Pinterest for Designers

What is it:

Pinterest is way to create moodboards of ideas, items you love, and things that inspire you. It’s also one of the fastest growing social properties on the internet. Pinterest lets you engage with design-minded consumers, run Pinterest campaigns, and generate site traffic.

How to use it:

Pinterest “Pin it to Win it” contests generally utilize Facebook to share the rules and winners, and in some cases contestants need to submit a link to their pinboard on Facebook for consideration. Pinboard entries should include hashtags and/or @mentions of the brand to ensure virality. Winners tend to be chosen either by the contest sponsor or by popularity, i.e. how many likes, comments, and repins it gets. Influential winners can be added to a shared pinboard – a highly valued prize.

Some great brands and campaigns on Pinterest include:

Real Simple – Pinterest drives more traffic than Facebook for Real Simple. Real Simple plans to integrate Pinterest more deeply into RealSimple.com, starting with ‘Pin it’ buttons on the website, which make it easier for fans to pin product images. Any image pinned from a site links directly back, a potential source of revenue.

Nordstrom – Nordstrom uses Pinterest to see what trends and styles the community likes based on engagement  – likes, comments, and repins.

Seahawks  -The Seahawks’ Pinterest contest requires users to start a Seahawks themed pinboard for a chance at winning 12 prizes. Contestents’ pin boards must include their tagged #favoriteseahawk, #FavoriteSeahawksPhoto, and #musthavegamedaygear. The rules and prizing were managed through a Facebook tab.

Lands’ End – In their “Pin It to Win It” Pinterest contest, ten fashionistas won $250 gift cards to Lands’ End Canvas by creating pinboards re-pinning their favorite Lands’ End Canvas products from Lands’ End pinboards.

High Point Market – High Point Market recruited home fashion trendsetters to capture images of their favorite finds as they walk the High Point Market, listing the exhibitor name and showroom number with the photo. The trendsetters also present the exhibitor with a sign that highlights the Style Spotter’s name and a QR code and URL for the Pinterest board. Everyone can vote or comment on their favorite pinboards and the most popular pinboard wins that Style Spotter a free trip to the next High Point Market.

Gilt Home – This one is a little self-promotion. For my client, Gilt Home, I use Pinterest to introduce our audience to our in-house home industry experts, promote contests and events, and share pinboards with design influencers on creative ways to decorate your home, which allows cross pollination of readership.

Other great Pinterest boards to check out: Klout, Cabot Cheese, Bergdorf Goodman, Whole Foods, Williams-Sonoma, BHLDN, Feterie, Etsy, VandM, Rue, Lonny, and Nina Garcia.

Visit me on Pinterest!