share Archives - Adam Kirk Smith

Courtney Gordner | December 20, 2013 | 1 Comment

Pinterest Tips to Make Your Pins More Sharable

With the Holidays coming up, a lot of social media marketers are trying to drive traffic to their sites. Whether it is with holiday stories or contests on Twitter and Facebook – everyone wants to be a part of the madness. A great social media platform to utilize during this time of year is Pinterest. With over 70 million active users, it’s no wonder that marketers are trying to make the most out of this social network.

The most important aspect of Pinterest are the pins. Users mainly ‘repin’ pins, so as a marketer your goal is to not only share pins, but to create pins that your users will share with their followers. Unfortunately, creating sharable pins isn’t as easy as it sounds, but here are a few more helpful Pinterest tips to make your job a little easier.

Pinterest Tips – Words Are Important
While Pinterest may primarily be a visual platform, the fact that there are fewer words makes each one of them even more important! Infographics can be a huge asset on Pinterest, so make the most out of all of the words available to you. One phrase or a bold/catchy statement can really help your pin stick out among the rest. It is a great way for your audience to really understand the meaning of your pin as well. Words on a pin can create a lasting impression and a takeaway idea for your audience.

Let’s say you have a client who sells physical therapy pools. While of course your first instinct is to create a graphic highlighting their products, including words on the pin could be exactly the key to catch your consumer’s eye.

Pinterest Tips – Call to Action
It may seem like a strange platform to do so on, but Pinterest is actually a great way to create a call to action for your product or service. Again, this is where words will come in handy. A call to action can give your followers a reason to share your pin.

Check out the San Diego Zoo’s call to action pin. Try to add the call to action not only to the image, but to your pin’s description as well. It’s always a good idea to try and put yourself in the position of your consumers…would you share your pin? It’s a good way to look at the other side of the equation!

This example is from a company that specializes in investment. Their call to action is to request a consultation. This might be the page they use to encourage people to take the next action. Their comment would feature the benefits that people could gain from a consultation. Once people are interested, the site might make more information registration required so that people can interact and share the beneficial info they find.

Pinterest Tips – Brand Your Image
It may seem like a no-brainer, but when companies get caught up in the creative aspects of Pinterest, they often forget that they are still marketing their company. Never underestimate the power of branding your pins. Including a simple company website, name or even a brand (e.g. the bull’s-eye for Target) will make sure your users know who the pin is from. So when they share it, this will guarantee that even if they change your original description, your overall message won’t be lost.

Pinterest Tips – Keep It Simple
This again may seem like an obvious warning to heed, but too many companies are trying to make Pinterest a lot more complicated than it is. Keep it simple! Pins are meant to be visually appealing.

How often do you find that the best images are the ones that don’t have a lot going on? Big and broad ideas make for powerful messages. Users are going on Pinterest to create their ideas; they don’t want to have to focus on complicated and convoluted data. The best way to really leave an impression is to keep your content straightforward and simple.

Pinterest Tips – Be Creative!
Pinterest is all about letting your creative juices flow! No idea is too big or too small for this platform, which is what makes it so much fun and interactive for users and marketers alike. Ask your followers’ opinions of your content and pins. This really is the best way to make the most out of your marketing efforts.

As you remember to include words and focus on your brand, creativity and maintaining simplicity, your posts will become more visually appealing and desirable to share.

What other ways do you make your pins sharable? Share your Pinterest tips in the comments below!

Photo Credit: mkhmarketing

Adam Smith | October 29, 2013 | 6 Comments

Four Critical Success Points of Contagious Ideas That Sell

We all want our ideas to catch on as soon as we try something new. For this to happen, I believe it is important that we look at past successes with implementing big ideas. Remember, the past is there to learn from, not to overlook. There have been so many contagious ideas over the years that we could pinpoint, but I will just select one and dissect it for us to examine.

For this article, I will choose the idea of the Apple iPhone so most people will be able to relate and follow along with the momentum behind this idea and product. No, this is not one of the most important ideas to form over the history of mankind, but it has definitely made an impact on this decade. The ideas created behind this piece of technology formed a new way that we think about how products need to function and the benefits that they bring.

Here are the four stages that every contagious idea has to go through to be a success:

1. A Focused Conception Is Where It Starts

Steve Jobs knew what he wanted, as he did with every one of his later products. This is because he knew exactly what people wanted and needed to get more done and have fun while doing it accompanied with a beautiful experience. That really is what Apple has done. They have made their idea irresistible to most through a focused conception. The idea behind Apple’s success is ease of use, market need, beautiful presentation and the “it” factor that comes along with each of their products.

Quality brings mass following more than any other factor.

What do you want to accomplish with your idea? Is your idea powerful enough to stand the test of time? Yes, putting the full work behind the push of ideas is sometimes daunting, but when there is a contagious idea at stake, it is well worth it.

2. Your Vision Is Bigger Than You

Steve’s ideas were bigger than just himself. It actually was so large that he needed a team to pull it off. Great ideas require enough creativity to think bigger than anyone else before you has thought of. When you have done all you can to take your idea as far as you possibly can and it can still be expounded upon by others, you know that you have an idea worth sharing.

3. The Necessity of It Matters

Does your idea burn inside you to tell others about it? That is a good sign that you obtain a contagious idea. When your idea makes people wonder how they ever lived without it, you again know that you have a contagious idea. Benefits play a huge role into the necessity of your ideas.

People didn’t realize that they “needed” their iPhones until they had one. Now, if you were to take smartphones away from their owners, they would be lost without them. Even if people don’t seem to need your contagious idea yet, they might once they have it in their hands.

Ask yourself these four questions:

WHO is this for?

WHAT am I really making and impact on with this idea?

WHY is this necessary?

Is this idea WORTH sharing with others?

Start with the 4 “W’s” to know if you have a contagious idea.

4. Adoption From Your Audience

It needs to be an idea so big that it makes people stop to think about what is in your idea for them. What does your idea have to offer your audience? When people are able to rally behind a concept/idea and see the benefits of it, the “sell” becomes a lot easier. In a lot of instances the beauty of your idea or the fun and interest that it brings is enough by themselves to find an interest group.

As far as the iPhone goes, adoption was easy because it offered customers a way to make their lives easier by providing a more streamlined option of doing things and a way to have everything in one place. When you offer people an easier way of doing life through your “necessary” product, it is almost a guaranteed sale, no matter what the cost is.

So, wherever you are in the idea process, check your ideas against these four critical idea success points. These points could save you a lot of time when pursuing your dreams and let you know if you have a contagious idea within your reach. Have you had an idea that can survive all four of these points?

If so, you have a contagious idea and it is time to put the work in.