On Monday, March 11th, Daniel Maloney (@DanielPMaloney), CEO of PinLeague took a turn in the hot seat to discuss the finer points of Pinterest marketing. Maloney’s pedigree includes time spent at both AOL and Google.
Following are his comments about the marketing value of Pinterest.
Q1 @DanielPMaloney What’s the first thing a marketer should do when they want to adopt Pinterest?
Daniel: Start on Pinterest by understanding your users and competitors, as you would any campaign. For instance, look at what they’re pinning / repinning by category, domain, keyword, etc.
Q2 @DanielPMaloney What advantages do Pinterest business accounts offer over a standard user account?
Daniel: Business accounts offer 3 benefits: Verified Domain, custom plug-ins, new feature notifications. Brands of all kinds are seeing success on Pinterest. But choosing a personal or business account depends on your objective and brand. Some brands do better with personal accounts, especially smaller ones.
Q3 @DanielPMaloney How do the current business accounts currently fall short for marketers?
Daniel: Many logical Pinterest business features not yet available: Ads, Analytics, Multiuser support. The Pinterest app ecosystem will help plug these gaps in the meantime e.g. PinLeague for Analytics.
Even though Pinterest did make some analytical data available this week, it only covers the basics and serious marketers will find there is far more information they need to know.
Q4 @DanielPMaloney What tools are available for marketers to track growth and measure ROI on their Pinterest presence?
Daniel: PinLeague offers Pinterest profile tracking, listening, ROI measurement, competitive intel and more.
Q5 @DanielPMaloney What are the tips and tricks for targeting the right audience on Pinterest?
Daniel: First, learn who you user is and what content they respond to. This is critical. Then, use tools that help you engage them organically on Pinterest. Don’t just market; share. Another tip, leverage Pinterest search and find users interested in your topic. Use board titles as keywords- they show up on pinterest search. Long photos work well, too. Take up more real estate. Just keep Repin button in sight. Don’t just share your own work. Promote others, too, to gain a following / build community.
Q6 @DanielPMaloney What kinds of pins/boards attract potential brand advocates?
Daniel: The kind that show content they’re interested in. 🙂 Not trying to be cheeky, but nothing matters more. Successful pin types on Pinterest: DIY/Instructional, Infographics, GREAT Product Photos, Artistic
Q7 @DanielPMaloney What can marketers do to maximize the use of Pinterest beyond the native ecosystem in email and on Facebook?
Daniel: Integrating Pinterest with your content strategy can be highly effective. For example… 1. Segment email users by social network preference and target content individually (see PinMail) PinMail lets you create an email campaign feat. FB content for FB users, Pins for Pinners, Tweets for Tweeters… PinMail can also personalize content in those emails based on users’ interests, influence, actions and more 2. Share great pin images on Facebook with meaningful captions and links back to Pinterest 3. Use Pinterest data (e.g. top pins + top competitor pins) to inform merchandising, content strategy.
Next week Alan K’necht and Michelle Stinson Ross will be hosting #SocialChat together live in Toronto to discuss Culture Shock: International Social Marketing and preview all of the Internet Marketing goodness later in the week at SMX Toronto.
As an added bonus: As the news writer for Search Engine Journal, I will be tweeting via the @SEJournal twitter account lots of great info, pics, and maybe even a little video here and there. Be sure to follow @SEJournal for all of the SMX Toronto event coverage.
