PinterestAn Introduction | July 10, 2012By: Julia Russell

Agenda• Overview• Timeline History• The Average User Experience• Marketing Opportunities – Why is Pinterest so crucial for

your brand?• Big Business – How are large companies utilizing the social

space?• The Legal Deal – Concerns about Copyright Infringement• How to track your websites content on Pinterest• Agency Reach – Why should agencies get involved on

Pinterest?• Agency Strategy• Closing thoughts and Demo

Overview• What is Pinterest and how do I

use it?– Pinterest rhymes with interest,

wink– It is essentially a categorical

collage for adults• What is a Pin?

– Everything and anything– A visual representation of a

thought, idea, concept, or simply a beautiful photo

• What is a PinBoard?– You can call it a digital bulletin

board• I.e. a board for cars,

recipes, cute animals, etc.– Like a bookmarked reminder

How to get started:1. Sign up2. Add the Pin It button to the

bookmarks bar of your browser

3. Start pinning by either finding pins yourself (ie: browse the internet) or explore Pinterest using the search button to find what others have already pinned

Timeline HistoryNov 2009

• Ben Silbermann and Evan Sharp created a website designed for visual collections.

• Ben’s fiancée came up with the name “Pinterest.”

Mar 2010

• “Closed Beta” launched

Aug 2011

• Named one of TIME Magazine’s “50 Best Websites of 2011”

Oct 2011

• Received $27m in funding from Andreessen Horowitz• Sets company value to $200m

Jan 2012

• Launched as one of Facebook’s first Open Graph Timeline apps • Named best New Startup of 2011 by TechCrunch

Feb 2012

• Officially drove more traffic to retailers than LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+

May 2012

• Valued between $1 - $1.5bn following a $100m round of funding

The Average U

ser

Data Source:Engauge

Marketing OpportunitiesAccording to Marketing Mag:“Brands using Pinterest to drive traffic to ecommerce

sites are reaping the rewards, with the one-year-old social network already driving more revenue per click than Facebook and

Twitter”

• Pinterest drives traffic to your site– Especially good for:

• E-commerce sites• Drives purchase intent by converting

Pinterest clicks into dollars in the Gift section

• blogs– How it drives referral traffic?

• By adding the pin-it button of course!• Pin-to-win contests

• Why would brands want to target people on Pinterest?– It contains a highly concentrated

group of evangalists/ early adopters/ buyers/ and whatever else a brand could hope for

• Good for businesses with a traffic-based model

Big Business – How are they doing it?

• Learn what appeals to Pinterest users• Take advantage of popular categories• Be visualHere are ten brands who have drawn in loads of fans with Pinterest according to Online MBA:

1. Whole Foods2. Mashable3. Nordstrom4. Benjamin Moore5. The Weather Channel

6. Random House Books

7. Southwest Airlines8. GE9. Major League Baseba

ll10. Wall Street Journal

The Legal Deal…• Photographers, stock image providers and

others are stating their concern over their copyrighted content being sourced by non-owners

• On Flickr, only content that is deemed 'safe,' 'public' and has the sharing button enabled can be pinned to Pinterest

• Pinterest measures:– Take down policy– Protection via the Digital Millennium Copyright

Act (DMCA).• Beware of brand squatting

– Regular people can grab your name with good/bad intentions

– Suggestion: Grab your name anyway, whether you use it or not

How to Track Your Websites Content

4 ways to measure Pinterest using Google Analytics

Measuring is critical. One way to do it is to use Google Analytics on your website. There, you can see how much of your traffic is

coming from Pinterest. And if you’re actually selling things

on Pinterest you can measure that directly.

Referral Reports

Custom Reports

Dashboards

Multi-Channel Funnels

Go to Traffic Sources > Sources > Referrals report

Lets you get down to the specifics.

You can add all the information you need to see on a regular basis just by adding widgets to your dashboard.

Pinterest primarily drives awareness of your brand/product/site, but people come back later to convert.

Other Ways to Track Influence and Analytics

• http://www.pinreach.com/ - demo• http://www.pinerly.com/ - waiting list• SEO: Pinterest can help build valuable

backlinks– A backlink is created no matter what to the

originating source– The more backlinks, the better chances your site

will get ranked higher in search engine results– When users re-pin, each time this creates a new

backlink• Imagine if your content went viral?

Agency Reach

• Establishing brand recognition• You’re reaching out to more people online• Connecting to target markets• Generating more links if pinned off of your own website

– Thus driving more traffic to the site• Potential for leads to come through

– Ability to pin a landing page perhaps• Example of one of the “first” Agencies to join Pinterest according

to fuelingnewbusiness.com: http://pinterest.com/weareholler/

Why should an agency join Pinterest?

Agency / Brand Strategy• Goal What is the implementation goal? What can Pinterest provide the brand that is

not offered elsewhere across the Web?• Editorial Team Who will participate in decision making for the platform and

brainstorm board and pin topics? How often will the Editorial Team meet?• Audience Who are you trying to reach? (Demographics, psychographics)• Voice/Tone What is the personality you intend to portray? (Funny, serious, friendly,

informative)• Content Strategy What boards will you create and what are the pins that best suit

each board? (The number of boards and pins on each)• Contribution Allocation Who will contribute to each board? (Just the brand or will

other people have rights to add pins and collaborate?)• Pin Recommendation & Approval Who will find, produce and recommend pins?

Who will approve the pins prior to uploading?• Community Managers Who will monitor the page? • Pinning Calendar When will you post the boards and pins? (Timing and frequency)• Moderation Schedule How often will boards be monitored? How often will the

community manager respond to comments?• Response What will you do if a user comments on a pin?• Follow Strategy Which user accounts will you follow to start? What is your ongoing

strategy for following users?• Emergency Plan How will you react if there is a negative response to a pin or

board?• Launch Plan How will you bring people to your page? (Other social channels, .com

sites, in-store promotions, QR codes, email)

Closing Thoughts and Demo• There is real value

in the platform• It is changing the

social mix and almost entire marketing programs

• What’s the risk? – Nada!

Sources• http://mashable.com/?p=985417&preview=true• http://smallbiztrends.com/2012/05/the-truth-about-pinterest-

for-your-small-business.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SmallBusinessTrends+%28Small+Business+Trends%29

• http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why-flickr-pinterest-need-each-other.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29

• http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/pinterest-will-boost-your-referral-traffic-but-can-it-boost-sales.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29

• http://www.sydgill.com/whats-pinterest-and-how-do-i-use-it/• http://

www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/may/17/pinterest-valued-at-more-than-1bn

• http://www.verticalmeasures.com/webinars/marketing-your-brand-on-pinterest-may-10-2012/

• http://www.engauge.com/assets/pdf/Engauge-Pinterest.pdf