Pinterest continues to struggle with a monetization strategy. What Facebook figured out early on was that when social media sites offer brands space and a way to pay to promote their content through paid promotion, there is money to be made.
Meanwhile, brands are trying to devise ways to promote their content within Pinterest without the ability to drive users to their content through advertising or paid promotion.
What seems to be working? A magic formula 1 part Facebook and 1 part Pinterest.
Lowe’s has promoted their presence on Pinterest by driving followers from their Facebook page. This worked because Lowe’s (like almost all brand pages) uses Facebook ads to drive new visitors and likes. So Facebook users click on Lowe’s Facebook ads- which then drive them to the default landing tab. Lowe’ set their default landing tab as a Pinterest app within their Facebook page and boom- success.
According to MediaPost, Lowe’s saw some Pinterest boards followings jump 60% and enjoyed an overall boost in their Pinterest account following. So using Facebook ads and a well established Facebook brand page to ultimately drive Pinterest followers and repins works.
Lands’ End Canvas does not have a Pinterest app within their Facebook page. Instead, they are using Facebook to promote a Pinterest “Pin It to Win It” contest. In order to enter, Pinterest users repin images from Lands’ End Canvas’ Pinterest boards onto a board of their own creation. The user then emails Lands’ End Canvas with a link to the board in the hopes of winning a gift card.
Facebook plays an integral role in the Lands’ End Canvas Pinterest contest. Instructions for entry and rules for the contest are hosted in their Facebook notes, rather than on the Lands’ End site or within a pin on Pinterest. The contest is also being promoted to the Facebook page’s 141,000 fans with repeated Facebook wall posts.
On the other hand, this leaves Facebook richer and Pinterest with no revenue. It is also a pretty roundabout way to promote brand content. However, until Pinterest offers brands a way to promote content through paid promotion within the site- it is the best way to build a following on Pinterest.