News for the Hospitality Executive |
May 14, 2012 Pinterest is a niche social network based on virtual pin boards. By January 2012, the site received 11.5 million unique visitors. With Pinterest rapidly becoming one of the most popular social media outlets, many hoteliers are wondering why and how they should take advantage of the visually driven network and start “pinning.” To tackle this subject head on, I turned to
two Pinterest
experts at HeBS Digital, Madison Bey, Account Executive, and Victoria
Hsia, New
Media Marketing Coordinator. We discussed the various ways in which
Pinterest
can increase your web presence, generate buzz and build brand awareness. How exactly can
hoteliers get in on the Pinterest action?
Victoria: Right
now, Pinterest is invite-only, so hotels can either request an invite
or they
can have a Pinterest user send them an invite. It takes just a day or
two for
acceptance into the site. Since Pinterest is not integrated with
Facebook fan
pages just yet, we advise that they sign up through their Twitter
account. Madison: Brands
can also add a “Pin It” button to their website, allowing users to pin
website
images onto their own pin boards. Can all types of
hotels benefit from Pinterest? Madison: It
depends on what your goals are and who you are targeting. For hotels
that have
big wedding business or promote a lot of family travel, Pinterest is
greatly
beneficial. Also, Pinterest users are 80% female, so hotels looking to
target
women travelers should definitely look into this. Victoria: The
majority of their users are between the ages of 25 and 44. It’s a
slightly
older crowd than other social networks. And as far as weddings,
Pinterest is
great for highlighting venues and serving as a source of inspiration
for food,
dresses, flowers and more. How does Pinterest
provide SEO benefits? Madison: When a
Pinterest user pins an image from your website and includes a link back
to your
site in the pin description, this will enhance your inbound linking
strategy.
However, it should be noted that the links to the source that are
automatically
generated when you pin an image are marked as no-follow. Victoria: Since
pin descriptions are indexed by the search engines, adding links back
to your
website will then increase your Google PageRank. At HeBS Digital we
include highly
searched keywords in the Pinterest profile description and pin
descriptions. How exactly do
hoteliers engage followers via Pinterest? And what are some best
practices to
maintain them? Victoria: You can
“like” a pin, similar to the Facebook “like.” You can repin a pin,
which is
similar to a retweet. This will add the image to one of your pin
boards. You
can mention a user in your comment, which develops communication with
them. You
can also follow relevant businesses and customer segments with the
“Search”
function. Madison: There
are a number of ways. You can comment on someone’s pin or even create
contests
that might engage them. You can also leave a comment on a pin and
@message the
user in your comment, or post infographics with questions. Victoria: You can
also find users who have pinned images of your hotel and reach out to
past
guests or potential guests who have shown an interest.
And you can bring users back to your website
by including a link in your comment. How can a Pinterest
profile be integrated with other social media networks like Facebook
and
Twitter? Victoria: A hotel
can ask a user to check out their Facebook page. But you can also post
about
your Pinterest activity on your Facebook or Twitter and gain followers.
For
Facebook, there’s an app that you can use to create a Pinterest tab.
It’s
basically Pinterest within your fan page so users can interact with
your pins
or follow you without leaving your fan page. Madison: There
are also Twitter and Facebook buttons next to each pin so users can
easily
share their pins on Pinterest. What types of
contests can hotels run on Pinterest? Madison: Some
types of contests include having the best pinboard,
where users create a pin board under the contest
guidelines and brands select
the best one. There is also one for most
likes/repins, where contest entrants create pin boards and
specific
images for users to like and/or repin and entrants win based on the
amount of
likes/repins they receive. Another idea is for sweepstakes
entries. Random winners are drawn from a pool
of entries. People can enter the sweepstakes by repinning an image
and/or
following a brand on Pinterest. Some examples
of contests are for the best board. The client chooses a
theme
and users create boards with images related to that theme. The best and
most
creative board wins. Or, the board that gets the most follows wins.
There is
also the “Your Stay at Hotel X Contest.” The client asks customers to
post
images of themselves when they stayed at the hotel and users ask their
friends
to “Like” their image. The image with the most “Likes” wins. Another
fun one is
the “Gift Idea Giveaway,” where the client creates a board related to
an
upcoming holiday and asks users to pin gift ideas and then chooses the
most
creative gift idea as the contest winner. Victoria: You
can also host a Pinterest sweepstakes
where users are prompted to pin an image from your website for a chance
to win
a free stay. There are many ways for hotels to get creative and take
advantage
of the viral nature of Pinterest. Can you provide
examples of some successful Pinterest profiles and “pin boards” in the
hospitality space? Madison: My
favorite is Hotel Gansevoort. They have a great “Got it” theme and
photos taken
by guests pinned to their board. Victoria: Four
Seasons in Austin is a great one, with great family travel boards and
area
guides. About the
Author |
Editorial Contact: Mariana Mechoso Safer HeBS Digital Phone: 212-752-8186 Email: [email protected] Web: www.hebsdigital.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/hebsdigital Twitter: twitter.com/HeBS_NYC LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/hospitality-ebusiness-strategies Google+: https://plus.google.com/107562536911518066194/posts |
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