Brand marketers continue to be mystified. Why aren’t their intensive marketing campaigns hitting home with customers? They’ve crafted a spectacular campaign, tweeted ‘round the clock, promoted and pushed. But still, the results aren’t nearly up to expectations.
One possible reason for the customer shortfall may lie in where these marketers look for customers. As technologies evolve, consumer gathering spots are changing. Customers are turning up in a variety of new and interesting places.
One of these great new destinations is Pinterest. Growing in popularity by the nanosecond, Pinterest is a photo posting site where legions of visitors electronically ‘pin’ their favorite photo images for the world to see. Among the many popular photo subjects is brand products. People love to share their excitement about worthy consumer goods. And visitors are more than eager to get these latest product insights, as well as share their own visual commentaries.
Given this undeniable popularity, Pinterest offers marketers endless possibilities for consumer engagement. Yet, research conducted by Digitas and Curalate demonstrates that a staggering 70% of brand engagement on Pinterest is carried out by users. This statistic points to a colossal hole in the marketing strategies of many companies.
No question about it. Marketers must pin, and pin often. But not just any old images. Their first step should be identifying the kinds of brand images consumers are posting. With this knowledge in hand, brand marketers can zero in on user preferences and tailor photos accordingly. This is a golden opportunity to engage customers with enticing brand stories and thereby strike a powerful emotional chord with this group.
Interestingly, the industry that’s jumped right into the Pinterest action is electronics. Most likely, this heavy involvement is a reflection of the close connections that already exist between electronic brands and online innovations. According to Digitas and Curalate, 47% of electronic industry pins were carried out by specific brands. Clearly, other industries would do well to follow their example.
If you have any questions or comments about utilizing the power of Pinterest and other photo sharing sites to enhance your brand, or about any other brand building topic, feel free to send them our way. You can connect with the Young Company team at 949-376-8404 #4033 or bart@youngcompany.com. And be sure to follow us for the latest brand marketing news and tips.