Pinterest for Business - FDL ACU presentation by BrownBoots Interacti…

Nenhuma nota no slide

What is Pinterest?Who remembers ripping out pictures of teenage heart throbs and hanging them on their bedrooms walls?Decorating your school locker with pictures of your favorite sports teams, athletes, models or bands?Or how about filling a binder full of recipes you ripped out from different magazines?I grew up with a bulletin board next to our family’s rotary phone with pictures, mom’s reminders and shopping lists.Pinterest is just that – but electronically. It’s a pin board where you can capture or share ideas and inspiration that live online.

In July, Ragan Communications shared that Pinterest is the third most popular social network in the US, visited by more than 18 million people each month. So what do those 18 million people do? Users follow each other and brands for ideas and tips, inspiration and motivation, recipes and fitness routines, decoration and organization, vacation destinations, gift ideas, craft projects; the list is endless. When a pinterest user finds something they like, they re-pin it to one of their boards. Users can also add a caption or note to the pin in the comment section. The pin links to the source’s web page or an online image. Users can tag other users or brands in their captions, comment or like other user’s pins and, in some cases, pin to other people/brand’s boards. This builds connections for similar interests and tastes and builds a community of brand ambassadors.

Pinterest isn’t a direct sale … but it has potential!Think of it as an alternative way to interact with your audience, a new way to inspire your audience or another way to share information with your audience. You might be in the landscaping business but your boards could be about different annuals and perennials, trees, tools you use to keep your yard in tip-top shape, pictures of inspiring or dream yards, innovative uses of small spaces in yards; your boards allow you to position yourself as a thought leader. Someone might not be in the market to use your services but if you’ve inspired them, they’ll remember you (or re-pin you!) and when they are ready to buy or when a friend mentions they’re looking for someone to create an island oasis in their back yard, you might get a portion of the business. http://www.fastcompany.com/1837726/proof-pinterest-drives-sales-and-its-fans-spend-big: pins with prices get 36% more LIKES. Appeal to your audience. Give them information they want. This helps build a community. Not turn away people looking for ideas when you’re spamming your product.

Data graphs from http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-networks/pinterest-demographic-data/Women age 25-54 lead the way but men still use the site. (Think: 20% of 18 million users are male!)

Like many the many other social outlets (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), the conversation is best when it… • focuses on audience passions, lifestyles … • when you become a resource, inspiration, or outlet.If you do this ( and avoid shameless promotion of products/services alone), you promote your company in a better light and create a stronger brand A stronger brand = a stronger following and group of fans.SO, HOW DO YOU DO THIS? Create Value!!! Many ways to do this depending on your industry, business, strategy, etc.The next few slides, will showcase 10 ideas on pin/board content… (from http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/45102.aspx)

Pins MUSTbe visually interesting/intriguing – that’s what makes pinterest so appealing to so many people in the first place!So take it up a notch by using videos to showcase your services, products and/or business in a different way.• Pin do-it-yourself, how-to video (like this cake ruffle tutorial featured here),• Display your products or services in action • Share customer testimonials• Videos of presentations or other speaking engagements…

So you own a business and you sell a product to your consumers. But take your consumers behind the scenes. Answer the questions your consumers always wondered, “how do they make this?” or “where does this come from?” and “Who invented this?”

This Brewery shows its followers how it makes beer, the installation of its new silos, how it uses brew kettles. Show off your company!

Great conceptfor B2B – many organizations highlight conferences or trade show type events with their boards – after all there is usually a lot of industry buzz pre-show and during the show. KI Furniture – a manufacturer of innovative furniture, featured their booth and other happenings at the NeoCon trade shows throughout 2012. Also, utilize to highlight other types of events – open houses, grand openings, – specific to Open Road = highlight the Women’s garage party events – introduce instructor, staff so its not so intimating, showcase gear, accessories, fashion just for women…In general think about ways to drive traffic – instead of linking your tweets, facebook posts, etc. back to a wordy press release on the event, link to the your pinterest event board.• Encourages people to attend• Gives those unable to attend a glance what they missed • Allows you to highlight your products in an interactive setting

If you’re an agency like BrownBoots, it’s easy to showcase the work of your clients because you’re a part of that company’s success. But if you’re not BrownBoots, how and why should you pin other company’s work?Pin information about your industry; use magazines or industry association websites as a starting point. Your potential customers are looking for industry information so give it to them.Look at what Lillians and Cujak’swine do together: promote each other and partner together because they have a similar demographic. You get more bang for your buck!Take a pin and add to it. Shows you know your stuff about the industry. Ex: Like this floor plan? We have four options for carpets in your bedrooms. It pays to be nice. Follow the golden rule.

Many reasons why this is a good example…Make something typically nonvisual, visual…In this particular example, consider the potential call-to-action… provide a link to buy and download the books to tablets, etc.If nothing else, a great way to relate to your followers and their hobbies, etc. – provide a board of relevant books to read or check out for information.MPTC – top must-reads for college students

If you have a corporate/organizationalblog, consider pinning your blog posts to your brand’s pinterest boards. This helps drive traffic to the site and increases awareness about your blog on pinterest, which helps grow your blog following. You can use Google Analytics to measure your traffic from pinterest.Remember to add the “pin it” or “follow me on pinterest” icons to your blog pages and posts. If you have a blog, remember to brand your pinterest board to match your blog. Don’t have a blog name (EX: Scissors and Spatulas) but then have a pinterest account under an individual name (Ex: Jennifer McAileley).

Sticking to the very visual theme,infographics allow you to share news information, data, and more in a visual, intriguing way.• Infographics are all over pinterest• doing very well because of their ability to share and tell a story so simplistically.This particular infographic pinned by Southwest Airlines shares the fact that • since 2008, they’ve recycled the weight equal to nearly 165 Boeing 737-700 aircraft!

For some brands, it’s easy to connect with consumers. For other brands, its easier if your staff members connect with potential consumers/users of your goods and services. This personalizes your brand, helps give your brand a voice and puts a “face” to the name. A staff board also helps showcase what happens behind the scenes in your office and gives consumers a snapshot into what inspires your employees and what your employees do when they’re not making your brand awesome. If your employees are OK with it, put their personal pinterest account info in their staff bio – because if consumers love your brand, chances are they’ll be inspired by some of the same things that your employees like. If you work in education, this is a great way to showcase your teachers and administrative staff. Or if you’re in a corporate environment, it’s an excellent way to “humanize” your executive team.

If you are using pinterest for business, you’ll of course want to dedicate some boards specifically to your products/services. – But do it in a unique way … the last thing you want is a board that mimics your website ecommerce site. – Instead show your product in action … like goodwill has here with their goodwill and Halloween board. ***Inspire and give people a reason to stop by your shop or click through to your website. ***Other brand examples of this …• Chobani (greek yogurt) shares recipes of how users can use its products differently• Oreck – the vacuum cleaner brand, has a board dedicated to “furry friends” which subtly and in a fun way points out one of the many uses for their product. After all, who doesn’t like cute visuals of puppies and kittens!

Create a corporate overview PowerPoint. Create a capabilities PowerPoint. Then pin them to your “about us” board. Consider adding videos to the board as some people want to read and review info about your company where others will want to watch and learn. Pinterest also released secret boards. Each pinterest user is given three secret boards. You could use secret (private) boards to post HR information or if you have an internal task force working on a project, you could give them a secret board and have each task force committee pin to that board as a way to share information/inspiration.

Getting your users to click through, like, repin, and comment on your pins is great. But how do you take it to the next level and encourage even more interaction?

Hashtags! • Which are words or phrases prefixed with the symbol #• very prevalent on other social media platforms, like Twitter, Google+• provides more description on the pin content• makes content more search-friendly.• usually hashtags associated with hot topics, i.e. #election2012An example of how to apply it for business = Lindt Chocolate campaign = create a unique hashtag for their purposes…For each #Pin4Autism pin that is repinned, $1.00 will be donated to Autism Speaks. (From April 3 until Easter – April 8, increased it to $10.00, then $25 per #pin4autism tagged pin.) One source stated there were approx 1800 repins for this cause. At the end of the campaign, Lindt shared the news of raising $10,000 for the Autism Speaks organization.

Let your followers contribute to your pinterest presence… When you create a board, you have the option of noting other pinners who can pin to your board. •In the case of ModCloth – vintage fashion, accessory finds. = selected their top customers/supports to pin their vintage finds/inspirationAn idea relevant to the FDL area = considered downtown fond du lac …• likely have a number of business owners on pinterest promoting their business• allow businesses to pin to DFP or downtown fond du lac monthly specials boards. A win-win – content is generated by supporters and their brand (products/services) are shared to yet another base of followers

Hosting a contest is a great way to provide an incentive for your fans to promote and share their love for your brand, products, services, etc.Party City - http://www.partycity.com/content/pin+to+win+contest.do• taking advantage of the busy time of year and all the celebrations and gatherings taking place … Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, new year, etc.• just held a contest where fans would pin their Halloween party essentials for a chance to win a $500 shopping spree at PartyCity• Have them create a board – preferably featuring some of your products• And work in the logistics to have them submit their entry and link to their pinboard for reviewAnother example: Pier 1 Imports held a “Pin it & win it” contest this fall… • fans created a board of the their favorite products (minimum of 10 pins to be considered)• Then, submit the pinboard via their website for consideration

Follow this checklist! Identify your audience – who are your current customers? Who do you want to be your customers? What social media tools are they using?Define their needs/wants – are your consumers looking for YOUR restaurant or are they looking for fun places to eat with their families or a place to stop and grab dinner and bring it home? Think about it from the end-user perspective. Market your business (and pin!) accordingly.Give them what they want – don’t spam your followers. They like you. Inspire them. Talk about the industry. Showcase your work. But share the love. I recommend following the rule of thirds: 1/3 of your pins should relate to your industry, 1/3 can be about your business and 1/3 should be fun or provide a “voice” for your brand.Surprise them with more – allow them to get involved! Create a pinterest contest! Give goods away! Explore – it’s important you understand how to use pinterest before you jump on for your company. Create a personal board. Think about how YOU use the tool. Then figure out if/how it makes sense for your company to use it. HAVE FUN! This is a new way to communicate with your consumers. Inspire them!

Quick mention of tools… Repinly = provides an nice overview of stats… top categories, popular pins = help you understand “hot” and trending pin ideas to work into your strategyPinMe– you might not have pinned your website content, but that doesn’t mean others haven’t! Allows you to enter a URL and see if any pins can be traced back to you.Pinpuff– measures your influence and showcases other similar pinned content to yoursReachli– Connect, share and measure your visual content over multiple social platforms

Questions?THANK YOU!

Pinterest for Business - FDL ACU presentation by BrownBoots Interactive

BrownBoots Interactive, Inc.

Pinterest for Business - FDL ACU presentation by BrownBoots Interactive