THE POWER OF THE PLATFORM: VISUAL STORYTELLING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS 67 drop off after a single competition. By asking entrants to pin one image of the laptop, the company is promoting the product more widely, as there is a steady stream of new images of the product being added by a number of fans over time.28 Pinterest contests don’t just have to be consumer focused—B2B com- panies can run successful contests too. Emailvision, a company that creates “software as a service” (SaaS) marketing solutions to deliver and automate e-mail marketing, ran a Pinterest campaign that targeted e-mail marketers and was designed to promote Emailvision’s services and cel- ebrate e-mail marketers at the same time. The “Pin Your Inbox” contest asked e-mail marketers to pin their favorite e-mail campaign to enter, and the prize was an e-mail creative designed by the Emailvision studio. The contest was smart—it focused on Emailvision’s target customers, and so it raised awareness of the company’s business, but because it encouraged e-mail marketers to send in beautiful campaigns, it was incredibly posi- tive and generated a good vibe. Plus, the prize was one that the entrants would be happy to win.29 Intel is another example of a B2B brand that didn’t shy away from Pinterest. With boards like “Tech Infographics,” “Technology and Art,” and “Geek Chic,” Intel definitely owns its inner geek and shows its pas- sion for technology (http://www.pinterest.com/intel). One of our favorites is the board called “Fan Love.” Well, okay, full disclosure: Ekaterina was the one who created that board as part of Intel’s Pinterest strategy in 2012. But what is fantastic about boards like this one is that it gives voice to Intel’s fans. A combination of images from Intel fans from around the world and images created through the crowdsourced contest, the board truly shows what Intel means to those who love the company and share passion for technology. A word of caution though: make sure you have the right to use the image before you post it on Pinterest. Intel has gotten the artist’s permission for every image posted on Intel’s “Fan Love” board. Pinterest is all about creativity. Its users are creative, and successful brands are innovative with ideas for boards and pins. The best brands on Pinterest are the ones that keep content fresh and topical, that
The Power of Visual Storytelling: How to Use Visuals, Videos, and Social Media to Market Your Brand Page 80 Page 82