A Quick Guide for Marketeers

from @sarachapman

What is Pinterest?A new social network that let’s you ‘pin’ images you like from across the web onto a virtual board that you can share with the Pinterest community

What is Pinterest?Users can:Create boards around a

theme or topic that interests them

Follow other people’s boards

Like items pinned by other people

Re-pin an item you like onto your board

http://pinterest.com/wholefoods/

Why is Pinterest hot

now?

People want simplicity

80% of activity on Facebook are simple likes

50% of people feel overwhelmed by brand messaging on social mediaWith one click Pinterest users can pin, images they love.

As users only follow boards that interest them, they only receive relevant content that’s interesting to them.

It allows people to curate rather than create content

Not everyone is a content creator, but trends such as the explosion in blogs and the growth of Twitter have relied on people’s abilities to create or provide an opinion on content.

Pinterest allows users to quickly and easily curate content about subjects that they are passionate about meaning that people quickly build up a reflection of their own personal brand.

Pinterest takes advantage of changing browsing behaviour

“A big shift underway is that the act of discovery could come online, could impact how we search, and could help drive transactions.... Learning about a new product from the right person at the right time within the right context, ...could bring the entire decision-making process online,.”Semil Shah, Techcrunch

Pinterest takes advantage of changing browsing behaviour

Traditionally people are influenced to consider purchase by offline factors such as word of mouth, advertising and tastes among peers.

They would then come online to search for items once they have an intent to purchase.

Pinterest takes advantage of changing browsing behaviour

Pinterest allows people to discover new content and items from people with similar tastes, bringing the process of discovery online.

Who is on it?

Women in the US, but men in the UK

USA UK

Google DoubleClick and AdPlanner Dec 2011

27.4% of pinners globally are 25 – 34 and 22.1% fall into the 35-44 YO group

In UK, 42% of users are 24-34, while in the US pinners are older, with the largest group falling in 35-44 YO group

USA UK

Google DoubleClick and AdPlanner Dec 2011

Earners of £16-30K in the US but £60K and up in the UK

Google DoubleClick and AdPlanner Dec 2011

What’s the opportunity for

brands?

Showcasing productsProduct images can be

placed into boards to raise awareness amongst target audience

Pinterest user experience allows you to add description and price tag

Image text can be linked to your online retail store, driving traffic and purchase

Pinning products in this way will get you targeted referrals who already know about your product and so are likely to have a higher intent to purchase

Bring to life the brand values or a campaign feeling

Mix product images content that relates to the product use, style or inspiration e.g. Gap mixed it’s winter clothes with images of snowy hillsides

This gives a more ‘real’ or personal feel to the board allowing your brand to demonstrate a rounded persona users can identify with

Build relationships with influencers

Follow people who encapsulate the lifestyle or values of your brand and comment and re-pin their content

This will not only build relationships but will also enable your brand board to become owned by your customers rather than being a one way expression of the brand.

Drive Traffic

“Pinterest users are very source hungry. They want to know where that picture’s from, they want to know where they can get that workout, or where they can get that recipe.”

Tahndi Cambell, Digital and content Manager Lionsgate

As a result of this behaviour Pinterest drives more traffic than YouTube, Google plus and LinkedIn combined; harnessing that targeted traffic source is a massive opportunity for marketeers

Drive Traffic

comScore data via Shareaholic

Launch content seriesWithin five days of

introducing video content to its Pinterest profile, Lionsgate BeFit’s YouTube activity doubled, from 200,000 to 400,000 views.

“If we post a video on Facebook and it gets a certain amount of shares, then chances are if we post it on Pinterest, its going to get the same amount of pins. We’ve seen that to be true,” MeganCampbell, Lionsgate Social Media Manager

http://pinterest.com/lionsgatebefit/

SEO• As Pinterest is such a big referrer, there is a large

SEO opportunity• Pinterest recently made all image links no follow so

as not to overwhelm search results with pinned images

• But if a text link is added as part of the image description then this will count as a link google follow

• Content that is highly pinned in this way will rank more highly as a result

• Inspirational mums – Always on• Unusual kids activities and PWP films – Always on• Top musicians board – promote unleashing potential through music• Dirt is Good - ???

So is Pinterest right for your

brand?

So is it right for you?• Marketeers need to assess whether the audience

for their product is currently on Pinterest – whilst the US audience is very female dominated there are different trends emerging in different markets

• If you do go ahead, define your goal before you start – is it a learning exercise, reach or promoting a your brand values that is motivating you? (If it’s learning only and you may abandon this later, consider using a personal Pinterest account to learn more)

• How will Pinterest fit into your strategy for digital as a whole? What content will users get here that they don’t get anywhere else?

• What content do you have that you can feed your Pinterest fans in order to build a loyal and engaged following – there needs to be a hook for them to go to Pinterest rather than your site or Facebook page.

• Inspirational mums – Always on• Unusual kids activities and PWP films – Always on• Top musicians board – promote unleashing potential through music• Dirt is Good - ???

Happy Pinning!

If you have questions come chat to me @sarachapman

Or take a look at my blog for more on other

digital and social trends:

sarachapman.co.uk