Pinterest: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social networks on the web and many companies are realizing the importance of creating a presence on the site. As popular as this social media site has become there is no denying there are good, bad, and ugly ways of going about pinning success.
The Good: Whole Foods
?Engage as well as educate
It’s important to educate your followers on your product. Just posting pictures is nice but educating your followers gives them something to take away from your product and your brand. Create pins that are worth repining. Whole Foods does a great job of this by pinning recipes, health tips, and other DIY tips.
Post the right images
Your posts should be creative and relevant to your industry. Posting the right images can inspire customers to spread your product all over Pinterest and if you’re lucky their profiles are connected to Facebook and Twitter, spreading your brand even farther. Whole Food’s healthy recipe posts can lead a customer right to the store to buy the ingredients they need.
The Bad: Klout
?Beware of irrelevant and unrelated boards
When choosing boards for your company's Pinterest page make sure your boards are relevant to your brand in some way. Recipe tip boards are great but they don’t really make sense if your company manufactures shoes, or provides social media consulting. Klout's "Klout Eats" page is moderately interesting but it's irrelevant and frankly just distracting.
Choose the right content for Pinterest
Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr are great for sharing behind the scenes moments from your company. Pinterest should be used a bit differently. Posting a board about every event your company holds can overwhelm your page. The boards you make should have longevity to them, you want your boards to be constantly updated and having specific event boards can make that difficult. Klout's "#KloutMom" and "#KXKW" are event based boards that have become irrelevant now that the events are over.
The Ugly: Beware!
?Pins should be visually appealing
Pinterest is a visual website where users post pictures of things they like or enjoy. Having an unflattering photo or low resolution image will not only prevent repining but will turn people away from your boards and your company. Some posts can be down right ugly.
Copyright Violations
Remember the importance of copyright rules on social platforms. Post pictures that your company owns or took themselves. Using images without permission can cause a lot of unwanted backlash. If it's not yours might sure your credit the source.