The Power of Pinterest - 4imprint Learning Centerinfo.4imprint.com/.../1P-12-0613-Pinterest-Blue-Paper.pdf · 6 “Mashable.” Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013

4imprint.com

The Power of P interest ®

© 2013 4imprint, Inc. All rights reserved

The power of P interest®

It was less than two years ago when the social media team at Sony® Electronics

began discovering the power of Pinterest. While many of the team members were

using Pinterest for personal use, the company had not adopted it as a business

platform aimed to drive sales.1 But all that changed thanks to unlikely social

media mavericks, and soon, a beautiful relationship began between Pinterest,

Sony and its 30,000 Pinterest followers.2

You may be wondering, how did Sony do it and what made it so successful? Sony

started with research. Sony found what many brands can only dream of—they

had a massive community of loyal fans already pinning, not just Sony products,

but other brand-related images including ads, logos, photographs taken with

Sony cameras, even brand-inspired tattoos—you name it.3 Creative expression

seemed to be the game and Sony was the name.

Figure 14

Sony took the logical next step and launched a brand page consisting of about

ten boards—mostly repins of what others were already sharing, hoping to drive

more sales to its website, increase brand affinity and grow the Sony community.

Within the first six months of its launch, Sony gained more than 2,500 followers,

increased Web traffic from Pinterest to the store’s website by an astonishing

1 Julig, Louise. “How Sony Became a Pinterest Rock Star.” Social Media Examiner RSS. N.p., 29 June 2012. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/pinterest-case-study-sony/>.

2 Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://pinterest.com/sonyelectronics/>.3 Ibid4 N.d. Photograph. Social Media Examiner. Web. 25 May 2013. <N.d. Photograph. Social Media Examiner. 1N.d.

Photograph. Social Media Examiner. Web. 24 May 2013>.


800% and received more than ten times the clicks from the site’s “Pin it” button

than from its “Tweet this” button.5 Nothing short of amazing!

So, you may be asking yourself, how do I find out more? What is all this Pinterest

stuff about anyway? And, how do I sign up? Keep reading to find out more.

What is P interest? Simply put, Pinterest is a virtual pinboard with a social twist. Think gigantic

bulletin board filled with anything you find interesting … from arts and crafts,

recipes and fashion to home improvement ideas, must-read books, favorite

movies, etc.—the list goes on. The twist is that you share the content with friends

and “followers.”

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing online social networks, lagging only

behind Facebook® and Twitter®, which is pretty telling considering it is

just three years old.6 Of all adults online, 15% are using Pinterest and that

equates to 1.36 million people logging in each day.7 And, what’s more, 28%

of users have a household income of $100k+.8 This social bookmarking site

exists to connect the world through things that they love.9

Pinterest terminology

Before we dive deeper, let’s start by defining Pinterest terms, because as most

social networking sites do, Pinterest has a language of its own.

• Pin: A pin is an individual image or video that is linked to the website

in which it came from that you add or “pin” to Pinterest.10 For instance,

you can pin an image of a business book you’d like to read or a helpful

blog post.

• Rich Pin: A rich pin looks very similar to a regular pin; the only difference

is that it automatically pulls additional information from the originating

website that is then placed below the image on the pin. There are three

categories of rich pins: products, recipes and movies. To achieve this,

companies embed metatag information into the backend of their website

5 Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2013. <http://pinterest.com/sonyelectronics/>.6 “Mashable.” Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://mashable.com/category/pinterest/>.7 “Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram – Social Media User Demographics 2013 [INFOGRAPHIC].” - AllTwitter.

N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/social-user-demographics_b39963>.8 “Mashable.” Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://mashable.com/2012/02/25/pinterest-user-

demographics/>.9 “How to Use Pinterest for Business.” Hubspot. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/

how_to_use_pinterest_for_business-01.pdf>.10 Ibid


so that when an image is pinned from the website, additional information

(ex. recipe ingredients, cook times and serving information) will register on

the pin.

• Pinboard: A pinboard describes a set of theme-based pins.11 Think

a pinboard entitled “Industry Resources.” And within that “Industry

Resources” pinboard you may find that business book and interesting blog

post you pinned or other resources such as white papers or data charts.

• Pinning: Pinning is the act of visually sharing content on Pinterest.12 In other

words, when you added the image of the business book to your “Industry

Resources” Pinterest board, you were “pinning” it.

• Repin: A repin describes the act of reposting somebody else’s pin.13 So, if

you found the business book on a company’s website and pinned it from

there, it would be a pin. If you found the book on somebody else’s Pinterest

pinboard (or within your Pinterest newsfeed) and added the image from

there, it would be a repin.

• Pin it button: This is the button that you see on websites that enables you

to easily pin content to Pinterest. The nice thing about using the “Pin it”

button is that it links the image back to the site it came from.14

Figure 215

•Pinner: A pinner is the person doing the sharing or pinning.16

• Like: By “liking” something, you can add an image to your “Likes” tab

without having to choose a board to pin it to.

• Secret pins/boards: If you don’t want the entire world to see what you’re

pinning, you can choose to pin it to a “secret board.” This option allows you

and anyone you invite to see the board without having to share it publicly.17

11 Ibid12 Ibid13 Ibid14 Ibid15 N.d. Photograph. Pinterest. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://about.pinterest.com/goodies/>.16 “How to Use Pinterest for Business.” Hubspot. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/

how_to_use_pinterest_for_business-01.pdf>.17 “Mashable.” Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://mashable.com/2012/11/08/pinterest-secret-

board/>.


Note: You are limited to only three secret pin boards per account. The point

of Pinterest is to share your ideas, so they wanted to limit the number of

boards that were closed off.

Pinterest dr ives Web traff ic

Did you know that Pinterest drives more Web traffic than Google+®, YouTube®

and LinkedIn® combined?18 If your business relies on driving a high-volume of

website traffic to increase its sales, Pinterest may be for you.19

Take pet insurance company PetPlanSM for instance. The PetPlan brand prides itself

on being a thought-leader, focused on delivering high quality content for those

who want to provide the very best for their pets. PetPlan’s flair for providing

compelling and relevant content made Pinterest a logical choice. After some

due diligence and research relating to pet topics and trends, PetPlan developed

Pinterest boards that visually displayed its knowledge while conveying its brand

personality. PetPlan’s boards contained captivating images, health tips and even

breed-specific content for its followers viewing pleasure.

Figure 320

18 “Mashable.” Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://mashable.com/2012/02/01/pinterest-traffic-study/>.

19 “How to Use Pinterest for Business.” Hubspot. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/how_to_use_pinterest_for_business-01.pdf>.

20 N.d. Photograph. Pinterest. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://pinterest.com/petplan/>.


In only a few months, Pinterest became PetPlan’s second-highest social

network referral source. It increased its page views by 69% and saw a 97%

increase in the time spent on the website. PetPlan took it up a notch by

adding the “Pin it” button to the website, the Pinterest “Follow” buttons

to its email footers and social campaigns, and they optimized the website

content for Pinterest. By the following quarter, PetPlan saw an 87% increase

in unique visitors, a 35% increase in page views and a 12.5% increase in

requests for quotes.21 This is the power of Pinterest!

Pinterest bui lds l inks

Pinterest links are considered “no-follow” links. What that means is that search

engines will not pick up on these links and therefore there isn’t a boost to your

SEO. Because of this, there is incentive to pin quality content—content that others

will want to repin. And the more links you have pointing people to your content,

the easier it is for them to find it. After all, what good does it do to produce great

content if people can’t locate it? If you can start to think of Pinterest more so as

a community than a tool, you are getting it.22 The point is to generate excellent

content that people will want to share—a “give and you too shall receive” sort

of philosophy. This philosophy holds true for rich pins as well. When a company

optimizes its site for rich pins, the pinners are in turn supplied with additional

information (AKA—better content) making the pin more likely to be repinned

based on the quality content provided.

Gett ing your business started with P interest

Has what you’ve read caused you to stand up and take notice of Pinterest?

If you’re ready to get started, read on.

Sett ing up a business P interest account

Setting up your business Pinterest account is really as easy as 1, 2, 3. Pinterest has

simple-to-follow steps to help you get started:

• Step 1: Create an account. In this step you’ll be asked to provide basic

information about your business and create a profile. Be sure to keep

your business’ keywords in mind and incorporate those into your

company description.

21 “Case Study: Petplan Insurance | Pinterest for Business.” Case Study: Petplan Insurance | Pinterest for Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://business.pinterest.com/case-study-petplan/>.

22 “Column: Search & Social.” Search Engine Land. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://searchengineland.com/why-pinterest-is-not-your-seo-miracle-worker-117762>.


• Step 2: Verify your website. Once your profile is complete, you simply go to it, and click the pencil in the bottom, right-hand corner of the name box. You will then be asked to verify your Web address. Verifying your website shows pinners that you are a trustworthy source.

• Step 3: Add the “Pin it” button to your website or blog by what you want people to share. This is the button that makes it easy for people to pin your content.23

Setting up your account is only just the beginning.

The do’s and don’ts of P interest

Once you have your Pinterest account, you’ll want to make sure to follow the basics of Pinterest etiquette. Pinterest reminds us to pin with care and to be kind, be respectful, and be yourself. Pinterest states, “We think authenticity—pinning things that express who you really are and what you really like—is more important than getting lots of followers.”24

It is important to remember that Pinterest is not for blatant self-promotion. Rather it is a means to convey the lifestyle that your brand promotes.25 Take Chobani® Greek Yogurt, for instance. Chobani’s pinboards don’t just show mouthwatering pictures of its yogurt, they contain motivational quotes, workout inspiration, recipes that incorporate their product and a slew of Instagram® photos. Chobani doesn’t just pin products, it pins a lifestyle that aligns with the

Chobani brand and its core values.26 Chobani truly provides value to its followers.

Figure 427

23 “Set Up Your Business Account | Pinterest for Business.” Set Up Your Business Account | Pinterest for Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://business.pinterest.com/setup/>.

24 Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://about.pinterest.com/basics/>.25 “How to Use Pinterest for Business.” Hubspot. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/

how_to_use_pinterest_for_business-01.pdf>.26 “Case Study: Chobani On Pinterest.” Angela Swenson. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://angswenson.

wordpress.com/2012/03/28/case-study-chobani-on-pinterest/>.27 N.d. Photograph. Pinterest. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://pinterest.com/chobani/>.


You also want to be sure to credit your sources just as you would any other

time you are using content that is not your own. And in turn, be sure your

pinnable content includes a tag so that when people pin an image from

your site, your company’s name, a description of the image and the URL will

follow it. This makes it easy for those who pin your content to find you.

Use keywords to increase the odds that your content gets displayed when

people are searching for it. For example, if you are a clothing retailer and

would like to add your new summer line of cropped pants to you Pinterest

page, name your board “Cropped Pants for Summer” instead of “New

Summer Line.” Think of what terms your customers will be searching under and

incorporate those into your board names, board descriptions and pin descriptions.

Be sure your pinboards and pins contain content that people want to follow. This

is accomplished by providing value to your followers—value that is in the form of

information, inspiration or entertainment.

With the do’s, come don’ts. Don’t repin pins without a permanent and relevant

link. For example, if you pin an image of a product you are selling, make sure

the image’s URL takes users to the page where they can find out more or buy the

product, not a home page, or worse yet, a broken link. And of course, don’t pin

content that you don’t have permission to pin. If there is a “Pin it” button on the

website you’re pinning from, chances are good that the content owner wants you

to pin it. If however, there is not, you should ask permission before pinning. And

last but not least, make sure you are not repinning spam. Check your URLs and

ensure you are not reposting any malicious content.28

Pin guidel ines

When pinning, here are guidelines to follow:

• Pinnable image size: There is no maximum image size; however, the

minimum size for an image on Pinterest is 81 pixels long by 81 pixels wide.

• Image shape: Pins with images that are longer in length tend to grab the

eye more and garner more repins. That being said, images should be no

more than three times longer than they are wide.

• Image restraints: If your image is more than 554 pixels wide, it may appear

distorted. Either crop the image or choose another one.29

• Image description: Include a description for all pins. This will increase the

likeliness of it being repinned.

28 “5 Things Not to Re-Pin on Pinterest.” Momcomm. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://www.momcomm.com/2012/09/5-things-not-to-re-pin-on-pinterest/>.

29 “Quick Guide to Pinterest Images.” Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2013. <http://pinterest.com/pin/283797213988992543/>.


And remember, just because you build it doesn’t mean people will come. You

need to promote your Pinterest presence through other channels. Include the

Pinterest “Follow” button on your website. Promote your presence on Facebook,

Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.30 And perhaps, most important of all, join the

discussion. Get followers engaged by being engaged.31

Pinterest and your market ing strategy

Now that you have a good understanding of the basics, and you’ve created a

Pinterest presence with great pinboards containing great pins—what’s next?

Before you can use it to drive sales, it may help to really flesh out how you will

incorporate Pinterest into your overall marketing strategy. Here are some things

to consider:

• Brand presence: The visual elements of Pinterest make it a great place for

branding. Showcase your company’s colors, style and values to bring your

brand to life within your pins.32

• Getting the right followers: Put the focus on quality rather than quantity

when it comes to gaining a following. Follow industry thought leaders,

partners and others with similar interests. And remember to interact and

be social—pin valuable content, repin that which resonates with your

brand and leave comments where fit. This will show others your company

is worth following.33

• The customer and your content are king: Know who your customers

are and pin things that provide them with value. Just as Sony and

PetPlan did, do your research. Find out what kinds of content your

customers are pinning and what they appreciate. And, ensure you

are pinning frequently enough to keep them interested, while not

pinning so much that you begin to be viewed as a spammer. This

balance varies depending on your customers and on your industry.

Using analytics, which we will discuss later on, will help you to

determine this balance through testing. And remember, any industry

can benefit from Pinterest. The importance is in providing value to

your customers.


31 “Column: Search & Social.” Search Engine Land. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://searchengineland.com/why-pinterest-is-not-your-seo-miracle-worker-117762>.

32 “Mashable.” Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://mashable.com/2012/02/27/pinterest-marketing/>.33 “7 Tips for Getting the Right Followers on Pinterest.” Yahoo! Small Business Advisor. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May

2013. <http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/7-tips-getting-followers-pinterest-130044427.html>.


Using Pinterest to dr ive sa les

Once you determine how Pinterest can be integrated into your business and its

overall marketing strategy, we can begin to break it down and determine how

it can help drive sales. Here are a few tactics that others are using to boost their

sales with Pinterest.

Pr ice tags

If you are pinning a product or service that you sell, you can include a price tag

right on the pin. Simply add the “$” sign followed by the amount you are selling

the product or service for—i.e. $5—right in the pin’s description. Pins that include

a price tag are 36% more likely to get “liked” than those that do not.34 Plus,

adding a sales tag gets your pin added to the Pinterest gifts section, where people

can search for gifts by price range.

Contests

Contests can be a great way to engage with and drive people to your website.

You can ask users to create a pinboard showing photos of them using your

product or service. Or, take it a step further and ask users to pin images that

show new or innovative things that can be done with your product. The key is to

promote engagement and foster loyal customers. There are some very specific

guidelines you must follow when hosting a contest, so ensure to check the

Pinterest terms of use prior to holding a contest; here are some basics:

• Don’t suggest that Pinterest sponsors or endorses you or the contest.

• Don’t require people to pin images from a limited selection—let them pin

their own stuff.

• Don’t make people pin or repin your contest rules. This is a big no-no.

• Don’t run a sweepstakes where each pin, repin, board, like or follow

represents an entry.

• Don’t encourage spammy behavior, such as asking participants to

comment repeatedly.

• Don’t ask pinners to vote with pins, repins, boards or likes.

• Don’t overdo it: Contests can get old fast.

• Don’t require a minimum number of pins. One is plenty.35

34 “Creating Pinterest Pins Users Will Love To Get More Blog Traffic: Part 2 | Andrea Bolder Will Help You Champion Your Business & Change Your Life!” Creating Pinterest Pins Users Will Love To Get More Blog Traffic: Part 2 | Andrea Bolder Will Help You Champion Your Business & Change Your Life! N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://andreabolder.com/2013/creating-pinterest-pins-users-will-love-to-get-more-blog-traffic-part-2/>.

35 “Instagram Overtakes Twitter on Cell Phones with 7.3million Users a Day.” Mail Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2209545/Instagram-overtakes-Twitter-cell-phones-7-3million-users-day.html>.


Pinbooster

Advertisers have caught on to the power of Pinterest. Take Pinbooster for instance. This platform bridges the gap between influential Pinterest users and advertisers. What exactly does Pinbooster do? It connects advertisers with pinners, and in a nutshell, provides them with the opportunity to pay pinners to pin specific images. This in turn drives traffic to the advertiser’s website.

Advertisers can select pinners based on their location, their personal profile information, the number of followers they have and how active they are. If you use Pinbooster, you’ll want to make sure you pick pinners whose profiles match your brand values and who are active enough with a large enough reach to make it worth your while to compensate them. The law requires that these sponsored pins be labeled (with “#ad” in the pin description) so their participation is completely transparent.36

Hopefully, by this point you are seeing a common theme—Pinterest for business is all about using visuals to interact and drive sales. Take Unicef®, for example. Unicef works in 190 countries and territories worldwide to save and improve the lives of children by providing health care, food and water, sanitation, education and emergency relief.37 Unicef broke free of the stereotypical Pinterest use when they came up with a pinboard entitled, “Really Want These.” This pinboard contained pins of things that a fictitious, young, Sierra Leone girl named Ami Musa wanted—pins containing images of things most taken for granted like running water, soap, rice and shoes.38 This represented a creative, great way for Unicef to promote its mission and drive donations.

Figure 539

36 “Pinner Information.” Pinbooster. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <https://pinbooster.com/site/page/view/pinners>.

37 “About Us.” :: Humanitarian Relief for Children. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.unicefusa.org/about/>.

38 “Mashable.” Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://mashable.com/2012/09/10/pinterest-unicef/>.39 N.d. Photograph. Pinterest. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://pinterest.com/AmiMusa/pins/>.


You may have noticed that Pinterest skews heavy on the female side. In fact,

only 30% of its users are male. However, it’s not so vital to note how many men

are or aren’t using it, as it is to notice how men are using it. A recent report on

Pinterest use in America found that while most women pin for inspiration, men

pin to buy.40 And men are pinning everything from clothing to gadgets and toys

to workout routines and home repair projects.41 When asked, “Which one reason

best describes why you (pin) clothing/fashion content,” 31% of men cited “to

buy” versus 18% of women.42

One example of a company who is using Pinterest well for its male demographic

is Mashable®. Mashable is the largest independent news source for digital culture,

social media and technology. Its Pinterest account is rich with images of the tech-

savvy gadgets, data and infographics they’re known for reporting on.43

Figure 644

Analyt ics

And last, but certainly not least, we need to talk about measurement. How do

you know if the time and effort you are putting into pinning is getting your

company results? Are people seeing the content? Are you getting followers? Are

people liking or sharing the content? Is your company website getting traffic from

40 “The 1 Big Difference Between How Men and Women Use Pinterest.” Convince and Convert Social Media Strategy and Content Marketing Strategy. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://www.convinceandconvert.com/the-social-habit/the-1-big-difference-between-how-men-and-women-use-pinterest/>.

41 “9 Ways That Guys Can Use Pinterest [Infographic].” Bit Rebels RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2013. <http://www.bitrebels.com/social/9-ways-that-guys-can-use-pinterest-infographic/>.

42 “The 1 Big Difference Between How Men and Women Use Pinterest.” Convince and Convert Social Media Strategy and Content Marketing Strategy. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://www.convinceandconvert.com/the-social-habit/the-1-big-difference-between-how-men-and-women-use-pinterest/>.


44 N.d. Photograph. Pinterest. Web. 25 May 2013. <http://pinterest.com/mashable/>.


Pinterest? These are all questions that can be answered using Pinterest analytics—

the data analysis tool provided by Pinterest to business pages. Below are some of

the metrics you can find when using Pinterest analytics:

• Pin metric: The pin metric tells you whether or not people are pinning

content from your website. If your content isn’t getting pinned as

much as you expected, you may need to give it bit of a boost. Is the

“Pin it” button located in close proximity to your images? Is your

content visually appealing? Do you need to add attractive headers to

your blog posts?45 Does your content resonate with your audience?

• Repins: The repin metric is another great measurement tool. With

repins, the content is being pinned not just by your followers, but by

those who could potentially become followers.46

• Reach metric: The reach metric tells you the number of people who

saw your pins. Reach provides exposure and is greater if a pinner with many

followers pins your content.47

• Visits and Web visits metric: This metric shows you two data points: The

number of visits that were made to your website from Pinterest; the total

number of people who visited your website.

• Most repinned content metric: This metric is important because it tells you

which of your content best jives with your audience.48 Use this metric as a

driver in terms of what types of content you will pin.

• Most clicked content metric: This metric shows you what pins are most

frequently clicked. Keep in mind, when an image pinned from your website

is clicked, the user is taken to your website. This presents a good opportunity

to see which pins are driving Web traffic.49

Other Analyt ics

There are a host of third-party analytic software available including Google®

Analytics, Curulate, Piqora (formerly PinfluencerSM), etc. It may be helpful to

integrate multiple analytic tools in order to get a full picture of your business’

Pinterest presence. Google Analytics, for example can show you what sorts of

revenue your Pinterest traffic is generating.50 Other tools like Curulate and Piqora

are better utilized to gauge your most influential and engaged pinners.


46 Ibid47 Ibid48 Ibid49 Ibid50 Ibid


4imprint serves more than 100,000 businesses with innovative promotional items throughout the United States,

Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. Its product offerings include giveaways, business gifts, personalized gifts,

embroidered apparel, promotional pens, travel mugs, tote bags, water bottles, Post-it Notes, custom calendars,

and many other promotional items. For additional information, log on to www.4imprint.com.

Whatever tool you decide to incorporate, just make certain you’re using it. If

things aren’t where you expect them to be, tweak and modify. And remember,

the process is ongoing. Keep on pinning and keep on measuring.

Hopefully this Blue Paper® has taught you something you didn’t already

know about Pinterest—or better yet, how to use Pinterest to engage your

customers and drive sales. There’s a lot to take in, especially if Pinterest

is fairly new to you. Just remember—be yourself. Pinterest is the place to

showcase what your business is really about—it’s the place to portray your

brand’s personality and values. Realize this and you just may unharness the

power of Pinterest.

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The Power of Pinterest - 4imprint Learning Centerinfo.4imprint.com/.../1P-12-0613-Pinterest-Blue-Paper.pdf · 6 “Mashable.” Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2013