Pinterest: 3 Tips (and The 1 Secret They Share)

Pinterest Power: Show Your Gloss

Pinterest rocks for marketers! It’s a glossy visual showcase for both products and services that drives sales.

For pinners, it’s not just about getting the most images on their pinboards. Rather it’s about the gestalt and luster of the experience they portray.

Recently I met a stylist for a popular US clothing chain. She revealed that her clients brought in specific photographs of her brand on their smartphones and tablets, often from Pinterest.

In the photos, both models and real people wore the specific clothes they sought for major occasions such as engagement photographs. She expressed surprise that her clients didn’t show a sense of their own style. Rather they were willing to copy someone else’s version of life.

3 Pinterest facts marketers need to consider

Marketers need to understand how and when people use Pinterest. Here are 3 charts via Shareaholic.

1. Pinterest goes mobile. People share content on Pinterest on-the-go. They use Pinterest on a mobile device 3 times more frequently than on a desktop. This makes sense since Pinterest is about images and short content that people can snack on and share.

2. Pinterest dominates tablets. It gets almost half of the shares on iPads, almost 3x the rate of Facebook and Twitter. This makes sense since tablets are for couch surfing and commerce. If your audience consists of tablet users, you must be on Pinterest.

 

3. Pinterest is an evening delight. Pinterest is for me-time. It’s in the evening after work. It’s not something people check on their smartphone at work or on-the-go.  (Note: This trend continues to be true for Pinterest in 2014.)

3 Pinterest tips to power your marketing

 

1. Make your products alluring to your target audience. In today’s world of instant digital photography anyone can make their life look beautiful with the right composition, lighting, color palette and technology. Consumers seek to add gloss and desirability to their lives and show that they’re doing as well as their peers.

At its core, creating Pinterest eye candy provides validation and bragging points participants can show their friends and social media connections. Therefore marketers need to provide an editorial voice through their selection and curation of images. This is still an art form but when it’s done well, your products shine and stand out on Pinterest.

2. Create an experience around your product. Don’t just stick boring product photos from your catalog on Pinterest. It won’t work. Pinterest is about telling the stories that illustrate how your product fits into people’s lives.

People turn to Pinterest to figure out how to make their lives better and more attractive by seeking readymade solutions. Therefore, for each product you must consider how to make take the mundane and instill it with sex appeal for your audience.

3. Focus on the topics that drive Pinterest engagement. To help attract an audience on Pinterest, it helps to at least tangentially concentrate on core topics such as DIY, clothes, interior design and food.

Another way to accomplish this is to create themed boards. If your product isn’t visually appealing, use a related topic that’s visually hot. It’s easier to attract people who already use the platform than it is to get new people to start using it.

The 1 Secret these Pinterest power tips share

Quality visual content counts on Pinterest. Without high quality content, your pins won’t attract attention. They’ll be overlooked like the uninteresting wallpaper they are.

Remember: Consumers turn to Pinterest for visual bling related to their interests. When 80% of the activity on Pinterest is repins, people are looking for you to do the heavy lifting. This means giving people glossy stories to share that will make them look smart and in-the-know.

Keep in mind that Pinterest is about the pinners, not about your brand. If you let your brand drive your activity, there’s a good chance you’ll loose your potential audience. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t infuse your content with your 360° brand. Just don’t push it.

People turn to Pinterest for inspiration that they can take and use in their personal lives. To leverage the power of this social media platform, you need to provide high quality visual content.

What other Pinterest tips do you have and why are they effective?

Happy Marketing,
Heidi Cohen

---

 

 

Related Articles

• Pinterest: The Best New Source of Traffic
• 3 Steps to Make Your Photos Memorable
• The 7 Step Social Media Strategy Every Marketer Needs (Note provides a structured plan.)

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thetruthabout/3849887877