What’s your Pinterest strategy? Don’t have one? Panic!
If you spend time scanning the social web, you’ve probably read this sentiment somewhere. You see it every time a new platform launches. The service goes live and a throng of social media experts rush to judgment, assuring you that your business is doomed if you don’t stand up a presence and take advantage of the latest craze.
Don’t believe them? Do so at your peril!
OK, that may be a bit extreme. If you’re a social media professional, you’re familiar with this story. It’s confusing! You probably want the brand you represent to be on the cutting edge of the social space, but how do you make your case? Will it be worth the effort and resources? Will you lose your mind trying to publish to everything? What if people think your brand presence is, um, lame?
Take a deep breath. Use your judgment and figure out what works best for you. Chances are you’re the person responsible for making decisions. It needs to be the right fit for your function.
What if the right Pinterest strategy is none at all? Adrienne Rhodes suggests that may be the right answer for your brand over at Social Media Today.
See? It’s possible to say that the best strategy is none at all.
Most important things to ask yourself when evaluating new platforms.
- Fit. Does it make sense for your brand?
- Level of effort. Can you participate effectively in the community you’re joining?
- Return on investment. Ask yourself what you’re getting out of it. Trust me, if you don’t, your key stakeholders will. And do better than just ask yourself. Measure, measure, measure!
So the next time you see stories about the new platform gold rush, don’t worry if you’re not first to stake your claim. Focus your resources on the platforms that are most important to your business first before spreading yourself (and your content) too thin across the social web.
After I saw a blog post of recipe of mine get repinned 40 times in the first minute I became a believer. I find the interface cumbersome and frustrating, but I do love Pinterest. You are so right, having a strategy is key. Having empty boards can look worse than not being on at all. We were also thinking about YouTube but agreed that too many balls in the air might lead to us dropping a critical one. We decided to have our Pinterest account match our site pages and theme related boards as appropriate. It’s working for us. Researching other people who are doing it well is also helpful. I’m sure that we’ll keep finding new ways to link it with our brand as we grow (we’re still NKOTB, yup I just wrote NKOTB) and then decide if diving into a new platform is plausible or necessary.