Pinterest and the NHL Social Media Fail

Pinterest is one of our favorite new(er) social media outlets that we love to recommend and set up for our clients, particularly those who rely heavily on images to sell their products. Yet, with the recent NHL “social media fail” (if you haven’t heard if it we will explain briefly momentarily) we want to remind users of the risks – and benefits – of using an open social media network like Pinterest.

If you are unfamiliar with Pinterest and how to use it, please see our post on Pinterest and Facebook here.

Pinterest, since its inception, has been a social media platform that encourages openness. You cannot edit or delete specific comments, the only option is to delete the entire pin and, if desired, re-pin it. Additionally, you cannot hide or choose who can see certain pins and pin boards. While we still love Pinterest, and actually like these features as it encourages people and businesses to be open and honest, it can backfire on a business (or person) if they aren’t careful. This was the case for the NHL last week.

The NHL who, as some may know, is currently in the middle of negotiations with players over a labor agreement that has resulted in a lockout, decided last week to create a Pinterest page. They advertised their new Pinterest page by posting this meme on Instagram:

This image elicited a torrent of negative responses both on Instagram and Pinterest such as “Keep calm and get the lockout over with!” and some so strongly opinionated that we can’t post their response on here.  This post on Instagram and their creation of a Pinterest account is now being labeled as the latest “social media fail.” Interestingly, as of the time of this post, the NHL still has, and is updating, their Pinterest page which is continuing to elicit some negative comments on their pins.

While the danger of creating a Pinterest account is that you do open yourself up to negative comments, we still believe the benefits of a having Pinterest account for your business far outweigh the potentially negative consequences.

Here are some quick tips to help avoid a “social media fail” for your businesses Pinterest account:

·      Timing is everything

o   Don’t create a Pinterest account (or any new social media account) when you are in the middle of publicized sensitive situation

·      Monitor your Pinterest account

o   We recommend you update and monitor your Pinterest account regularly for positive reasons (increases engagement, functions as an informal focus group); however, it is also good to keep up on what people are saying so you can respond/handle any negative responses.

·      Respond to any negative comments

o   Remember: social media is a new customer service platform, you need to respond to positive and negative comments as you would to a phone call.

While the NHL had a “social media fail” with their Pinterest account, by keeping the above in mind when creating and maintaining an account means you don’t have to have a negative experience! Pinterest is a great way to engage customers and has proven to increase sales for many businesses. Again, we encourage you to read our article on Pinterest and Facebook, found here.

Still have questions or would like to hear some more tips? Let us know in the comments section or contact us directly!

Also, feel free to let us know what you think of this post, and/or what you would like to see addressed in future posts.

If you would like to set up a consultation with Constant Raving so we can help you choose the best social media strategy for your business, please contact us at ConstantRaving@mvoc.com or by phone at 919.244.7503. We look forward to hearing from you!

Building Your Core Facebook Fan Base

So you’ve just started a Facebook page for your business, or maybe you’ve been on Facebook for awhile, and you have a decent number of fans but very little engagement. What do you do? Well, firstly, know you aren’t alone. A new study by Napkin Labs (a Facebook app developer that works with brands and agencies) shows that on average only 6% of fans engage with brands. However, this doesn’t mean you should give up! Instead, read on to find out a few key tips for raising your brand’s Facebook engagement…

It’s important to mention, before delving into some tips, that the study by Napkin Labs (as well as several other studies conducted over the years) found that the more Facebook fans a page has, the lower the percentage of engaged fans. Therefore, instead of focusing on getting as many fans as possible, you want to attract and engage a core group of devoted fans (Napkin Labs aptly calls them “superfans”). If these core group of fans are effectively engaged – read on for our tips/tricks for this – your social reach will expand as their interaction with you is shared with their friends. Over time, this will build a Facebook fan base that is interested in your brand, but that wants to be actively engaged.

Our favorite analogy is that Facebook is not one of the places where being the “cool” kid with all of the friends/acquaintances necessarily gets your brand the valuable interaction - like generating sales or attracting new clients - that it needs.

Alright, on to the tips…

1.     Post brand relevant material, but not always just about your brand

a.     This doesn’t always have to be directly related to your product, remember, Facebook is not largely about push marketing. For example, a home builder could post recipes for cooking in your new kitchen.

b.     Be careful to keep posts relevant – if you are a cupcake store, don’t post about your favorite shoes (unless you can relate it back)!

2.     Use lots of pictures

a.     Pictures not only do well on Facebook’s algorithm, they also are more attractive to the eye than just text.

b.     Make sure that you have a short text blurb to go along with the picture

3.     If you want people to like or share your content, tell them

a.     The best way to get engagement is to ask for it; for example, “Would you LIKE to come home to this car in your driveway?” “Help us spread the word, share this post with all your friends!”

4.     Express your appreciation frequently

a.     Tell them how much you love them engaging and being your fans! Anything from “Happy Friday! We just wanted to take a moment to say how much we APPRECIATE you!” to featuring certain fans on your page (with their permission).

b.     Run a contest or promotion (following Facebook rules and US/State laws, of course) to increase engagement, garner some new likes, but mainly to reward your core group of fans.

5.     Encourage both employees and customers to follow you on Facebook

a.     These are people who are either already dedicated to your brand (employees and loyal customers) or are interested in getting to know your brand better (new customers). They are likely to be part of your core fan base.

b.     They can be encouraged either by directly telling them they should like your page on Facebook, or by placing a Facebook widget prominently on your website and/or putting up a sign in your store.

Still have questions or would like to here some more tips? Let us know in the comments section!

Also, let us know what you think of this post, and/or what you would like to see addressed in future posts.

If you would like to set up a consultation with Constant Raving so we can help you choose the best social media strategy for your business, please contact us at ConstantRaving@mvoc.com or by phone at 919.244.7503. We look forward to hearing from you!