A good marketer is always on the lookout for new and interesting ways to engage with customers online, and while the pitfall-laden world of social media fads has claimed more than a few flailing victims over the last couple of years there is a new trend emerging which is probably worth some judicious attention.
Never one to jump headfirst into social media five minute wonders, we were all a bit wary here when it came to looking at the new online pinboard site Pinterest, but the idea of a shareable online scrapbook based around image sharing warrants some interest. It seems to carry many of the most popular features of the Twitter and Facebook giants – the ability to share “cool stuff” about yourself and things you like or find online – while stripping out the notoriously tedious junk status updates and tweets which gravely keep the world informed whenever someone stubs a toe, misses a bus or otherwise moves on with everyday life.
Although the site is technically still in beta it has started to rocket in popularity and many brands have now started establishing a presence on it in order to engage with their customers. Early adopters include Whole Foods, the Today Show and Better Homes & Gardens, amongst others.
Probably the biggest plus point that Pinterest has at the moment is its leading demographic: the site’s user base is mostly female (rumoured over 70%) and under the age of 45, which is a rather juicy audience to have sitting on a platter (or a pinboard). Some brands seem to struggle with making best use of an image sharing site – what if you sell something dull or are service-based rather than being able to showcase products – but with a bit of lateral thinking there are actually multiple different angles you can take on Pinterest to make best use of the platform.
Pinterest lends itself well to more lighthearted activities – how about an image-style treasure hunt (or a seasonal Easter egg hunt) through your pinboards? You could also use the site as a research tool to evaluate consumer reactions to new products or ideas, a kind of free focus group, or just start engaging your customers by showing off their contributions; for example ask people to post their visits to your venue or show them wearing/using your products, then pick the best to showcase on your own boards and run a “buyer of the month” pin to let your customers show off a bit.
You can even use Pinterest to sell products (add a $ or £ to the pin description and the platform automatically pops a price banner onto the image for you) which is fantastic for designers, art and craft types and even tourism and real estate agents. Even more esoteric style businesses like consultancies or logistics firms can make use of the pinboards to put a personable face to their services – have your consultants make a board each and share their top articles and tips, for example – which is a lot friendlier than the text-heavy encyclopaedic content which many consultancies and business services end up with even when using more “traditional” social media.
Pictures really do paint a thousand words, so why waste oodles of space describing a product or service when you can pop up some pictures, gain a pile of brilliant backlinks and let your business create an attractive and friendly image which speaks for itself?