Pinterest is becoming a popular way for small businesses to promote their brands and get their names out there. But using Pinterest to successfully market your business by drumming up interest in repining your content isn’t as easy as it looks. There is more to it than simply having a good product. Take some advice from these 20 brands who are successfully using Pinterest and getting thousands and even millions of followers.
Target
Target uses it’s Pinterest account mainly as a way to promote the chain’s merchandise (obviously) but also to show how those products can be used in everyday life. One way they accomplish this is by creating boards that feature collaborations with various designers. This allows them to capitalize on some well known names and drum up excitement for product lines. It seems to be working. Target boasts over 229,000 followers.
Martha Stewart Living
The tactic employed by Martha Stewart Living seems to be one of almost limitless variety. There are around 149 boards and over 25,000 pins featuring anything and everything you might expect from Martha Stewart. With so many boards a user might get lost, but everything is so well organized it’s easy to find what you are interested in.
Nordstrom
Nordstrom will make your head spin with all their sparkly boards loaded with products. The company’s strategy is obviously to dazzle and overwhelm … and to keep visitors riveted. Fashion, fitness, shiny things, color themed boards, weddings, the list goes on. The company packs so many pretty and stylish things on its boards, it will be hours before you surface again.
Chobani
With an emphasis on healthy living for the whole family, Chobani uses Pinterest to push its brand identity. Boards cover fitness, travel, kids, recipes, information, and inspirational quotes. There are also more yogurt recipes than you would have ever thought existed. Chobani has successfully zeroed in on its customer base and themed its Pinterest presence around it.
ModCloth
ModCloth uses its boards to collaborate with bloggers and also features a style gallery of its customers wearing their merchandise. The company also shares boards with inspiration, styling and makeup tips, recipes, DIY’s, and images of weddings and cute animals. A big part of the brand’s success seems to be the interaction with its online community and focus on the interests of its customer base.
Food Network
The Food Network combines recipe ideas with content based around the channel’s own celebrities to create boards that feel like their shows. You can find recipe boards by season, holiday, type, or chef. Boards are grouped by title, making it easy to navigate and find topics at a glance. Ease of use combined with star power makes for a winning combination.
Whole Foods
Whole Foods shows a clear understanding of its customers and targets what they want. The brand’s boards feature a plethora of healthy recipes as well as holiday entertaining ideas and even upcycling projects. The company doesn’t just focus on what it sells, but also plays to the interests and hobbies of its customers.
Birchbox
Birchbox, provider of beauty, grooming and lifestyle products, offers a little of everything on Pinterest. Entertaining and holiday ideas, health and beauty, inspirational quotes, men’s style, and travel are just some of the topics featured. The company also pulls in many bloggers and collaborations to reach as large an audience as possible. The aim seems to be wide market appeal.
Jetsetter
Jetsetter uses Pinterest to inspire travel and excitement. The brand’s boards feature exotic locations, celebrity world travelers, beautiful pictures, and travel tips. The brand seems to focus on getting visitors hooked on a far off location, then helping them get there. Even homebodies will get the travel bug from looking at the company’s boards.
Mashable
Mashable combines humorous images with actual articles and news creating an appeal similar to the social media world the company covers. The brand reels in followers with entertaining pins, colorful gadgets, tech, and general geekery. Mashable also has a practical side with boards like women of tech, social good summit, outstanding news, and career advice. The mix combines funny and informative content to keep its audience interested.
Kraft Recipes
It’s no surprise that this Pinterest account features a lot of recipes, but, with so many in one place, organization is key. Kraft has divided the dishes into specific categories: holidays, appetizers, edible gifts, healthy living, comfort food, cocktails, etc. Kraft’s Pinterest presence also features contests and sweepstakes encouraging followers to pin their favorite Kraft recipes. The combination of food photos, contests, and giveaways is how the company brings in the numbers.
L.L.Bean
This Pinterest account is full of boards featuring L.L.Bean apparel and outdoor fun. Boards range from camping and fishing content to boots, bags, and style. Not one board deviates from the general theme of the brand’s clothing or the great outdoors with which it is being associated. The brand’s message comes across loud and clear that L.L.Bean is for the nature enthusiast.
Lowe’s
Lowe’s seems aware its merchandise is not the most visually appealing. Nails and power tools don’t exactly make the average Pinterest user stop in his or her tracks. So the brand’s approach is to instead feature DIY projects, gardening, home decorating, holiday and party tips, and various other projects for which the company can supply the materials, a subtle approach.
Etsy
Colorful and eye catching content is important to any Pinterest presence. And Etsy has this in spades. The company’s boards are bursting with indie products, vintage clothing, recipes, DIY projects, home decorating, and gift ideas. The brand also features guest pinners, each bringing a unique style and fan base. It’s an interesting way to expand the company’s boards and reach without additional expense.
Everyday Health
These boards are full of tips, advice, stories, and facts promoting — you guessed it — health. The brand promotes weight loss tools, expert life and health information. And its Pinterest presence focuses on feel good images, smiling faces, encouraging words and stories reinforcing the Everyday Health brand.
The Container Store
The Container Store focuses on using Pinterest to make home organization look fun. The company’s boards feature tips to get the stuff in your life in order as well as holiday ideas and inspirational quotes to keep you going. There’s also a board about what the brand stands for allowing the company to engage with customers and get a little personal. Who knew plastic totes could give you the warm fuzzies?
Free People
The brand’s Pinterest page, like its clothing line, exudes Bohemian style. Free People’s boards show youthful images, outdoor adventures, music festivals, and street styles calibrated to attract the attention of its young hipster target market. Every image is highly stylized, making it impossible to miss what this brand is all about.
Home Depot
It’s interesting that two brands both associated with home improvement would both thrive on Pinterest. The Home Depot’s goal seems similar to Lowe’s, focusing on home improvement projects done with products bought at its stores. The brand’s boards feature more tips and tricks than the most avid DIYer could probably ever try. Boards are kept updated and feature seasonal and holiday project ideas which seem to be successfully bringing in the visitors.
Better Homes and Gardens
Better Homes and Gardens has created boards that essentially reflect the kind of content shared in the company’s magazine. There are tons of recipes, decorating, entertaining, and lifestyle tips meant to keep hardcore fans engaged. Better Homes and Gardens also features pinners of the month, encouraging other high traffic users to pin from its boards. The participation is another way the site attempts to generate engagement. So Better Homes and Gardens simply focuses on extending its brand of content to fit the Pinterest community. By doing so, the brand is further growing its reach too.
Starbucks
This Pinterest account simply seems full of all the things Starbucks fans already love. There are boards with appealing photos, food and beverage information and even copycat recipes for some of the chain’s most popular drinks. Every board is kept in a similar color pallet and promotes the company’s overall feel.
If you are considering an approach similar to one of these for your business, review the successful brand strategies on Pinterest to pick one that’s right for you.
Pinterest photo via Shutterstock
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