Fashion, Bow Down to Your Social Media Savior: 3 Ways to Pique Brand Interest with Pinterest

By Martha Dominique Sojka

Any designer worthy of an atelier on Avenue Montaigne will tell you that fashion is meant to be an experience. And ideally, it’s an experience that makes consumers feel so trendy, sophisticated, and confident that they’re compelled to come back, time and time again. It’s all about creating the experience; it’s all about delivering on that lifestyle.

Admittedly, it’s hard to replicate those experiences and lifestyles online, and so it’s no surprise that the fashion industry has been slow to adapt social media into its marketing strategies. Traditional social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook transform the vivid, visually-laden fashion landscape into little more than words and tiny, static banner ads. Where’s the imagery, where’s the color? Where’s the experience?

How can fashion reap the benefits of social media, when the existing platforms take the very heart and soul out of it?

Fashion, your social media savior has arrived. Say hello to Pinterest.

Tailored to the Industry
 What makes Pinterest so lucrative for fashion? Its very nature plays to two key strengths of the industry: it’s visual and it’s social. In fashion, a picture can tell the whole story. And Pinterest affords fashion brands the ability to propel their stories in a way that is engaging, personal, and far-reaching.

It boils down to one thing: Pinterest is a huge referrer of web traffic. So huge, in fact, that it has recently become the top traffic driver for retailers, beating out Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Because a link is always attached to a pinned image, users are clicking on these links and visiting company websites and blogs. And this translates into increased engagement, visibility, and sales.
                                                                                             
As Johanna Murphy, VP/Ecommerce for Kate Spade puts it, “Pinterest is kind of the fuel for the overall fire to the brand that will ultimately drive sales”.

The Wall Street Journal seems to agree. The publisher’s recent foray into Pinterest centered on creating a New York Fashion Week pin board as a means to increase engagement with existing customers as well as potential new ones, and "[reach] readers in a different environment and bring them back to [the] site”. Read: an increased and engaging web presence can go a long way. 

Time (and Presence) is of the Essence                                                                                Don’t delay with getting your brand on Pinterest. The fashion brands that will reap the greatest benefits are those that will establish their presence the quickest. As with any social media tool, if brands are not there when the site is first gaining traction then any future endeavor ends up feeling like a corporate intrusion into a personal space. To be authentic and influential, brands need to find a role for themselves on Pinterest early on in the game. 

Disclaimer: This does not mean setting up a brand pin board, slapping on your products, and waiting for the traffic to pour in. Sure, you’ll get some activity; however, getting that coveted customer engagement and influential WOM takes more than simply replicating your spring catalog and calling it a day.

Below are three ways to up the ante on your Pinterest presence and use the social media tool to skyrocket consumer engagement levels and website traffic:

1. Concentrate on the lifestyle, not the product: Says Murphy of her Pinterest philosophy, “[Pinterest communicates] our brand: who we are, what we believe in…if you go there and start just pinning your own stuff, without having the mood, the spirit of the community, you’ll turn people off”. Remember this—you’re not blatantly advertising products, you’re selling a lifestyle. Your Pinterest page should put your brand’s lifestyle on display in a way that’s beautiful, organized, and social. In addition to products, pin to music, moods, and thoughts that inspire you and your target audience. Check out ban.do, Lilly Pulitzer, and Barney’s New York—they’re doing it right. 

2. Get creative with contests: Contests are great ways to motivate and engage your customers and followers. Have customers curate boards featuring your products on their personal accounts, or launch a contest board on your own account and ask customers to pin specific types of items. Take inspiration from Ann Taylor’s Heart Fashion and Guess’ Color Me Inspired contests and get creative with themes. Offer prizes to the individual that creates the best board and/or the person whose pin receives the most action (this will encourage them to spread the word about their own pin, giving the contest greater reach).

3. Offer special ‘Members Only’ deals to spur loyalty: Have a "Pinterest Exclusive" board featuring hand picked products from your website that will be discounted at checkout using a special code (i.e. “PinterestDeal”). Put the price in the pin description box to generate the price ribbon. This will garner attention to that specific board and allow users to quickly recognize the products as featured and/or on sale.

So, is your brand ready to start pinning? It better be. Pinterest is the new trend on the block, and as we all know, in fashion it really doesn’t pay to ignore the next big thing.

  
Martha Sojka is a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC marketing program specializing in branding, analytics, and digital marketing. Her focus is on the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle industries. She is set to graduate in December 2012. Martha can be reached on twitter using the handle @MarthaDomiSojka

4 Reasons to Stop Leading a Virtual Double Life: How to Manage Your Digital Persona

by Lesley Albright

Don’t kid yourself. There invisible line that you have placed between your personal Twitter account and professional Twitter handle is a bit of a joke.  Privacy filters can lapse when social networks like Facebook do an update and we all know there are loopholes to gain access to someone’s profile. There is bound to be overlap between your personal and professional digital persona, so take advantage of it.

Everything we are learning points to the value of being authentic, in being human in front of your audience. By separating your personal life from your professional persona you are inherently cutting off the blood supply that allows you to speak from the heart, to speak with a real, human voice.  Peter Shanckman, a moonlighting blogger from PR Week argues that you only Have One Brand and that it should have a unique personal touch.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Nobody said you have to share every personal detail about your hygiene, drunken escapades, or your children’s bowel movements with everyone in your professional circle. But here are just a few things to think about if you plan to lead a digital double life.

·      Who’s Has the Time? - It’s too much work to manage two different accounts for every social media platform.  Just like a man leading two different lives at some point you will slip up and make a mistake or neglect one of your personas.

·      Murphy’s Law – If you don’t want people to find it…they will. Potential employers, obnoxious co-workers and others will be able to access your private information if they try hard enough.  From Facebook to Tumblr, remember that privacy safeguards can change without notice and allow outside eyes to see private information.

·      Professional Klout – Your digital resume will have more power if you consolidate your efforts. By separating your personal Twitter account from a professional one, you reduce your influence across markets.

·      It’s Not Human – All of your unique quirks, personality traits and mistakes are what make you human. They come together to make you uniquely you and frankly, more interesting. In a sea of people and an ever-demanding need to differentiate ourselves, these human aspects will set you apart. So why not share?

The time has come when we can’t separate aspects of our lives, but instead have to look holistically at the brand we portray to the world, in person and online.  If you are on board with this philosophy, here are a few ways to get started:

1)   Clean up Your Brand – Do a review of all your online material and if you wouldn’t want your Mom, teacher, boss or significant other to see it, get rid of it.

2)   Add Unique Tidbits   - Don’t be afraid to drop in tidbits of quirky personal information like your love for Swedish fish or your obsession with folk music.  These little nuggets make you who you are.

Lesley Albright is a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC marketing program and a strategic communications consultant. Lesley can be reached on twitter using the handle @LesioRants

Find a Job & Apartment in Style-- A Simple Guide

As a college senior, I've done more than fair share of job searching and interviewing, all in the name of figuring out "what I want to be when I grow up." Having recently received an offer for employment in the competitive field of management consulting, I can safely say that if you follow my advice you will be more than prepared to find a job in the city of your choice. It's not easy, but if you set out with a clear goal, it's absolutely possible to achieve it.

The first two things you need to do are the following: 1) figure out what kind of work you want to do and 2) figure out where in the world you want to do it. For some people, the most important thing is the location, for others it's the work. Either way, you need to make some decisions in order to figure out where to go next.

For all intensive purposes, let's assume you're looking at advertising. If you aren't actually looking at advertising, you probably should. It's exciting, creative and attracts a great deal of Integrated Marketing Communications students. A quick search reveals that big cities are home to the best ad agencies, so if you want to work for these agencies, a move to the city is the next logical step, whether it's Chicago, New York, San Francisco, or somewhere else.

So you've sent your emails to the HR reps, set up informational interviews and coffee chats, and sent in all your application emails... now what? My best tip for you is to ask for advice. It sounds silly, but asking for advice from experienced professionals in the field will teach you far more than reading a blog post online. Keep asking for and taking advice, and the job will come.

But where are you going to live? The city represents the scary and unknown to many people. That’s why I'm here to give the full rundown on where to live if you’re a young 20-something entering the workforce. According to Apartment.com’s annual list of best cities for recent college graduates, a robust job market is the top factor driving the decision to relocate. By using social media tools, you can get a sense of the jobs in each city and whether the culture is the right fit for you. 

The list of top 10 cities for recent college graduates includes up-and-coming cities like Atlanta and Dallas, but the focus of today’s blog post will be the best places for recent grads to live in the city of Chicago. An advertising hub, the opportunities for Integrated Marketing Communications students are endless. From Leo Burnett to Starcom to PlanB, agencies are looking for grads skilled in digital, interactive and social marketing. 

Obviously, one’s income will greatly determine the neighborhood and home, so it’s important that we first look at the average incomes for different jobs. If you’re currently in the midst of the job search, the expected salary might affect the apartment search. Because many of our readers studied marketing in college, we’ll focus on the $37,000 annual salary range.

Looking at Chicago specifically, we’re going to look first at the neighborhoods that are attractive (and affordable) to recent college graduates. Two neighborhoods in particular, Lincoln Park and Wicker Park, are popular spots for grads working in the marketing and advertising business. Unlike Gold Coast and River North, which may be less affordable for people starting up a career. Lincoln Park offers a number of benefits. It’s a young community with a number of bars, restaurants and shopping in the area. There's even a zoo (@lincolnparkzoo). It also is fairly easy to get downtown to the Loop on the train. Wicker Park is home to a similar age group, but with a more edgy vibe. Search "Wicker Park" on YouTube or Twitter and you'll find a bevy of quirky videos about the up and coming neighborhood. With vibrant nightlife and an active art scene, it’s no wonder that the median age in this hip neighborhood is 30 years old.

Wicker Park, Chicago

In many cases, the best way to get a feel for a neighborhood is by visiting. Those of you who cannot fly into Chicago for the weekend to get a feel of a neighborhood might benefit from our “Day in the Life” video series. Click here to watch the first installment from our resident blogger.

To summarize, the job and apartment search really go hand in hand. If you do your research and take good advice, you'll find yourself in a great place... literally and figuratively. I didn't just wake up one morning and decide I wanted to live in Chicago after graduation. It's a process, so take the proper steps, do some soul searching and use the resources I've provided to get a feel for the ad world and the Chicago neighborhoods. Next week check back for my next installment on New York City Living! 

Natalie Marks, Undergraduate IMC, @npmarks