As a small business owner, you’re always thinking of new ways to market to more and more customers.
You’ve nailed Facebook ads, you’ve dabbled in some guerilla marketing tactics, and you’ve perfectly refined your email marketing campaigns. So … what’s next?
When it comes to reaching more customers and bringing more business through your doors, creative marketing channels are key. That’s why—if it isn’t there already—your business needs to be on Pinterest.
If you’ve never thought of building a Pinterest presence for your small business, then you might be overwhelmed and not sure how to take advantage of this relatively new marketing realm. But don’t worry, small business owner, we’re here to help you fill your business’s Pinterest board by showing you tips from businesses that are nailing it on Pinterest.
So, if you want to tap into the marketing and sales potential of Pinterest, follow the lead of these 10 business Pinterests that are dominating the Pinterest game.
1. BuzzFeed
With almost 2 million followers on Pinterest, BuzzFeed is a go-to example of a company that knows how to seamlessly drive their traffic between their Pinterest and their main website.
BuzzFeed is one of the best business Pinterests to learn from if you’re looking for ways to drive Pinterest traffic to your blog, or your blog traffic to your Pinterest.
Why?
Well, BuzzFeed does a great job at repackaging the most exciting and interesting aspects of their blog content into a catchy thumbnail-sized pin. They take the most compelling image from their signature “listicles” and feature that as the main image on a BuzzFeed pin—encouraging Pinners to click on the pin and check out the article. The best business Pinterests are those that creatively repackage website content—like blog posts, videos, or recipes—into eye-catchy and compelling pins that drive Pinterest traffic to their website.
And on the other hand, BuzzFeed makes it easy to pin any and all articles from their main website to a visitor’s own board. You’ll find a red “Pin It” button at the top and bottom of every piece of BuzzFeed content—making their content easily sharable across their website and mobile platform to their Pinterest.
The lesson learned from BuzzFeed? Connect your website’s content and your Pinterest so that pinners and customers can easily move between the two and share your content with only 1 click.
2. The Container Store
The Container Store runs one of the best business Pinterests out there.
As a company that sells different organizational products for households and office spaces, The Container Store is well-positioned to have a fantastic Pinterest profile.
From promoting in-store and online sales to tapping into the holiday spirit, The Container Store does a lot of things well as far as business Pinterests go. But The Container Store does an especially good job at showing the value of the products that customers can buy from their company. When you scroll through their different boards on household organization, you’ll get perfectly crafted examples of the best ways to use their products. Plus, with beautiful photographs all over their Pinterest page, they sprinkle in some inspiration that undoubtedly drives customers to their stores.
The lesson learned from The Container Store is this: You know the best ways to use your business’s products, so why don’t you show your customers how they can get the most from your products on your Pinterest page?
The best business Pinterests assemble pins that highlight great qualities of their products and give tools and tips that make their business more accessible.
3. Etsy
Etsy is just about to reach 1 million on Pinterest, and it’s pretty clear why: Etsy runs one of the best business Pinterests on the network.
Etsy does a great job promoting products on their marketplace in beautiful images on the Pinterest. With so many Etsy products to sort through on their website, their Pinterest page is an another, easier way to see items from Etsy sellers. Plus, Etsy does a great job following common trends on Pinterest in general and making their own board that shows how customers can use Etsy products to be on trend.
Now, you may be thinking, of course Etsy is one of the best business Pinterests—their marketplace is practically made to be a Pinterest profile.
But here’s one lesson for business Pinterests that any small business owner can take advantage of: Pin other content, not just yours. Etsy has a few different boards that are made up of pins from other websites and companies unrelated to their direct brand—like “Videos We Love” or “Yum! Recipes to Share.” Not only does this spread the Pinterest-love, but it connects you to brands you want to be associated with or want to work with in the future.
Another pro tip that any business can learn from Etsy? Increase your engagement and following by creating “Guest Pinner” boards. Just like they pin content from other brands, Etsy does a great job encouraging other brands to participate on their board. So if you have a brand that you’ve worked with before—or want to work with in the future—encourage them to curate their own board on your Pinterest.
4. Lowe’s
If you’ve gone into Lowe’s for any home improvement task, you might not think that this brand would be on our list of the best business Pinterests out there.
But any small business owner can learn a lesson from Lowe’s Pinterest boards.
Lowe’s does a great job at carefully curating a wide range of very specific Pinterest boards that showcase the value of their company. From “Father’s Day Gift Ideas” to “50 Projects Under $50” you know exactly what you’ll get when you click on 1 of Lowe’s Pinterest boards. Not only does Lowe’s provide a great customer experience within their Pinterest, they make it easier to navigate the store when you actually go in to shop. If you’ve found exactly what you want while on their Pinterest page, you’ll have a better shopping experience when you actually go into buy.
So, take a page out of Lowe’s book and carefully craft your boards to targeted search intent, and give your customers what they’re looking for instead of a whole splash of pins all over your Pinterest.
5. Sephora
With almost 500,000 followers on Pinterest, Sephora’s on the list of the best business Pinterests out there.
The cosmetics retailer tapped into that massive following to grow their Pinterest presence in a big way. Sephora does a great job at getting their current customers and loyal followers to contribute to their Pinterest page. Yes, we’re talking stellar user-generated content.
On their Nailspotting board, Sephora encourages their customers to post pins of manicures they’ve done with Sephora products. This kind of user-generated content is an easy Pinterest campaign that builds your following, shows the value of your product, and encourages new customers to go out and buy your products.
Even if you aren’t a brand powerhouse like Sephora, you can still tap into the benefits of user-generated content on Pinterest. If you have a happy customer that you think would be happy to post a photo of your product or services, encourage them to with a creative Pinterest campaign.
6. Caribou Coffee
As the second largest specialty coffee and espresso retailer in the United States, Caribou Coffee also runs one of the best business Pinterests out there.
Scroll through the Caribou Coffee Pinterest page, and be inspired by a variety of boards that showcase their delicious-looking coffee. Any small business owner who runs a café or restaurant should take a page out of Caribou Coffee’s book. Pinners love being inspired by perfectly crafted meals or drinks, so attracting customers to your restaurant through a well-crafted Pinterest page is an easy win.
But even if you don’t run a food- or drink-related small business, you can still learn from Caribou Coffee’s Pinterest tactics.
Take, for instance, Caribou Coffee’s recent Pinterest campaign. Caribou was trying to develop a new line of coffee—Real Inspiration Blend—and they wanted the input of their customers on what it should taste like. So they asked their Pinterest followers to add images with the hashtag #CaribouInspires, and Caribou sorted through their followers’ pins to figure out what the ideal new Caribou blend should be.
Caribou Coffee’s Pinterest campaign was an ingenious way to not only figure out what their customers really wanted, but also raise interest in the release of a new line of Caribou Coffee. So, if you’re about to release a new product for your business or you’re simply wondering what future product your customers would be interested in, tap into the crowdsourcing potential of Pinterest! It’s an easy way to mine for customer insight.
7. Ziploc
Ziploc is one of the many examples of business Pinterests that have absolutely nailed the art of promoting on Pinterest.
As a big brand name, Ziploc was one of the first launch partners for Pinterest’s “Promoted Pins.” And once they started promoting on Pinterest, they saw 1.4x the average engagement rate, and 2.3x the average pin save rate.
Why did this work so well for Ziploc? Well, Ziploc knew exactly how they could fit into one of the biggest trends on Pinterest—cooking and healthy living. Ziploc’s Promoted Pins were perfectly placed in the long feeds of pinners’ favorite recipes, healthy meals, and easy-to-make snacks. So when customers went out to buy the food to try out their favorite Pinterest recipes, Ziploc food storage was on the top of their minds.
How can you tap into this Pinterest best practice? Well, if your business perfectly fits into one of the top pinned categories, use that to your advantage! Maybe you own a Crossfit gym. Use the many, many fitness-related pins to promote your business. Or, if you own a beauty salon, strategically place your brand among the many beauty and hair tutorials all over Pinterest.
8. L.L. Bean
L.L. Bean has been around for more than 100 years, so we aren’t surprised that they know exactly who their customers are and what they enjoy. But L.L. Bean’s Pinterest page showcases just how in-tune they are with their customers.
The Maine retailer doesn’t just promote their products on Pinterest—in fact, their boards really aren’t that full of L.L. Bean products at all. Instead, their page is full of perfectly crafted boards that speak to exactly who their customer is. L.L. Bean’s boards cover anything from “Take Me Fishing” to “Best Friends.”
Not only does this Pinterest strategy appeal to L.L. Bean’s current customers, it helps them reach out to a target audience that they know will benefit from shopping at L.L. Bean.
Small businesses can learn a lesson from business Pinterests like these: Get to know your customer like the back of your hand and build your Pinterest page around their interests. Not only will it help engagement on Pinterest, but it’ll help you reach out to more ideal customers.
9. Ben & Jerry’s
When you imagine what Ben & Jerry’s Pinterest page would look like, you’ll probably envision boards and boards of ice cream and dessert images.
If you think this, then you’re not entirely wrong—Ben & Jerry’s, like many other business Pinterests—does a great job showcasing their product.
But Ben & Jerry’s runs a unique Pinterest page by using the page to not advertise to their customers but to teach them about their brand. If you follow Ben & Jerry’s Pinterest page, it’s like you have an exclusive look into what’s behind the ice cream powerhouse. The company has boards that reveal the company’s music tastes, the history behind the founders, and the people behind the business.
Pinterest is a great opportunity to show the personal side of your business. As a more informal marketing and sales platform, it lets you show your own interests and connect to your followers on a more personal level. If you follow Ben & Jerry’s lead, you might find that your customers are more connected and loyal to your brand if they feel as though they know what you’re all about.
10. Casper
If you know the Casper product—a one-size-fits-all mattress—then you might not expect Casper to be on the list of the best business Pinterests.
Yes, Casper does only sell about 3 products, but it manages to populate a sizable Pinterest board by staying creative. Casper does a great job creating humorous boards that all relate to their main product in some way. From “Epic Beds,” “Lazy Sunday,” “Late Night Snacks” to “Hangover Cures,” every Casper Pinterest board is the perfect mix of interest and advertising. And Casper’s product, the Casper mattress, is at the heart of each board’s topic.
Advertising is totally okay on Pinterest. If you do so smartly—and infrequently—you’ll bring in some new customers without turning pinners away from your profile. But the next time you promote your products on Pinterest, consider following the humorous and interesting route that Casper takes. Not only will you engage your customers, but you’ll also build your Pinterest around your brand in a way that isn’t too heavy-handed.
***
As you can tell from these 10 best business Pinterests, there are so many different ways to use Pinterest in a creative way for your business.
From engaging in user-generated content to pinning beautiful photographs of their products, the best business Pinterests are always thinking of new ways to build their following and drive more traffic to their business.
So, if you’re just dipping to your toes into the sea of opportunity that Pinterest holds, try out one of these Pinterest techniques from these 10 brands. Or if you’ve been on Pinterest for some time now, revamp your business Pinterest page with inspiration from these brands.
And if you’re looking for more ways to win the business Pinterest game—or more reasons why you need to be on Pinterest, check out Pinterest’s self-curated list of Pinterest success stories.
Good luck and happy Pinning, small business owner!
The post Looking for Inspiration? Here Are the Top 10 Business Pinterests appeared first on Fundera Ledger.
from Fundera Ledger https://www.fundera.com/blog/business-pinterests
No comments:
Post a Comment