February 7, 2013•
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Report: B2B Marketing Priorities and Spending Forecast Revealed
As marketers, we’re pretty excited about all the buzz surrounding the latest social media giant Pinterest. In just two short years since its beta launch, Pinterest has catapulted to become the third most popular social media platform on the Internet. And it’s still growing at a remarkable pace. In January 2012 comScore reported the site had 11.7 million unique users, making it the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark.
The social photo pinboard has an average of 1.36 million users daily, the majority of whom are female mothers, and Mashable reports that 28 percent of them have an annual household income of over $100K. These are very often the decision makers marketers are aiming to reach – and they’re fully engaged. According to a recent Shopify survey, Pinterest sends as much traffic to Shopify stores as Twitter does, and shoppers coming from Pinterest are 10 percent more likely to make a purchase compared to those coming from other social media sites. Oh, and they’re spending twice as much as shoppers coming from Facebook.
So why is Pinterest so popular?
As an avid Pinner, I can speak first hand on this. While Facebook is a tool for catching up with old friends, wasting time, and flat out being a voyeur, Pinterest is actually useful. In only 15 minutes on Pinterest, I can find a fabulous pair of shoes to wear to a party this weekend, read tips on how to get my 4-year-old to stop interrupting my adult conversations, discover which perennials are best to plant in NY in the month of May, pull down a great baked cod recipe for tonight’s dinner, and see the best way to clean my glass cooktop stove. Now that’s the kind of multi-tasking any working mother can get down with!
We already know that consumers prefer short, “snackable” forms of content, and Pinterest provides them with just that. Because it is visually driven, users can scroll down a page and quickly “repin” whichever items appeal to them, whether it’s a photo of a mouth-watering meal, beautiful dress, must-see travel destination, tips on how to improve their golf game, or any number of things that can be depicted in a photo, video, or infographic. The best “pins” are accompanied by short but detailed descriptions, and users can pin them to boards they create themselves based on their own interests. They can either take action immediately by clicking through to the website the pin hyperlinks to, or they can pin it to their board and visit later when they are ready to make the purchase, book the vacation, prepare the meal, etc.
How it applies to your business
We recently introduced Pinterest to a residential moving company client who had never heard of the site. We explained to them how they could use Pinterest to build a relationship with consumers early on in the buying process. A photo of someone packing items in a box with a tagline “7 Tips on How to Pack China” could go far on Pinterest. Someone who is planning a move within the next year would very likely be searching for this, or they may just stumble upon it and pin it for later. We told the client that if they started a blog and posted information such as this, they could begin to establish a relationship with prospects that’s based on trust, which would obviously give the company an advantage over its competitors when it came time for a prospect to hire a mover.
This type of strategy carries over to a vast array of B2C industries. Retailers with e-commerce sites have the luxury of pinning photos of items for Pinterest users to click on and purchase. And the best part is it doesn’t cost anything but time. You could easily have someone within your organization or your marketing agency start turning your attractive goods, compelling blog posts or informative videos into useful Pinterest pins.
But why take our word for it?
The best way to realize the value of Pinterest is to join the site and start to understand how it works. We’re fairly certain you’ll not only be personally hooked, but you’ll soon find a way to incorporate it into your business marketing mix.
Why Twitter?
Twitter is social networking and microblogging service. From a business and marketing perspective, Twitter helps you develop and promote your brand, interact with your customers and prospects, track what people are saying about your company and develop direct relationships with bloggers, journalists and industry leaders.
How is it useful?
Twitter is an easy way to discover the latest news related to subjects you care about. 140-Character messages from users you choose to follow will show up on your home page for you to read. It’s like being delivered a newspaper whose headlines you’ll always find interesting. You can discover news as it happens, learn more about topics that are important to you, and get the inside scoop in real time.
Getting Started with Twitter
1. Build a following
It’s best to begin your journey by finding and following other interesting Twitter accounts. Look for businesses you love, public service accounts, people you know, celebrities, or news sources you read. One great way to find more interesting accounts is see who those you know or admire are following.
2. Listen to the conversation already happening
Messages from others you follow will show up in a readable stream on your Tweets timeline. Once you’ve followed a few people, you’ll have a new page of information to read each time you log in. Click links in others’ tweets to view: images and videos they have posted, the profiles of users mentioned in their message, or tweets related to a hashtag (#keyword) they used.
3. Build a voice – send out relevant “tweets” on a consistent basis
Offer fresh, fascinating content. You’ll gain followers by giving them something they want or need: information, amusement, a sense of connection and belonging. The 80/20 formula says that 20% of your tweets are about you, while 80% of them are about someone else. Use tags and keywords. If you find an interesting tweet, re-tweet it and you can add your comment to it. Link your tweets to your other social networks such as Linkedin and Facebook.
4. Go mobile
One of the best things about Twitter is that it’s portable. Connect your account to your mobile phone or download a Twitter application to begin reading tweets on the go. Now you can get updates about traffic problems in the middle of your commute, find out what the players are saying while you’re at the game, or catch up on the buzz about an event you’re about to attend. The possibilities are endless!
Scott Cooper Associates is an award-winning branding, advertising and marketing services agency.
