not a huge cognitive leap to make the assumption that people who like organic, eco-friendly foods are likely to be interested in gardening. However, Whole Foods has made the smart choice to not follow Paula Deen. It’s safe to say that sticks of butter and organic red quinoa don’t go well together.
While Pinterest is still new to many, its tremendous growth in the past few months makes it hard to deny its potential for brands to reach a huge and possibly new audience.