Pinterest, the visual sharing network, is getting bigger by the day. It’s addictive, it’s cute and it provides users exactly what they like to consume the most on the web – photos. Businesses have started using Pinterest for marketing purposes, and especially if their products are highly visual (fashion brands, for example). Travel products, from hotels to destinations, rely on visual imagery in the selling process, which makes Pinterest a natural social marketing arena for them.
What can tourism businesses do on Pinterest to maximize their digital presence? Here are some quick ideas:
1. Add ‘Pin It’ buttons to your website/blog: The button will help users to pin beautiful photos they see on your website to their Pinterest accounts faster and easier. Similar to Facebook’s ‘Like’ button, the idea here is to create a viral effect by sharing meaningful content with others.
2. Develop gorgeous boards: A ‘board’ in Pinterest is basically a folder with the images that you pin. As a hotel, for example, you could create boards such as “Stunning Room Designs” for room and suite photos, or “Wine and Dine” for food photos. Needless to say, the naming of the boards should reflect your brand guidelines (i.e. a 5-star resort can’t have similar boards as a 2-star motel). Make sure the boards are rich with imagery, accompanied by short descriptions.
3. Pin other brands too: Like on your Facebook page, it is advised not to focus exclusively on your brand but rather to provide meaningful content, including pins of similar brands that are doing a good job. So, if you have a museum profile you could definitely pin some art works from another museum or gallery. It will only make your profile more authentic and useful.
Are you on Pinterest?
Photo: Pinterest blog
January 19, 2012 By 1 Comment
Pinterest is a new site for me to go through. I would definitely use it.