Pinterest has quickly become a force to be reckoned with. While it was no secret that most people are visual learners and love to look at pictures, Pinterest took that knowledge and catapulted it into super social media stardom. If you are using this particular social media vehicle, you understand the power it holds. With the ability to pin virtually anything, your message reaches millions of people within seconds. That’s a great way to build brand equity.
One of the beautiful things about Pinterest is that it can be used across multiple industries. Self-storage facilities can use this tool in a variety of ways to enhance their marketing. For instance, putting pictures of your units, or the outside of a facility that is really nice can be a winning combination. Showing pictures of climate-controlled units, or specialty niche units like wine storage, for instance, will get people interested, which will then drive them to your site. People don’t go where people don’t know. This allows the customer to visually see what they want and they can make better decisions.
Pinterest has added a few upgrades to increase functionality within the system. By adding “related pins” to home feeds, discovery features and pin-based recommendations will work a little better. This feature was added to assist users in finding pins they like. These pins are not that different from how it was once used, but it will be clearer in the home feed area. These pins will be linked to posts that have already been saved or liked, and they will also be accompanied by a thumb up or down feature to improve feedback and improve additional functions over time.
While this is a great way to consistently increase market share over time, marketers have to make sure that their strategic focus is to keep potential clients engaged through vibrant pictures and interaction. This requires a constant update of material. Pinterest should also be used with additional social media platforms to enhance brand equity. Once you have market share, it’s very important to keep it. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” reigns supreme here, and companies need to tackle the use of this platform with a well-thought strategy.
Other suggestions that may work well for niche industries would be putting together complete boards. A self-storage facility could put together a board that shows how a unit could best utilize space, complete with pictures of shelving, bins, labeling and more. If marketing to business people who need space is a strategy, putting together a board with desks, office supplies and other tools that business people use would be a great way to showcase the space. Ikea does a great job of showing how to maximize the most of a small space. If done right, self-storage companies can do the same.
It’s all in the effort you put into your campaigns that will make the difference. Taking the time now to strategize the right way will result in big payoffs in the future.
