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!