How to Market Your Brand on Pinterest Using Contests
At this stage of the game, just about everybody on the planet with electricity and running water knows about Pinterest, the darling of the social media world. Users and advertisers alike are ecstatic about the platform, which boasts some of the highest levels of engagement found online. Pinterest makes social photo sharing easy and addictive, which is why it’s grown so quickly in such a short time. If you’d like to really drive traffic and attract new customers, it’s time to get acquainted with Contents on Pinterest and start one of your own.
The Benefits of Pinterest Contests
It’s a well-established fact that contests on any social platform can instantaneously stoke public interest if done correctly. Facebook Contests are just one example. Pinterest Contests have the advantage of being primarily visual in nature, which helps to cement brand identity in the minds of the public. The near-term bump in traffic, sales and conversions that can be had from a Pinterst Contest is another bonus. Finally, the ROI of a well-run contest can be enormous. For a relatively modest investment, any brand can quickly achieve greater notoriety that will pay dividends in the future.
Rules of the Road
Contests on Pinterest are fairly easy to set up and administer, with very few constraints on the person or persons running them. As long as you don’t violate Pinterest’s user guidelines and Terms of Service, you’ll be fine. The legal boilerplate is pretty simple, and simply states that you have to abide by Pinterest Etiquette. Other than that, the sky is the limit. You’ll want to kick-start the process by announcing your contest both on Pinterest and through other social media profiles online. The hardest part of running a Pinterest Contest is figuring out just how to do it. Fortunately, there are many different types of contests to choose from.
Contests in the Real World
One of the most successful contests thus far has been from British Midland International, which offered a free trip to the participant who re-pinned the most photos to their Boards. Likewise, American chain restaurant company HuHot Mongolion Grill created a massively successful Contest based on user-submitted recipes that helped to spread awareness of the brand and boost growth. Peugot Panama fielded a surprisingly innovative Pinterest Contest that awarded prizes to users who solved puzzles by re-pinning photos of their cars. The point is that there’s hardly a shortage of creative ways to use Pinterest Contests.
Tips & Tricks of a Proper Contest
If you’re somewhat familiar with Facebook Contests and the theory behind them, then the Pinterest variant will be easy to master. When devising a Contest game plan, think outside the box and come up with something unique. You’ll need to stand out and offer a compelling prize that’ll garner loads of interest without setting you back too much monetarily. There’s a multitude of approaches one could adopt. Try out a Pin-to-Win promotion that rewards the most promotional person in your Follower fold. It’s easy and can also be quite fun if you reward users for their creativity.
Tactics to Avoid
While Contests on Pinterest can be highly lucrative, they’re not without their pitfalls. For one, avoid forcing a concept down the throats of your fans. The entire point is to grow traffic organically, and you can’t do that by suffocating your audience with a transparent ploy. Remember to respect your audience and allow a Contest to progress in a natural fashion. If you’re running a Pin-to-Win promotion, don’t publish any photos or infographics that could potentially come back to bite you by casting a negative light on your brand. Also, don’t add any contributors to your Boards that haven’t been fully vetted.
Getting Started the Right Way
The ultimate goal of a Contest on Pinterest is to raise visibility, boost short-term traffic and increase long-term profits simultaneously. It’s certainly possible to pull this off, but it’ll take a little mental legwork beforehand to make it happen. Study your current customer base and do a little web analytics homework on your desired target demographic before you get rolling. Once you’ve got that sorted out, you can take a page from those who’ve already succeeded and craft a Contest that delivers. When it comes to viral Internet marketing, Pinterest is one of the best platforms available online at the moment.
Nicola Byrne writes for Calverton Finance, a UK company specialising in payroll through their Payfactory service.
