Pinterest for Business: Success Stories and Tactics Used by Caribou Coffee, Buzzfeed and more.

You may have heard of those avid pinners, creating boards full of recipe ideas, photos of their dream homes, and DIY projects whenever they have a spare moment online. But have you heard of the success stories of Pinterest for Business? The social platform is used by many companies to gather data, recognize trends and build community. 

Below we pulled businesses from 5 different industries that have successfully used this platform, as reviewed by Pinterest. Consider how your business may benefit following their lead and adapting some of these ideas for your own marketing needs.

Success Story #1 - Content Promotion & Idea Generation 

Buzzfeed uses Pinterest to...

1. See what news stories are most popular by analyzing what is getting the most repins.

2. Review other pinners' most popular pins to generate ideas for their next stories.

3. Experiment with new categories to see what content may be more popular than they would guess, finding out what works and what doesn't without as high of stakes.

4. Drive a huge amount of traffic to their site - the platform is Buzzfeed's second largest referral from social networks.

5. Promote old articles that would normally fade away. People often pin a story they find interesting and then come back to it later. Plus, the Pinterest searches bring up older, yet still relevant, Buzzfeed articles. 

Success #2 - Know customers and build community

Caribou Coffee uses Pinterest to...

1. Share stories and generate camaraderie between customers by asking them to pin what is "worth staying awake for."

2. Decide what their next product imagery will be. They asked pinners to include #InspireCaribou on images to share their favorites for a new blend of coffee.

3. Tell the story of how a new coffee product was made. It provides a storyboard of sorts that can walk curious customers through the process.

Success #3 - Educate clients

Bank of America uses Pinterest to...

1. Promote Better Money Habits (BMI) which provides a page of resources for establishing smart spending methods. This educates clients on their life choices from buying their first car to saving for retirement.

3. Tailor content to the questions and needs of clients.

4. Increase traffic to BMH through Promoted Pins and Pinterest Analytics

Success #4 - Establish referral network and planner

Four Seasons uses Pinterest to...

1. Connect clients to travel services outside of their own program.

2. Help customers plan trips, providing a hub for creating a trip from air travel, to hotel, to activities, etc.

3. Inspire potential hotel guests to try new locations, new restaurants and new travel programs as they share with their friends and other travelers through reviews. 

Success #5 - Spread awareness of their mission

Nonprofit, Grist, uses Pinterest to...

1. Promote their ideas to make pinners' lives more green - Green Your Home.

2. Segment techniques and tips for different areas of life that can all be more environmentally-friendly.

3. Provide DIY instructions to make sustainability easier.

Even if your entire audience isn't on Pinterest, a segment of them likely are. This allows you to target your content and build a closer-knit community on this platform versus many others. 

So how will you take advantage of this tool? For more ideas on how Pinterest fits your business specifically, contact ArcStone today.