Overdrive Interactive's social media marketing team was recently approached by a client who was looking for insight into the best ways to growth their Pinterest fan base and increase engagement with their content. The client asked us which brands have been the most successful on Pinterest and why. We provided them with insight into what encourages fan growth and engagement, tips for managing their account, and best practices. This presentation includes insight into the research we performed and the conclusions we reached.

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38 Everett St | Allston, Massachusetts 02134 | 617-254-5000 | www.ovrdrv.com
The Top Performing Brands on Pinterest
and What Makes Them Successful
June 3, 2014

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How to leverage Pinterest
 Successful Brands:
Provide valuable, interesting content for users that aligns with brand values
A large volume of content
Frequently added new content
Pin-able content (pins users want to pin to their boards)
Pins that link to valuable content (in eye of the user)
Brands allow user some form of meaningful interaction
UGC: repinning from users, pinning users content (other sources off
Pinterest)
Contests
Innovative uses

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L.L.Bean on Pinterest
 5,409,175 followers
 31 boards
 1,559 Pins
 Content with an strong emotional appeal that it
relevant to brand (for example, the Outdoor Fun
board)
 Balance of product images vs. other imagery
L.L.Bean’s Outdoor Fun board mixes imagery of outdoor activities and
inspiration with shots of their product being used
 UGC & content from other relevant brands
Selfies submitted of people wearing their L.L.Bean boots, or of pets with
L.L.Bean products submitted via Instagram or Twitter

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Harper’s Bazaar on Pinterest
 Harper’s has huge volumes of content and pins frequently
Nearly 6,500 pins for Beauty & Hair alone
Many boards are updated daily
 Pins drive to content that is valuable to the user
Fashion coverage, beauty tips
 Harper’s uses calls to action (CTA) on some pins to hint to users that
there is more content available
 Engage and gain followers Pinterest contests
Making sure to follow Pinterest rules for contests
 4,676,076 followers,
2nd most followed
major, national
brand (22nd most
followed account)
 99 boards
 47,237 pins

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Whole Foods Market on Pinterest
 188,978 followers
 59 boards
 3,604 pins
 Whole Foods uses images that are easy to identify and
create an instant response/connection
 Whole Foods keeps board themes broad
Strength board features everything from exercise how-tos to high-protein
foods to inspirational quotes/memes
 Whole Foods takes advantage of crowd sourcing, influencer outreach, and
collaboration
Most of their boards are group boards to allow for open collaboration
among many pinners (assumingly invite-only)

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Bon Appetit Magazine on Pinterest
 60,531 followers
 51 boards
 3,423 pins
 Bon Appetit uses rich recipe and article pins which
provide additional info to pique users’ interest
The 5 types of rich pins currently available for
business are place, article, product, recipe, and
movie

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Women’s Health Magazine on Pinterest
 287,439
followers
 74 boards
 4,151 pins
 Women’s Health creates a special pin to use as the
cover of each board, creating a unique and uniform look
 Women’s Health features a number of boards custom
curated for specific segments of their audience
For example, a series of “shop your shape” boards with
separate boards for curvy, pear-shaped, athletic, etc.
figures

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Sephora on Pinterest
 302,177 followers
 67 boards
 7,001 pins
 Sephora repins content from other
beauty brands and their top pinners
(making sure to give credit to pinners)
Crowd source from Instagram,
Twitter, and Sephora.com profiles
 Sephora’s website is Pinterest optimized,
allowing shoppers to pin products,
photos from other users, and other content directly onto their own Pinterest boards
 Color-themed boards for added visual appeal

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Take-aways
 Pin frequently to create a large, diverse, and fresh body of content (at
an even pace, not all at once)
Ensure that each board has enough content to feel substantial
Balance branded and non-branded content
 Keep boards organized and ensure imagery and title communicate the
theme of the board effectively
Don’t be afraid to consolidate boards
 Use more attractive imagery and better quality content
Pinterest is about curating gorgeous boards, vast collections of good
content, or both
 Pin content from other sources that aligns with brand values
 Pin user generated content
 Pinterest-optimize your website
Both by adding pinning buttons and ensuring that imagery is pin-worthy
 Include descriptions on each board so they can be found in user
searches

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Thank You!!