Though the internet has been around for some time now, the speed at which technology changes means that marketers are always on the cutting edge. In such an ever-changing environment, it’s important for marketers and business owners to keep an eye on the successful tactics used by others. There are even things that small businesses can learn from the social media campaigns of large brands. Small business owners won’t be able to apply everything they learn from big brands, but it’s still a great place to start looking for ideas. Pinterest probably had a similar thought when the released a recent case study on how the Home Shopping Network (HSN) used Pinterest to dramatically improve their sales. This article will show what was mentioned in the case study and how marketers can take advantage of the social platform with the highest customer satisfaction rating.
The story of HSN and Pinterest is a tale about the power of integrated marketing. HSN has been a successful television network for decades. Rather than rely on the one media channel, they embraced Pinterest as a way to tell the stories behind their products. Several months ago, HSN launched a show called The List that prominently featured Pinterest.
“HSN’s foundation is as a storytelling platform that customers trust for product and trend discovery,” said Annemarie Frank, Vice President of Omni-Channel Marketing at HSN. “As a discovery platform itself, Pinterest has allowed us to further the HSN brand narrative and integration on The List with Colleen Lopez allows us to build meaningful connections with customers and prospects.”
Fans of the show use Pinterest to share the products mentioned on the show with their friends as well as connect with the host Colleen Lopez. As people tag their friends in posts, the audience for the show grew. The numbers cited in the case study paint a clear picture of the value of this tactic.
In the four months since the program launched, referral raffic to HSN.com from Pinterest increased by more than 1.5 times compared to the weeks before the show’s launch. In eight weeks from the show’s launch, the rate of new followers to HSN’s Pinterest page grew at three times the rate it had in the eight weeks before the launch. In a more telling statistic, a single hour of The List drives a nearly equal number of new followers to the daily average.
The engagement has also increased as a result of the integrated marketing campaign. Repins, likes and comments increased more than 2.5 times in the first two months of the show and comments on Pins have increased by more than 10 times. The case study noted that sessions from fashion, jewelry, shoes and handbag Pins increased 58 percent week-over-week. And there has also been an explosion in reach for HSN posts as impressions from HSN’s Pinterest boards increased 658 percent since launch.
Since most small business owners don’t have a TV show they can use to promote their products, Sadia Latifi from Pinterest Business provided a few useful takeaways from the study.
Created a Dedicated Pinterest Board
Mention Your Pinterest Page in Marketing Materials
Integrate Pinterest onto Your Website
Use Pinterest Branding on Products (such a tags noting the company Pinterest page)
As statistics have shown, Pinterest can be a powerful marketing tool for getting consumers to learn about products and buy new things. As Pinterest continues to roll out its Promoted Pins system, it will be easier to gain followers in the future. But in the meantime, tips such as the ones from this case study can help marketers find organic ways to use Pinterest to benefit a business of any size.