Most social media marketers are already more than aware how well Pinterest—the latest social media/bookmarking site to hit the internet—can help boost SEO efforts organically. If a user likes what he or she “sees” all the user has to do is double click on the image to purchase the item online. But if you’re looking for a way to stand out among the myriad of Pinterest boards, you might want to take a look at what some colleges and universities are doing to recruit and encourage enrollment—you might even be able to apply some of these approaches to your own social media Pinterest campaign.
Salute Mascots
Research shows that consumers are more likely to remember a brand if there is an animal mascot associated with the company—think of Geico’s green gecko. If you already have an animal mascot to represent your brand, then try dedicating a “board” exclusively to your mascot. Drake University for example, has an entire board dedicated to its mascot, the bull dog. Thus, if you’re struggling with brand recognition, it might be a good idea to develop a mascot (or spokesperson) and then have them strongly represented on your Pinterest.
Emphasize Uniqueness
Yale University may only have three boards displayed, but there is something quite different that the school-affiliated Pinterest account does than its competitors: it makes sure to highlight the unique aspects the school brings to the table such as “class hat days” and rare works of art on campus. If you want to stand out from your competitors, a great way to do this is to demonstrate how you are different. What makes your clothes, for example, better than other retail stores? Is it made with special fabric? Eco-friendly? Don’t forget that like Yale, you don’t only have to use images to showcase your brand’s uniqueness either. You can also shoot video.
Showcase Products/Services at Work
Texas A&M University has this cute board where it showcases pins of current and alumni students getting hitched. Unless you own a small bridal shop this isn’t possible, <i>but</i> that doesn’t mean that you can’t have pins featuring images of loyal customers using your products/and or services. Request for customers to submit photos with your products or using your service and that could be a neat way to add another board and increase brand recognition.
Highlight Alumni
Last but not least, the University of Maryland does a great job at showing students successful alumni via its “Entrepreneur” board. You can also approach this technique one of two ways: 1) you can post pins of any famous people that may use your product /and or survive or 2) you can dedicate a board that shows your company’s staff—perhaps giving a little background info about the master minds behind it all can make your brand seem more personable and trust worthy.
Samantha Gray freelances for various websites and publications, and her writing often focuses on providing information about obtaining an online bachelor degree. She also enjoys writing about entrepreneurship and internet marketing. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to samanthagray024 @ gmail.com.