by Melanie Torres
Pinterest. In my opinion, it’s one of the most delightful social platforms. A fascinating collection of absolutely anything and everything that you would like to buy, create, wear and visit. In need of a recipe to impress the folks at that dinner party you were invited to? Pinterest’s got you covered. How about some ideas on what to pair with that crisp white blazer you just bought on sale at H&M? Yeah, Pinterest has hundreds of ootd (outfit of the day) ideas for you to browse through. Sounds pretty fantastic right? Well, if you’re a female within the ages of 25-45 then yes, this all probably sounds very appealing. The problem that I’ve encountered over and over again, is trying to convince people (particularly men) that Pinterest isn’t just a “pretty” platform. When discussing a social strategy with a brand, Pinterest ends up pretty low on the list – completely dominated in conversation by the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
May I just remind you Pinterest doubters that this platform drives more traffic to websites than Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Google+ combined. Not only this, but over the years Pinterest has increasingly become smarter in design, search and even what appears in each individual user’s home feed. Now with promoted pins finally rolled out to most Pinterest business accounts the social platform is stepping it up even further and allowing for ways to get your pins noticed by the right kinds of consumers.
To make things even more Pin-teresting, as a brand you can take advantage of a nifty little thing called Rich Pins. These are pins that include extra information right on the pin itself, thus making them more useful for users who stumble across them. There are currently six unique kinds of Rich Pins: app, movie, article, recipe, place and product.
So what does this mean exactly? For starters, it means that there’s no excuse as to why your Pinterest shouldn’t be taken to “the next level.” Incorporating Rich Pins gives users a better overall pinning experience and if done correctly, can make your particular Pinterest account a “go-to” source of valuable material for your customers. Click here for a brief breakdown on how each Rich Pin works and see below for my recommendations on what kind of brands would benefit most from each:
App – This type of Rich Pin is best suited for brands that are pushing ios apps which are centered around Pinterest’s “top” categories, ie. Food, Fashion, Travel, DIY, Wedding and Retail.
Movie – Of course any brand based around movie production, promotion or entertainment can benefit from a board full of these kinds of pins. This would include movie theaters or brands similar to Netflix, Fandango, IMDB, Redbox or even the Academy Awards. However, there are other smaller brands that could find these types of pins valuable. For example, followers of a local Film Festival or even Museum that shows movies each month could find a board of Movie Rich Pins to be pretty useful.
Article – This one’s pretty straightforward. Your brand needs to curate timely articles in order to find this Rich Pin relevant. So hop on board if you happen to be a magazine, news source, or even if your brand has a weekly/monthly blog that you want highlighted.
Recipe – This Rich Pin is made for brands within the Food/Hospitality industry… but let’s think outside of the box. What if your brand focuses on sustainability, a healthy lifestyle or “shopping” local? Creating individual recipe boards featuring drinks and dishes that reflect your brand’s core values could prove to be extremely beneficial to your target audience. For example: an Aquarium with a board for sustainable seafood recipes OR a gym with a board for eating “clean”.
Place – Your brand needs to have a physical address for this type of Pin to make sense. However the companies that will truly benefit are those that have multiple “places” to pin to a Pinterest map. This could include certain travel companies, tourism brands, airlines, colleges, hospitals, chambers of commerce and major attractions like Disney World.
Product – Any kind of retail brand that offers products that can be purchased online. ‘Nuff said.
Now that you have an idea of what Rich Pins can do for you it’s time to start pinning like a pro. First, you’ll need to prep your website with meta tags, test out your Rich Pins and apply to get them on Pinterest. We suggest asking your developer or web team to help get you going! If you’re still a little clueless as to which Rich Pins make the most sense for your brand, the NetWeave team would love to help! Just write a comment below or shoot us a quick email and we’ll set up a complimentary consultation.
Happy pinning everyone!