Let’s face it. Telling a story with visuals is far more compelling than trudging through a thicket of text? Pinterest seems to have got the mantra right! Nope, I am not meaning to be its propagandist – the data is doing all the talking.
Before you start to protest, let me lay out the facts first. The current user base of Pinterest stands at over 70 million, it contributes to about 20% of referral traffic to web, its international traffic grew over 125% in 2013 and it hosts more than 500,000 business accounts till date. Now, for a social network that started only three years back, that certainty ain’t any discouraging set of numbers, aye! Perhaps, it\’s time to boost your brand with Pinterest.
Oh! I am not at all deaf to the usual protests that Pinterest has majority of female use base and it is mostly useful for retails brands. Well, just to counter you on the first point, The Guardian reported a 40% rise in male user base of Pinterest in UK. Surely, the numbers are ‘un-skewing’. I want to take on the second point more seriously and challenge you back with a question. Unless you put more stuff that interests men, how can you expect them to make a bee line for it?
In fact, Pinterest has proved to be a very nifty social discovery site that actually lead users to their real places of interest. Thus, I posit that there is plenty of scope for a variety of brands and purposes to join the Pinterest and drive awesome engagement with their audiences. The ROI crazy marketers can breathe a sigh of relief, as Pinterest does provide its own very useful analytics matrics.
While at it, I thought of drawing up a list of businesses who could use Pinterest to their advantage and are still shying away from it. Here it goes:
Sports Organizers
Be it the fan frenzied, gate crashing soccer match or a star studded promotional match, showcasing it on Pinterest with candid shots or what the heck!, a full chronicle, sprinkled with some funny captions is sure to attract the bored executive stuck at work and garner hordes of followers. With so many related brand promotions involved, I see the possibilities of creative pins endless.
Event Organizers
Events are big ticket items, requiring huge pre promotional activities, generating interest and drawing crowds. There can be no dearth of content to share on Pinterest here. From posters, teasers, backstage photos to actual fan pics. Engaging the fans on the comment section will add to the excitement and hype. They could serve as a huge draw.
Internal Communication and Branding
Pinterest allows you to create boards and invite people to contribute. What is more, it can be a secret board. For all those internal contest within the organization, events and candid moments captured, this social tool can go a long way to create bonding among colleagues. In addition, the corporate values and branding initiatives can easily be promoted through imaginative pins.
NGOs and Social Campaigns
A number of pharmaceutical companies have discovered the value of Pinterest and in their own way drive many health campaigns. Though, not much is seen in terms of social causes and social awareness initiative on Pinterest yet. Who knows Pinterest will actually dedicate a category to its list on Social Causes, like it did for Father’s Day recently.
B2B
B2B companies always stand like lackluster gofers in the marketing realm among the femme fatales of flashy retail and luxury brands who are oozing with visual treats and glamour quotient. With the recent graphic revolution, though, they are in no shortage of glamour either. All those riveting info graphics, trend charts, fancy product diagrams – can all be used to draw traffic to the real content residing on the website and turn the laggard into a show stopper Hunk. Even pinning articles of publications where they have been featured is a great way to increase visibility.
The list could go on but for the want of space. As a parting thought I would say that the best thing about Pinterest is you can cross promote. So, while you are at Pinterest, you are not missing any other.
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