Thursday, April 26, 2012

4 Ways To Reach Out To Bloggers On Pinterest


by Shelly Gustafson

Visually inclined bloggers have found a home on Pinterest - where they have an outlet to easily post their favorites photos and videos as well as interact with other like-minded bloggers and fans.

But can PR and marketing teams use Pinterest directly to effectively reach out to these influential individuals?

The answer thus far is both yes and no.

Yes, because Pinterest simply gives more insight to the blogger’s world and interests rather then simply reading their blog. Perhaps you’ll find through combing through the various pins and boards that an influential mommy blogger has a secret love for gardening or is on the search for healthy recipes for her kids.

However, reaching out to a blogger through Pinterest should be handled with extreme care. Pinterest thus far has developed as a very simple concept, much like Twitter did, and marketing and commercialism is still finding its place among the shuffle.

This, of course, does not mean you can’t utilize Pinterest to get you and your product noticed by these bloggers in a more subtle way. Below I’ve listed a few ways to slowly integrate yourself into these blogger’s world via Pinterest:

1) Get involved yourself. Join Pinterest and start your own boards with your interests and ideas on display.

2) Follow, Follow, Follow Similar to Twitter you can follow too many people on Pinterest and end up being overwhelmed by your feed. When you are starting out its incredibly important to start following the right people and for PR and marketers the right people are often the influencers in their field.
But don’t limit yourself to following a couple bloggers – look at who they follow and what interests them as well. Do they have favorite companies that they follow and interact with or perhaps other bloggers that you can add to your influencers list?

3) Repin / Like / Comment Pinterest offers three options for someone to show agreement or appreciation for another users contribution and all three of them end with you being listed in the individuals Pinterest update.
  • Repin 
    • This option should be used when you really like someone’s pin and want to add it to your own personal boards. It will remain there until you remove it however so use with caution.
  • "Like" 
    • The pinterest equivalent of the “retweet” a like on Pinterest shows a little less commitment that a repin but will still add you to the bloggers daily pinterest feed. 
  • Comment
    • Commenting on a pin will allow you to be associated with any repins that other individuals may do, so it can give you an even bigger reach. 
4) Contact Via Email 
Once you’ve establish yourself on Pinterest and feel you have a good feel for the bloggers style and interests reach out to them via email. Mentioning that you enjoy their boards on Pinterest can only help your cause and may even jog their memory back to some of your repins/likes/comments.