SOCIAL MEDIA
ARE PINTEREST'S NEWEST FEATURES RIGHT FOR YOU?
You know Pinterest, right? The social network where people share photos and videos? It's like Instagram, only more organized.
Think of Pinterest as a digital version of a corkboard. You can have any number of corkboards (called boards), and you can Pin any number of photos to each board. You can also Pin videos, which is where the corkboard analogy falls apart.
With more than 30 billion Pins to date, Pinterest is a good place for your brand to spend time if:
a) Your audience matches up with theirs (namely higher-income women and girls, although Pinterest is now making a serious play for men).
b) You have visual content: photos, graphics, videos, and the like.
Pinterest rolls out new features in dribs and drabs, without fanfare or drama. But these features can boost your brand. Here’s an overview:
Guided Search: Pinterest’s search box now works like Google’s. You type in a word, and up pop more options. Guided Search is working a little slowly at the moment, but look for this feature to get even better with time.
Guided Search accentuates the need for keywords. Before adding a caption to a pin or writing a description for a board, think through what your audience is likely to search on. Then do a search on Pinterest to see what pops up, and be sure those exact terms appear in your Pin caption or board description.
Custom categories: Pinterest features 32 categories that range from animals and architecture to weddings and women’s fashions, and only those categories used to be served up to users. Now Pinterest has added custom categories based on your search. So, instead of slogging through the animals category to find photos or videos of Labs, you can now search on “Labradors,” which is not only its own category but also serves up even more specific custom categories, as you can see here.
What do custom categories mean for your brand? Just as with Guided Search, be sure you work on including the right keywords in your Pin captions and board descriptions. Brainstorm search terms, search on them on Pinterest, see what pops up, and include the most relevant terms in your captions and descriptions.
Messaging: Pinterest has quietly rolled out a messaging system that allows followers to send messages to your branded page. This feature not only allows deeper conversation with your fans but also allows you to contact other brands directly, which is a great way to pitch co-branding opportunities, such as group boards (see below). The downside? Now you have one more messaging system you have to keep track of. If your brand has a lot of followers, responding to messages may consume a big chunk your social staff’s time.
Group boards: This isn’t a new feature, but it’s one to make a part of your strategy. As a brand, you can invite an individual or another brand to co-host a board—called a group board—with you. The advantage? You both share the load for pinning new content. You can co-host group boards with celebrities, content experts, like-minded brands, or strategic partners that share common interests. And if your organization has employees with large a Pinterest following and is passionate about a topic that matches your brand, consider sharing a group board with those folks. (Just remember to un-share the group board if you and that employee ever part ways.)
Secret boards: If you’re planning to launch a new board, you can get it ready in secret, and then roll it out when your first few pins are ready. No more scraggly, not-ready-for-primetime boards. Although not a new feature, what is new is that you can now have an unlimited number of secret boards. (Well, you’re limited to a total of 500 boards, so "almost" unlimited.)
To create a secret board, just click Yes on “Keep it secret?” when you create a new board. To then make your secret board public, edit your board and click No on “Keep it secret?” And remember that there’s no way to make a public board secret. Once a board is out there, it’s out there.
Promoted Pins: Pinterest has followed Facebook’s and Twitter’s lead and introduced Promoted Pins—that is, Pins that your brand pays for, in order to reach more people. If Pinterest reaches your target market, and you have a particular pin or board you can promote to drive an event or new product, promoting your pin is a consideration. Just make sure it’s a compelling and beautiful pin, not one that looks like an ad. There has been some backlash from users about Pinterest’s Promoted Pins, so keep it real: it should look just like a pin they would click on anyway, not like shameless self-promotion.
Analytics: Pinterest (finally!) offers analytics, so that you can measure how well your pins and boards are received. And they’ve done a really nice job of it. If you haven’t yet made your brand's account into a business account, start here. Once you do that, analytics will appear as a dropdown option, even if you haven’t paid to promote any Pins. Woot, woot!