Pinterest is no longer the new kid on the block in the social media marketing world. Since sky-rocketing to the top of the social media charts in 2011, Pinterest has established itself as a major player, not only in social networking, but also in social media marketing, by presenting brands with a unique way to engage customers.
In short, Pinterest defines itself as “a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.” The basic premise of the site, is to “pin”, or mark images (found online, or uploaded by you) that peak your interest, with the ability to categorize those images into various Pin Boards of your own design.
Today, there are many brands getting their feet wet using this creative medium as a way to engage their customers. The fashion industry, in particular, has truly capitalized on the ability to showcase their products, and engage their audience, through pinning, and re-pinning. One brand in particular, appears to have blown its competition out of the water in terms of follower growth, brand mentions, and most importantly, audience engagement on Pinterest.
Demonstrated in the infographic below (produced by PinLeague.com) it is clear that although Anthropologie may not have as many followers as its competition, such as L.L. Bean and Lululemon, it has produced a staggering 86% increase in Pinterest follower growth in Q4 of 2012.
This brand also proves that you don’t need to have the most followers to generate high organic brand mentions, meaning pins that are generated directly from the brand website. Anthropologie logged over 310K brand mentions in the final quarter of 2012, by pinning meaningful and visually appealing posts, that their followers in turn re-pinned to their own Pin Boards.
The fashion category as a whole boasts an incredibly high engagement rate, ranging from 94% – 99%, and Anthropologie is no exception, holding steady at the top end of this spectrum, around 99%. However, what differentiates them from the rest of the pack is the fact that almost 70% of their pins are re-pinned over 100 times. Which in turn means that Anthropolgie knows exactly what their followers want and how to deliver it to them, in a unique and engaging way.
Lessons for Others:
Which Pinterest strategies are Anthropologie using that other brands can adopt as their own?
- Make your pins visually appealing
- Give your customers the opportunity to pin directly from your website, by adding “Pin It” buttons to your product images, thus generating organic brand mentions
- Don’t just pin your own products, but always reference the Pin Source
- Pay attention to what your followers are engaging in, and re-pinning…. give them what they want!
Web References:
Top Pinterest Fashion / Retail Brands — And How They’re Succeeding [Infographic]
http://pinleague.com/retail-fashion-brands-on-pinterest-infographic/
Anthropologie – Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/anthropologie/
Pinterest
www.Pinterest.com
http://about.pinterest.com
Anthropologie
www.Anthropologie.com
Adding the Pin It Button to your website
https://help.pinterest.com/entries/21101982-Adding-the-Pin-It-Button-to-your-website
Submitted by: Becky Minor– SMBP Student University of Waterloo
To contact the author of this entry please email becky.minor3@gmail.com
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.