The Internet marketing realm was recently shaken up by what analysts are calling an email faux pas by burgeoning social network Pinterest. Millions of messages congratulating Pinterest members on their upcoming weddings were accidentally sent to women who are not actually planning to get married. The reaction on Twitter was swift.

 

According to the Washington Post, some women sarcastically thanked Pinterest for reminding them that they are still single and for “rubbing in the loneliness” at a time when they should be looking for a potential soul mate instead of looking at cute shoes that could one day match a wedding gown. In the end, Pinterest apologized for:

 

[coming off] like an overbearing mother who is always asking when you’ll find a nice boy or girl.

 

“We’re looking at a social network that is making headlines on the Washington Post. A year ago, Pinterest boasted 70 million members, mostly women, who are very active on their boards,” explains Philip Mack, author of the Success Guide to Pinterest Marketing. Mr. Mack has provided The Costa Rica Star with a copy of this ebook and agreed to an interview over Skype Chat.

 

The Costa Rica Star (TCS): We have this Pinterest account, and I told you before how it is languishing. Our social media strategy is currently on hold because we are reorganizing. You mentioned the shift towards a visual social media landscape.

 

Philip Mack (PM): Pinterest and Instagram are often described a tools for visual discovery. Most of the activity on Facebook these days comes from Instagram. What social media netizens are interested in these days are pictures and videos, and they want mobile interaction.

 

TCS: So we are planning to do more photojournalism and add videos, and we will debut our Instagram account soon; but, we are still puzzled about what to do with Pinterest. We thought it was mostly an extension of Etsy; we opened an account because it we kept seeing these red “Pin It” buttons everywhere.

 

PM: And you don’t have such buttons now. Your website is not Pinterest-friendly. You are missing out on reaching millions of readers.

 

TCS: But isn’t Pinterest mostly for women planning their weddings?

 

PM: Pinterest has significant female membership, that is true. And if we talk about wedding planning… I did some research before this chat about Pinterest in Costa Rica. You know Grupo Nación?

 

TCS: Yes, that is a major media company in our country.

 

PM: Well they have this Revista Novias brand on Pinterest. They are not alone; I also found Proyecto Boda and others. So now you know that women in Costa Rica are interested in weddings, that much we can infer. Isn’t Costa Rica a major wedding and honeymoon travel destination?

 

TCS: That’s right. We are also favorite for bachelor parties.

 

PM: Well, let’s stick to weddings for now. I found out about Costa Rica and weddings just browsing on Pinterest, where travel planning and tourism are major topics.

 

TCS: We are learning other stuff from your guide. You mention that retailers can greatly benefit from Pinterest.

 

PM: It works like this: Women are often the decision makers when it comes to household expenses. Let’s face it, they are smarter shoppers than we are.

 

TCS: I agree.

 

PM: So when Pinterest users look at pins, which are basically online pictures shared by others as they browse the Web, they are also getting valuable input from members. There are lively discussions about whether something should be purchased or not. This is something that women are very good at, especially Pinterest members; they research things before purchasing them. When they are ready to buy, they just click or tap to access a shopping cart.

 

TCS: But in our case we are not an e-commerce site.

 

PM: If you continue reading my guide, you will see that Pinterest is not only for retailers or business-to-consumer (B2C) enterprises. Business-to-business (B2B) brands are finding success as well. Your publication is B2C, so you should be ok.

 

TCS: And what should we pin?

 

PM: That is not a good question at this point. You should be asking: Who should I follow? How can I engage my followers? How can we make our site friendly to Pinterest members? You should also think about a marketing plan. Still, I see you publish articles about tourism, drinks, recipes, fashion, etc. What about sloths? They are cute. Those can be solid pins.

 

TCS: And do you see a future for Pinterest marketing in Costa Rica?

 

PM: Absolutely. I can see it catching on very fast, especially since Costa Rica has close commercial ties to the United States. There are more than 9,000 active Pinterest members from Costa Rica now, and hundreds more are joining each week. You mentioned that the majority of your readers are women, right?

 

TCS: Readers who visit our website from social networks are mostly women, yes. Statistically speaking, there are more women than men in Costa Rica.

 

PM: That should not be your only motivation to get on Pinterest, but it is a good starting point. You see, what we do is put together hands-on practical guide that cut through the clutter and get entrepreneurs up to speed quickly to on social media marketing (SMM). Lean operations will find no need to spend money on hiring an outside SMM agency, and businesses who have their own marketing staff get a handy guide to follow for goal execution.

 

TCS: And that is what we plan to do. We will keep SMM in-house because we have done so in the past with Facebook.

 

PM: You will see that Pinterest has Facebook-like potential.

 

Mr. Mack has also advised The Costa Rica Star with regard to marketing on Twitter. We will cover that topic in a separate article.