Our love for Pinterest knows no bounds of course, but recently the visual bookmarking site has received ample coverage elsewhere for its major traffic growth (1 billion monthly page views) as well as the SEO opportunities it affords brands. The PR community has speculated on it’s role in strategy, and many PR pros and fashion bloggers find the site a trove of inspiration and discovery. However, few major fashion brands have fully integrated the site into their digital/social strategy.
Land’s End Canvas launched their Pinterest account in early November, 2011. In true social media fashion, the brand was first introduced to the site by blog partners who were fans of the site, and then quickly found that images from the Lands’ End Canvas website were already pinned and being shared among users. As a result, explains Mariella Souflis, “we committed to creating and activating a presence to join our current fans and attract new audiences.”
While Pinterest etiquette still encourages users to “try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion,” there is no explicit rule against running contests on the site, making it an inexpensive, simple way (unlike Facebook!), to host a contest. The Holiday Pin it to Win it contest asks Pinterest participants to create a virtual pin board featuring Lands’ End Canvas products for a chance to win one of ten $250 Lands’ End Canvas Gift Cards. The one-week contest begins today, Wednesday, December 14, 2011 and ends on Wednesday, December 21, 2011. Winners will be judged based on creativity, composition and style expertise.
While the contest is relatively simple to enter, it has the potential to assist the brand with some key digital marketing and PR objectives. Contest participation will drive traffic to the Land’s End Canvas site. Time spent on site will increase, as well as sales. There will be long-term SEO value via inbound links from Pinterest back to the site, not to mention the general brand awareness among Pinterest users of the Canvas line. By being one of the first brands to host a contest on Pinterset, the brand will likely get some press for their ingenuity and even be referenced in future press articles about the use of Pinterest as a marketing/PR strategy. Finally, the contest requires that entries be emailed in, thus increasing email subscribers. All for $2500 in gift cards.
Pretty smart, right…
How to enter the Land’s End Pinterest Contest
Step 1: Create Lands’ End Canvas Pin Board – Create a Lands’ End Canvas Holiday Pin it to Win it Board on Pinterest and categorize under Women’s or Men’s Apparel.
Step 2: Pin Your Favorite Lands’ End Canvas Items – Go to the Lands’ End Canvas Pinterest Boards (www.pinterest.com/landsendcanvas) or www.landsendcanvas.com to pin 10 – 20 of your favorite Lands’ End Canvas items.
Step 3: Email Your Board Link – Email a link to your board for a chance to win one of ten $250 Lands’ End Canvas Gift Cards – mariella.souflis[at]landsend.com.
The full rules for the contest are hosted on the Land’s End Canvas Facebook Page.
