Pinterest is emerging as a platform to watch as more and more coverage pertaining Pinterest for Business circulates the web.
My first thought upon learning about businesses trying Pinterest was that it’s a perfect platform for travel marketing since there are so many components people consider when planning a vacation.
A few brands have begun testing the waters and seem to be doing well, setting excellent examples for other organizations that may be curious.
One stand-out is Visit Savannah, Savannah’s destination marketing organization (DMO) that is responsible for marketing the Savannah area for leisure tourism, meetings and conventions. They began using Pinterest in November as an experiment, and, in just two months, have attracted more than 11,500 followers.
The DMO has a variety of boards, including staples like hotels, dining, beautiful architecture and shopping, along with other themes like “haunted Savannah,” “let your hair down” (featuring nightlife spots and libations), “Southernisms” plus one dedicated to St. Patrick’s Day, a major happening that includes an annual parade and various other major local festivities.
By including this variety of visual content, Visit Savannah is allowing people to literally visualize various elements of the city and what may be of their vacation. The appearance of pinboards is bright and cheery, and resonates positive vibes simply by glancing at them, which is something from which any business can benefit.
While you may be thinking that an organization like this, one wide in scope with many angles to address, has an easier job creating and populating boards than a smaller organization or business might, please reconsider. This is an opportunity to get creative. A “bigger” entity may have lot of “smaller” topics to cover (like Savannah does), but, it can easily go the other way, too — i.e. “smaller” players can just as easily create boards for “bigger” aspects…
For example, Pacific Fins Resort & Marina (a single resort) in Guatemala is a much smaller entity than an entire destination such as Savannah. Nevertheless, they’ve begun creating pinboards for the larger topics (Guatemala, fishing, etc.) related to what they provide; things that would also be relevant to someone considering visiting their resort.
The same can be applied to other hotels, restaurants, spas, entertainment venues and more. There are many associations to any business, big or small, that can be leveraged to appeal to your (new and/or expanding) Pinterest audience. Think about who you are trying to attract and what kinds of topics are related to you that they may enjoy, then brainstorm and compose your boards from those ideas.
What topics will you have on your pinboards?
Thanks for this information on Pinterest. It is a new platform for me and still learning.
I don’t know about business, but I do think that Pinterest is one of the best new social media outlets for creativity. I love it. Proud to be a Pinhead!
I’ll admit, I’m becoming more of a Pinterest junkie! lol
I do believe that for more of these types of Applications to be more successful in the Business world, that there needs to be more integration into Blog, LinkedIn, etc. The more things are streamlined, the better right? 😉
Thanks for sharing this information!
I just started “pinning” and I love it!! It’s a little difficult trying to incorporate work material vs. personal interests so I may need to create 2 accounts (personal and business) like I have with Facebook…
Pinterest is a bit new to me and still learning on how to use it. Thanks for the information, it’s really helpful!
Appreciate the info and Savannah example.
I really love Pinterest! Thanks for sharing.
I have a friend pinning designer purses and shoes pics from her website, where she’s been struggling to make a living selling them for a couple of years. She started Pinterest a couple of months ago and her sales have tripled.
Am still a relative Pinterest newbie! Am currently looking for ways to incorporate Pinterest into my social media plan. Thanks for the great examples!
I love Pinterest so much, I was just thinking how great it is for shopping. Have you checked out their products menu? I was also thinking it is good for photographers and artists to share their work, I posted a couple of videos but I think for this system pictures work better. I have yet to click another person’s video, just because the way the system moves so fast and you want to see the next cool thing to pin.
I agree! I’ve been using Pinterest personally for months and have gotten so many creative ideas. It’s definitely perfectly suited for those in more artistic industries, too, who can really portray themselves efficiently via photos.
Sure! Let me know if you ever have any specific questions.
That’s a great success story! Thanks for sharing, Rick.
My pleasure 🙂
Thanks, Jay! Kudos to Savannah for doing a great job.
Sure – let me know if you ever have any specific questions.
Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’m thinking of creating a Social Hospitality one, too (which will be separate from my personal one) to share info from other brands.
Definitely! I bet we’ll be seeing a “pin this!” social sharing widget on most websites in the near future! Thanks for commenting.
Definitely! It’ll be interesting to see how far it evolves as a business tool.
We all are! Thanks for commenting, Dennis.
Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’m thinking of creating a Social Hospitality one, too (which will be separate from my personal one) to share info from other brands.
I like Pinterest but haven’t really taken full advantage of it yet. I hadn’t even considered the possibilities for business until your examples. Thanks for the suggestions!
Sure! Let me know if/when you set up some boards!
Pinterest is sooooo addicting. A fantastic place to find and store ideas and inspiration, and also showcase what kind of person I am to my clients. : )
I really appreciate your examples of business (or in this case, a city) successfully using Pinterest. I have had a hard time figuring how I could use it for business, but you gave me some ideas.
Definitely! Thanks for commenting.
My pleasure, so glad to be of help!
Can someone please invite me to pinterest? [email protected] THANKS!
Sure thing, just sent you an invite!
Being a visual person, I’m loving Pinterest! Not to mention, all the great ideas and information.
I have many boards but my main focus is beauty, spa, wellness, etc.