So Pinterest is here and is making quite a buzz around social media circles. It is a platform that is quite useful for retailers and Etsy stores and I have even been trying it out just to see what all the buzz is about and I will be honest, it is something that is fun and a good diversion from the everyday.
I have gotten a few inquiries from event planning friends and clients that are wondering what they need to do to get a Pinterest account up and running for their events (and even one incentive) and I have one question for each of them:
Why?
Why are you so antsy to get on a platform that you are not familiar with.
The usual answer is “it is really popular and look at the stats”.
To that I say “who is Pinterest popular with?” and to that question, no one has had a decent answer and this is when I tell them to stop; Stop looking for the next new, bigger, better, faster thing and concentrate on what you do have.
Sure, it is OK to grab your Pinterest username so that no one else can swipe it, but just because you have set up the account it does not mean that you need to start pouring valuable resources into Pinterest or any other platform.
The prudent course of action is to get REALLY good at the platforms that your attendees are using everyday. Become the leader in your space on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn. Until you can do this, there is no reason to jump all over the place like a kangaroo that just stepped on a hot coal.
By jumping on the bandwagon of the next big thing, you are neglecting your core fans in favor of the early adopters of whatever platform you are joining and this is confusing for your attendees. You are running this way, running that way, up, down and all over but really never conquering one thing before you are off on your next mission.
Seriously, this is like climbing half way up Mt Rainer and then quitting because someone radioed to tell you that Mt McKinley is taller and then halfway to Alaska, you divert to Nepal because K2 is more popular. STOP the madness and just finish the first climb.
If you find that some of your audience is using Pinterest, wouldn’t it be more prudent to hit Facebook and send people to the best Pinterest boards created by your attendees? Could you not have a blog post that has the top 50 boards and why people should follow them. You could use Twitter to send people to the blog post.
Now you are becoming a valuable resource to your attendees because you are showing them great stuff and at the same time showing people that you understand the value of Pinterest for the community. You are also showing people that you are smart enough to not get caught up in the hype.
Image: jimmywayne
