Convinced that your organization is ready to use Pinterest as a part of your social media marketing plan? If so, you have a key decision to make. You can either start pinning everything that is associated to your organization and brand (and what it likes) or have a content strategy that will guide the initiative to meet established marketing objectives. If your choice is the latter, then here are four things to consider as you execute a content strategy for Pinterest.
1. Brand attributes
To some social media marketers, this element is a given; however, it is worth listing due to the nature of Pinterest. It is essential that the brand attributes are clearly seen in the content that is pinned on Pinterest (be it an image, a video or a piece of text). In addition, identifying the proper attributes will assist you in having a structured approach in organizing your boards. If you are responsible for destination marketing for your region, consider the boards that Visit Savannah has on Pinterest (visitsavannah). Figure 1 provides a glimpse of a few of the boards on the organization’s account.
Figure 1: Pinterest Boards on visitsavannah
Amongst the 20 boards, individuals are free to visit, follow, like and repin content from the following boards that are aligned with Savannah’s brand attributes:
- Sweet treats
- Homes and mansions
- Art, culture and style
Ultimately, you should be striving for your target audience to “see” the attributes that will set your products / services a part from your competitors.
2. The “Repin” effect
The “repin” effect is something that all Pinterest marketers should be preoccupied with. As defined as Pinterest, “A repin is adding an image you find while browsing Pinterest to your own board. When you repin an image, the user who first pinned the image will also get credit. Repins maintain the source-link of the image no matter how many times it’s repinned.“ To achieve the maximum amount of “repins”, your content strategy must consider what images or pieces of text will prompt others to click to share what their have found on your boards. As a result, you have to know your audience to a point that you will be comfortable pinning something funny to an item that plays on emotions to have them act on their needs.
3. Resources to curate content
In order to have a sustainable presence on Pinterest, you must to have a long term strategy in regards to the resources needed to curate content to promote your brand. For organizations that will be generating their own content on a frequent basis, it is important that the resources be in place to produce quality images (photos and videos) that will convey the brand message to the target audience. Organizations selecting to curate content via the web must ensure that the right sources are consulted (i.e. community partners, suppliers, clients).
4. Call to action
While you may have cool images to be pinned and repinned by others, does the images or the respective boards have a “call to action“. Yes, it is nice to be sharing awesome pictures; however; at the end of the day, your presence on Pinterest should be leading audience members to obtain your product or service. A content strategy that considers a “call to action” should include:
- A link back to the company’s / brand’s website
- Engaging copy that will serve as descriptions for content that will be pinned
Are we missing any other content strategy elements for Pinterest? Tell us.
Want To Know More?
Please read our past posts:
- Why Pinterest Is A Perfect Fit For Destination Marketing?
- Burberry: A Lesson In Brand Affinity and Content Strategy
- 5 Opportunity Costs Of Not Having A Content Strategy
About Intelegia
Intelegia is a boutique consulting firm in Montreal, Canada that understands the need to be innovative and strategic in a business landscape that’s evolving at an incredible pace. The firm delivers social media strategies to efficiently engage with stakeholders in economic development, business to business and business to consumer segments. It assists clients by defining and executing sustainable social web strategies that will allow their brand message to stand out in a competitive environment where target audience engagement is a must.
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Hi Ian,
Nice article! Your points are spot on and very clearly expressed.
You’re absolutely right to stress that organizations need to invest dedicated (and ongoing) resources in any and all social media efforts – there is a real danger of developing ‘flavour-of-the-month syndrome’, leading to a lack of commitment to ALL of your chosen marketing channels.
I always point out to my clients that they don’t need to be *everywhere* in social media: just where your customers are. And focus on being a part of things that reinforce your brand, and add real value to your interactions with customers (and prospects).
Thanks for writing–I’ll definitely check back for more. (Thanks to @melissabreker for tweeting about this post!)
Cheers,
James
Thanks for compiling, and you’re right: These are good reminders.
Since I lead a small agency, I’m taking Pinterest as a platform to round out my brand and the people behind it. For example, Facebook and Google+ have 2 distinct profiles, one biz and one personal. LinkedIn is purely professional. This is an opportunity to visually demonstrate what’s behind the brand, always people!
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for reading. Very interesting approach. I’m assuming that you are going with a “our team hard at work” tone rather than the traditional corporate pictures. Ultimately, your content on Pinterest should be compelling to move prospects to say, “These are the people I want to work with!!!”
Ian