Because I can...
Pinterest Pinterest is described by Internet Marketing Inc.'s infographic "The Power of Pinterest" as a "visual bulletin board for the Web." Users "pin" images, web pages, articles and videos on "boards" that can be shared publically or privately. Founded in 2010 by Ben Silbermann, Pinterest is younger than its other social media counterparts, but has grown at a faster rate for its age when compared to Facebook or Twitter, reaching 10.4 million users by early 2012 (ibid.). Though this user base spans across age brackets, it is majority female, according to a Business Insider report. More and more, Pinterest is becoming a brand-driving and sales-generating platform for businesses. | Instagram According to the company's FAQ page, Instagram is a "fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever." It's a photo sharing platform primarily for use with mobile phones, which is apparently a service that there was a big demand for. Photo enthusiasts Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger founded the site in 2010 (same as Pinterest) as a way to make it easier to improve and share mobile pictures online. The platform had 10 million users within a year or so--enough success to get bought by Facebook just a year later. Today it boasts over 200 million users posting tens of millions of pictures per day. Check out WeRSM's infographic on the platform's history for more. But how does it work for businesses? |
Case Study: Caribou Coffee Pinterest shares a case study of Caribou Coffee's successful use of its platform. According to the study, Caribou Coffee uses Pinterest to curate content pinned by its customers and use this information to post content that they believe will match their customers' interest, as well as more self-referential posts about coffee. Caribou Coffee used the Pinterest hashtag #InspireCaribou as part of a campaign to get its followers to help it develop a new coffee blend, which took advantage of a real-world, so-called "Living Pinterest Board" event in Mall of America as well as Twitter and Facebook to help promote the story of the blend's development. From this, the company suggests "Create boards that tell a story through carefully arranged Pins." Pretty cool! | Case Study: Mercedes-Benz The carmaker Mercedes-Benz wanted to reach Millennials to promote its GLA model, so it brought photographers onboard to ride on the then-trending #ThingsOrganizedNeatly hashtag. They commissioned them to answer the question "What would you pack in your GLA?," and, according to Instagram's case study, "used their photos of neatly arranged items photographed from above on a custom GLA cargo mat" on Instagram. The company used this Instagram campaign in combination with targeted Facebook ads to realize a huge increase in website visits. |
Conclusion: Multifaceted Campaigns
As is more and more evident, social media campaigns seem to go the best when multiple platforms are used in conjunction for different aspects of a promotion or purpose. Mercedes-Benz hit the same audience on both Instagram and Facebook for success. Caribou Coffee combined real-world events, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook to develop, promote and launch its coffee blend.
As is more and more evident, social media campaigns seem to go the best when multiple platforms are used in conjunction for different aspects of a promotion or purpose. Mercedes-Benz hit the same audience on both Instagram and Facebook for success. Caribou Coffee combined real-world events, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook to develop, promote and launch its coffee blend.