content strategy

Pinterest is sometimes overlooked when prioritizing social media platforms and that’s because the most pinned ideas often center on planning a wedding, decorating a home office, or creating mood boards. The discovery of finding new inspirational pins is what has made Pinterest the leading social media platform for fast conversion leads and sales.  

Pinterest has been around for over a decade and shouldn’t be new to brands. According to Ben Silbermann, CEO and co-founder of Pinterest, “We welcomed over 100 million additional monthly active users to Pinterest in 2020, more than any other year in our history, and now we reach more than 450 million monthly active users around the world.”

Traffic Driven Platform

The platform’s focus on imagery allows it to function almost as a second storefront. Luxury brands are natural storytellers due to their artisan heritage and craftsmanship. As a result, Pinterest provides a platform for users eager to visually discover the stories behind the brand or a product.

Some luxury brands have been optimizing Pinterest to their advantage. Burberry, Louis Vuttion, and Fendi have created profiles that look and function like an online store. Recently, Pinterest released AR features that are free and available to all brands making virtual try-on and interactions easier. Not only have these brands been able to tag products in photos that link directly to e-commerce, but they have also been able to include images from ad campaigns, runway shows, behind-the-scenes, and influencer partnerships, making the visuals more engaging.

Gucci is creating pins in a new and innovative way rather than just highlighting products. They have been able to create a brand story and showcase the inspiration behind their collections. The board titled “The Art of Beauty ” has pins of portraits from famous museums that highlight art history. The creativity being brought out in the pins sparks the discovery and inspiration Pinterest users are seeking.

Brand Awareness

One of social media marketing’s main approaches to expanding business is through creating and increasing brand awareness. Pinterest is made for brand awareness due to the lifespan of a pin. The long tail content strategy increases constant visibility for weeks or even months after it’s posted. The content you create can become everlasting on Pinterest and continues to generate traffic as time goes on, with the ultimate goal of converting a casual browser into an engaged customer.

The lifespan of a pin is also contributed to the fact that one pin can be shared to multiple boards, allowing it to resurface in a variety of different search terms. The use of board descriptions gives Pinterest context of each pin and provides additional information so the algorithm can surface more accurate search results. For example, one photo of a new dress with a description including event or seasonal can be shown in a search for, “Summer fashion inspiration” and or “Cocktail Party Dress”.

Imagine this scenario, a consumer who is attending a wedding and needs new red heels but is unsure of the exact style. When typing “red heels” in the Pinterest search bar, a variety of different shades of red-colored heels are displayed and ready for the user to explore. The user isn’t searching for a specific brand name but rather visually discovering all of the options available.

Protecting The Brand

It isn’t uncommon to see accounts posing as high-end brands with counterfeit products. Most of the content being posted on those accounts is not aligned with the luxury brand’s story or values. To protect the brand, many companies have created their “official” brand page but have yet to start pinning to avoid the creation of fake accounts. Balenciaga has over 34k followers and not one pin, keeping their audience on edge. This strategy can lead to more attention for new launches and campaigns creating excitement and anticipation. Keep an eye out for a new Balenciaga Pinterest launch. 

Ads on Pinterest

Similar to other social media platforms, Pinterest offers advertisers the opportunity to get their products in front of users, and it has expanded its formats to include video, shopping, retargeting, and carousels. The ad results can be easily tracked through Pinterest’s tags.

Studies show, “when brands use shopping ads on Pinterest, they drive 3x the conversion and sales lift, and twice the positive incremental return on ad spend”. Pinterest users open their feeds in hopes of discovering new products or ideas to take action on. This presents not only luxury brands with tremendous opportunity, but all brands the opportunity to capture new audiences with trend insights and consumer behavior.

Pinterest’s recent growth and consistent feature updates should not be overlooked. Your brand should be creating content that consistently presents fresh ideas to new audiences, which is exactly what the platform is designed for and can benefit any company, small or large, luxury or not. Alongside new ideas and product releases, brands, both B2B and B2Cm have the potential to consistently create evergreen content that drives more traffic to their website, making Pinterest a desirable and profitable platform.

Are you interested in partaking in our 30 day Pinterest challenge?

Download our one page guide to Pinterest success and watch your Pinterest traffic grow by 25%!

Pinterest has become a powerful platform that you can use to differentiate your brand from the competition, direct traffic to your website, and drive conversions on ecommerce sites.

In addition to being a platform to search for recipes, gift ideas, makeup tutorials and home DIY projects, Pinterest is where consumers go to interact with new trends and make their next purchase.

In fact, “the number of Pinners engaging with shopping surfaces grew over 20% both quarter over quarter and year over year in Q4 [of 2021].” Source: Pinterest Q4 Report

As a visual search engine, it has the potential to attract thousands of new visitors to your website every day, but how can you get your products and services featured on Pinterest?

At ultraviolet, within the first month of Pinning we see up to a 100% percent increase in Pinterest search traffic. We use a combined strategy of keyword optimization and an aggressive publishing schedule to see game changing results for our clients.

Here are eight best practices to get your Pinterest Pins noticed:

1. Share images that stand out

Pins only have 1-2 seconds to engage a user, so be sure to make your image stand out.

It’s important that the Pins you create or share not only contain a catchy call-to-action (CTA) but are also visually appealing to your audience. Details like size, image orientation, and design quality can negatively affect your Pin’s performance.

Having knowledge of Pinterest Best Practices and creating relevant content are best practices to create Pins that stand out from the crowd.

2. Pin what’s trending

Staying up to date and taking advantage of trending searches are key to connecting and growing your audience.

You can rely on the Pinterest Trends tool to provide insights into trending search terms, which will help you discover what people are looking for in your country, as well as the  trending ideas in the five most popular Pinterest interest categories: Fashion, Food and Drinks, Beauty, Home Decor, and Travel.

On the other hand, if your account is created as a business profile, you can use Pinterest Analytics to find out which content has performed well, the boards that are driving the most views, and the main interests of your audience.

3. Use relevant keywords and hashtags

While it is true that Pinterest is part of the social media family, it is also a powerful visual search engine. In fact, 64% of the platform users say that it is where they go to find a product or service that they can trust.

Just like you would do with your website SEO, your content on the platform needs to address keywords relevant to your brand. Having clear titles and descriptions help your Pin get discovered in search.

Make sure to optimize boards, pins, and even your account name for Pinterest search.

4. Add a URL to your Pins

In a letter to shareholders Pinterest reported that catalog uploads had doubled globally, and in international markets they were up over 400% year over year.

Pinterest content can accumulate metrics over a longer period of time than other platforms therefore, it is important that the story your Pin tells is actionable. Whether to increase your blog’s readership or direct users to your product/service, make sure to add a URL to your Pins that will drive traffic to your website.

5. Post consistently

Out of sight…out of mind.

Constant pinning is not only essential for good performance in the Pinterest algorithm, but it is  also a practice that helps users discover your Pins and increase engagement with them.

Although Pinterest has no limit on the number of Pins you can share, many marketers recommend posting 10-15 Pins per day. This may vary depending on your audience, therefore, tracking your Pin’s metrics can be a good practice to improve your engagement on the platform.

Also…keep in mind that what you publish, apart from being new and original, is always in sync with your brand message.

6. Publish at optimal times

While it is true that posting constantly is a good practice to get your brand noticed on Pinterest, keep in mind not to overwhelm your audience by posting too many Pins at once.

It is important to maximize the reach of your content by making sure you publish it at the right time. To do this, you can use a management tool like Tailwind, which provides information on optimal days and times for your Pins and, at the same time, allows you to schedule them.

7. Participate on Pinterest group boards

Whether it’s repinning evergreen content or creating new Pins, group boards are a great way to get your images distributed to a larger audience, and in much less time.

Because there are many group boards with lots of collaborators and followers, your content will receive more views and repins. A good example of that is this Luxury Traveler group board which not only has many members, but also contains quality pins.

8. Organize your boards with board sections

Organize your boards into sections using keyword optimized titles so your content shows up in search. Not only does this help keep your content organized,but also adds additional context for the Pinterest search algorithm, which means your Pins will show up more frequently in relevant search results.

Establishing a Pinterest presence for your brand doesn’t have to be intimidating. The key to being successful on Pinterest is implementing best practices, optimizing for strategic keywords, and consistently publishing. Like on other social networks, creating consistent content and utilizing new features is a reliable path to success.

Like any other platform, it’s all about trial and error. Start your pin collection and expose your brand to new potential customers.

Are you interested in partaking in our 30 day Pinterest challenge?

Download our one page guide to Pinterest success and watch your Pinterest traffic grow by 25%!

Imagine this scenario: You’re scrolling down your Instagram feed, when you suddenly see a partnership announcement between your favorite brand and a brand you’ve never heard of. Out of curiosity, you click through to the other brand’s Instagram profile and realize that this brand has similar style or values to the brand you love. Instant follow!

In an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace, we see brands from different industries coming together to create incredible campaigns, and moving beyond traditional strategies. In fact, some of the most iconic brand collaborations have been the result of unexpected partnerships.

Partnerships have quickly become one of the most popular strategies used to promote a business and increase brand equity. Research from advisory company Forrester shows that with 75% of world trade flowing indirectly, channels, partnerships and alliances have become increasingly important.

Let’s take a closer look at three of our favorite recent pairings and learn what made these collaborations so successful.

Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur x Melinda Looi

The luxurious 5-star Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur and Malaysian fashion designer Melinda Looi teamed up for an exclusive collaboration of the iconic Mid-Autumn Festival.

The partnership between the two brands featured a collection of porcelain gift boxes containing the hotel’s original mooncakes. Instead of the usual mooncake box, the gift box featured a packaging design depicting ‘The Great Gambit’ including a cutting-edge chess set and rabbit-shaped tote bag as a reminder of the Jade Rabbit from Mid-Autumn folklore.

This collaboration’s exclusive mid-autumn series was created with the dual benefit of being reusable and serving as a classic home décor. Undoubtedly, what makes this partnership special is the fact that both brands created a more creative and striking contact with their audience during the celebration, through the fusion of products that characterize them. In addition, they created a product with so much detail, turning something as ephemeral as mooncakes into an experience that can last as long as its owner cares for it.

SMEG x Dolce & Gabbana

A partnership that is still alive even after more than 3 years of its beginning. The collaboration between luxury brand Dolce & Gabbana and home appliance company SMEG began with the creation of hand-painted refrigerators for the ‘Salone del Mobile’ furniture fair in Milan.

What started as a launch of 100 FAB28 edition refrigerators is now a full line of small appliances under the name ‘Sicily Is My Love’, and highlights each brand’s specialty in audacious and design-forward products that maintain a high level of functionality.

Pairing SMEG, known for high quality appliances, and Dolce & Gabbana, known for instantly identifiable Italian design, was an effortless way to appeal to two design-savvy, luxury customer bases. Not only is the appliance industry a highly competitive market, both brands manage to reinvent a commonplace product into an enticing experience.

Dean Davidson x BK Beauty

Digital beauty brand BK Beauty and Canadian jewelry designer Dean Davidson came together in a Valentine’s Day-themed partnership that radiates love. Offered as a gift with a purchase from the Dean Davidson Cranberry Quartz collection, BK Beauty offered a free lipstick and lip liner to the first 50 orders.

The partnership between an established brand like Dean Davidson, a celebrity favorite, and BK Beauty, an emerging indie beauty brand, is an advantageous collaboration for both brands. Not only do these brands share established relationships with influencers on YouTube, but the audiences of these creators, whether from fashion or beauty, have very similar demographics.

These unexpected brand partnerships can take place between brands of any size, and happen in many creative ways. Although the most common partnerships involve product collaboration, brands are beginning to explore other ways to attract new audiences through content collaborations, giveaways, sponsored newsletters, Instagram Story takeovers, and many more creative ideas.

Companies that successfully execute these types of partnerships use data to inform their decisions and are open to taking calculated risks. With so many indie brands, startups, and DTC brands launching every week, it’s important for brands to align with companies that share similar values in addition to similar audience demographics.

A successful brand collaboration requires that:

• The end result creates value for both the audience and the brands involved.
• The objectives of the brands involved, although not identical, are complementary.
• The strategy is created based on clear metrics and balanced management.

When attracting authentic and profitable brand partnerships for your company, be sure to keep the examples above in mind, and at ultraviolet we look forward to continuing to see and share these winning cross-marketing ideas with you.

By now you’ve probably heard about the Chanel Advent Calendar viral reveals on TikTok that seemingly resulted in Chanel deleting their account. What started as a well-intentioned unboxing video turned into disappointment and confusion for TikToker @eliseharmon as she opened door after door on the $825 Chanel Advent Calendar. The calendar contained stickers, temporary tattoos, some mini beauty products, and only a few full size items. Viewers were shocked and immediately began commenting and tagging Chanel. After allegedly initially blocking @eliseharmon, the situation spiraled to the point where Chanel removed its account from TikTok entirely. 

So, what went wrong? And how did it go so wrong so fast? Was it because customers associate Advent Calendars with value and expect to receive higher value items than the price they paid? Or was it Chanel’s hefty price tag that led to lofty expectations? Regardless, Chanel released a very non-statement statement: “We are sorry that this calendar may have disappointed some people.” 

The legacy luxury brand didn’t just disappoint instead of delight, they lost the opportunity to connect with the next generation of consumers, an audience that seeks transparency and authenticity. An opportunity that was quickly scooped up by Jo Malone, who quickly gifted Elise Harmon a £325 Jo Malone Advent Calendar featuring travel-sized products, accompanied by a handwritten note from the brand. Which was seen by the TikTokers 250,000 new followers.

Jo Malone is a brilliant example of how, despite the failed expectations and unexpected surprises of 2021, some creative campaigns have managed to pleasantly surprise and delight—and resonate with consumers. Whether capturing the collective moment we are now living in, or focusing on what’s to come, some brands have managed to create holiday campaigns that truly brought joy to their audiences instead of adding to holiday noise.

Be inspired by these winning 2021 holiday campaigns to add some emotion and connection to your own marketing creations—or use it as a guide to continue reshaping your business approach for 2022.

Coca-Cola: Chimney | Real Magic

Like every year, the arrival of Santa was a feature of the 2021 Coca-Cola Christmas campaign. However, instead of centering on the iconic man in a red suit that we all expect, the advert is a short film built around a small boy and addresses a world that needs community.

It tells the story of a boy who, upon moving into an apartment with his mother, realizes that Santa Claus cannot visit his fireplace-less new home. He constructs a fireplace out of boxes, string lights, and tape, bringing all the neighbors together as the winding cardboard chimney climbs up the building until it is topped with a Coca-Cola box (of course). The tenants use the chimney to invite a lonely neighbor to join them for the holiday. The words “Christmas is magic when we share it” appear on the screen as the neighbors all gather for a holiday feast and close out the ad.

The “Real Magic” campaign also includes a partnership with the Cameo app to offer consumers the opportunity to request a personalized video greeting from Santa. By ordering a personalized video from Santa, fans of the brands can “spread the magic” among family and friends.

Why do we like it?

Santa Claus is iconic in Coca-Cola Christmas campaigns. But in this ad, we never see him. Instead the brand celebrates togetherness, prioritizing the emotional appeal of a boy whose imagination and holiday spirit inspire a community’s goodwill and create a moment of shared magic. However, with the Cameo partnership, it’s clear the brand did not forget what has characterized their Christmas for years: Santa.

Boots: Bags of Joy

The UK-based health and beauty retailer launched its 2021 “Bags of Joy” campaign, featuring “Doctor Who” star Jenna Coleman as Joy. Boots sees Christmas as all about Joy: The joy of being with friends, the joy of connecting with each other, the joy of giving the perfect gift.

At the beginning of the advert, Joy picks up a bag by her Nan with the note “This is what Christmas feels like.” Joy soon realizes that the bag is full of endless presents, thousands of products, all available at Boots. The magic bag helps Joy to make Christmas special for all of her friends and family, as she surprises them by pulling out the perfect gift, right when it’s needed most—warm winter hats for a snowy ride, an instant camera for capturing memories, and endless bubbles, because, well, kids love bubbles. The ad concludes with Joy giving Nan a bottle of her signature perfume, tagged with “This is what love smells like.”

Why do we like it?

After not launching a Christmas-themed campaign in 2020, the brand returned to Christmas advertising by focusing on the happiness of spending time together after a long year+ of not being able to do that. Capturing the joy of togetherness is one part of the campaign, but the bag  at the center serves a metaphor for Boots itself. It aims to inspire people to fill their shopping bags with some of the thousands of gift options available at Boots.

With a reach of over 18 million adults, the unified end-to-end “Bags of Joy” campaign featured activations across TV, online, radio, digital out of home, print, PR, social and in-store. Boots also used intelligent geo-location to target its digital out of home and drive people in-store, as well as personalization elements in its creative. Boots may have skipped a year, but they are back in a big way.

Sports Direct: Go All Out 

In a campaign that inspires people to “go all out” this Christmas, the UK brand Sports Direct positions themselves as the perfect destination for sports and fitness gifts this holiday season.

This high-energy, star-studded ad stars iconic soccer player Jack Grealish, US Open winner Emma Raducanu, grime artist Big Narstie, and more. The ad opens with the campaign’s stars slumped in front of their TVs. But the falling snow reminds them that ‘tis the season to Go All Out. One-by-one, they lace up, zip up, and head outside, gladly trading their lazy TV viewing for an epic all-star snowball fight.

Sports Direct also partnered with TikTok to create the #SportsDirectNaughtyList challenge, where users can test whether they are “naughty, narstie, or nice” and enter for a chance to win £2000.

Why do we like it?

Sports Direct is only in their second year of launching a Christmas campaign, and this epic entry captures and celebrates their brand purpose: championing the legend in everyone. While the ad hopes to inspire Brits to get up off the sofa, go outside, and play—even when the weather seems to be working against them, the real magic of this entry is how they themselves are doing what they are encouraging Brits to do: be ambitious, step out of your comfort zone and make it your best season yet.

The £6 million campaign debuted on TV, OOH, social media, and in-store. With its TikTok partnership, the campaign has a timely and integrated communication plan to encourage its fans from their television screens to their smartphones to go all out.

MAKE IT A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER 

Whether you’re a classic like Coca-Cola, back in the game after some time off like Boots, or an upstart like Sports Direct, knowing how to engage with consumers, especially the Gen Z market, will get you far. Otherwise, be ready to be savaged on social media. 

And aside from the smartness of marketing approach, it’s just plain fun to again see brands focusing on the magic and joy of this hustley, bustley holiday season.

Get carried away with the fun of the holidays, spread your special brand of magic far and wide, sprinkle on heavy doses of kindness, and have a holly, jolly happy holidays!