The Social Media Marketing Blog

You've probably heard that Pinterest is here and in a big way. If you're not already familiar with it, take a look and see if you can understand what the fuss is all about. The site has been around for a couple of years but only recently took off.

I've been wanting to write something about Pinterest for the last 2-3 weeks, but haven't been able to because of a grueling work schedule, and rather than simply provide you an introduction to the site, I thought I would take a sampling of articles that have been written about it and see if we can explore some topics related to Pinterest instead.

Why It Works
And really, this approach is parallel to the way I think Pinterest is different. Simply stated, the site is a visual bookmarking tool. There are a number of sites and platforms that serve as social bookmarking tools: Delicious is probably the best known one; StumbleUpon, Reddit and Digg are variations on the concept of the merging of discovery, serendipity and search, with tagging as the common thread that runs through each.

But Pinterest has taken to to another level that appeals to some more basic human needs: the ability to browse content in a minimalist, visual way (see "How Pinterest Is Changing Web Design Forever"); and the notion that when we encounter strangers (either online or offline), we make a connection through a common interest and the sharing of that interest.

Enter Pinterest's solution: Boards. Users can create their own boards around anything that they're passionate about, and Pinterest gives a limited number of categories into which your boards can fit: Art, Architecture, Cars & Motorcycles, Design, DIY & Crafts, Education, Film, Music & Books, Food & Drink, Gardening, Geek, Hair & Beauty, History, Holidays, Home Decor, Humor, Kids, My Life, Women's Apparel, Men's Apparel, Outdoors, People, Pets, Photography, Print & Posters, Products, Science & Nature, Sports, Technology, Travel & Places, Wedding & Events, and Other.

But what's more sticky here than with many of the other sites out there is that in addition to being simple to use and visual in nature, users have the ability to follow individual boards rather than the entire stream of users. This is not to be underestimated, as user experience across the web is changing to accommodate custom content delivery - busy people what only what's relevant to them. And at the same time, they want serendipitous discovery so they can still find new and different things that inspire them. Jay Baer looks at some of these reasons on Convince and Convert. I've seen it at work personally, as one of my pins has been "repinned" some 11,500 times.

And it must be working more widely, for one analyst recently observed that he has seen "some of the strongest user engagement, retention, and virality metrics" there and Bessemer Ventures is bullish on Pinterest.

He Said / She Said

"But wait," I hear you saying, "isn't Pinterest for women?" Shame on you. While it's true that women make up the majority of users (some 70-80% as of the end of January 2012), as I wrote above, it's about universal human nature and how we connect with each other. For a healthy dose of reality and a digital dope slap on this topic, see Kristy Sammis' article on the Clever Girls Collective, "How to Stop Being a Pinterest Sexist." Even Lance Ulanoff, the editor of Mashable, admits his addiction, noting that when he went beyond the people he was following and looked deeper by categories that appealed to him, a new world opened up to him.

And yet, we're beginning to see a rise in competitors to Pinterest, some specifically with a male slant. Gentlemint is probably the most well known; another is Dartitup. You can even check out "The Bro's Guide to Pinterest," with suggestions as to how to understand and leverage Pinterest if you're looking for a male demographic on there.

Whether or not these other sites are able to match the momentum of Pinterest, the reason we're seeing the competitors is again because the need to share and to bond around common interests is something that humans - both men and women - have baked into our DNA. Did you ever participate in "Show and Tell" in a classroom when you were a child? It's the same thing, only it's happening online. As Clay Shirky recently said during a TED Talk: "We are in a world where most American citizens over the age of 12 share things with each other online."

Now, that's not to say that there aren't differences between how men and women shop online - particularly with smartphones. A recent Comscore study has shown that women are more likely to take a photo of an image and share it, while men are more likely to use their smartphones to find information, either by scanning a barcode or researching product features.

From Show and Tell to Show and Sell
There are a couple of underlying questions in all of this excitement. The first is about Pinterest's business model - how will they make money? They've backed off on the affiliate linking practice that became controversial (or not, depending on who you ask) earlier in month, and according to Bessemer, there are a number of ways for them to make money.

The other question that's being answered daily by brands jumping into the fray is, "how can I use Pinterest for my business?" Of course it depends on the type of business you have and what you wish to give as an experience. Thomas Hawk has an excellent perspective on Pinterest for photographers and artists, focusing on the need to share rather than hoard content.

There are some good resources out there with a number of great examples for businesses. Some of them include:

How to Use Pinterest for Business (Spiral16)
30 Resources, Tips and Tricks for Marketing Your Business on Pinterest (Jeff Bullas)
10 Tips on Using Pinterest for Your Business (The Next Web)
How Brands Are Using Pinterest - And What They Can Do Better (Read Write Web)

To me, the brands that will be successful here are the ones that go beyond just using Pinterest as a storefront and use it to unite people around passion points. And of course, you'll want to use Pinterest to drive sales - particularly if you're in the e-commerce business. But think creatively about how you construct boards: rather than just listing products, center around a theme. Neiman Marcus and Whole Foods do this particularly well:

Pinterest is bound to become a powerful engine for e-commerce, more so than the promise of "F-commerce" from Facebook, I think. The challenge with the Facebook model (for the most part) is that it required users to have the storefront experience in a custom tab on each company's Facebook page - not necessarily something that translates when you're using a mobile version of Facebook on your smartphone (remember the above statistic about shopping and smartphone use?). And just this week according to Bloomberg, there's been a noted shuttering of storefronts on Facebook, largely due to lack of use.

With Pinterest, because the mobile versions are just as simple as the web version - and because they're based on image sharing (again, see above), it's more likely that we'll see more retail driven activity.

So that's my current view on some of the things happening with Pinterest. What do you think? Are you there yet? Do you see the value or would you care to debate it? Drop a comment in below. And if you'd like to connect on Pinterest, you can follow me here:

If you need an invitation (as it's still in beta), let me know.

Image credit: Annie Mole (Flickr)

Labels: pinterest, social networks, trends

If you're like me, you spend a good deal of time on the road. Whether it's at an airport, on a train or in a car, you're mobile and your digital life is mobile too.

The pervasiveness of tablets and smartphones (in addition to the already ubiquitous laptop) is growing daily. Just this week, Apple announced that it sold 37 million iPhones and 15.4 million iPads in the fourth quarter of 2011 alone. It means that more of us are doing things on the web (or mobile web, as the case may be) while we're on the go, and there are certain things those of us in the digital world look for when we travel - at least with regard to infrastructure.

The Airlines
To my knowledge, Southwest was the first airline (or at least the most prominent early on) to get involved with social media. Their blog, Nuts About Southwest, has been a perennial leader in the corporate blogging space. They've made great use of Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and more and have always led with a very human and very customer-centric approach.

JetBlue made a name for itself in the social media space after a difficult travel situation thanks to severe winter weather in 2007. Their CEO David Neeleman was direct and honest in his approach, the video of him was sincere and emotional, and JetBlue made it clear that it put customers first. And to think that my colleague Morgan Johnston at JetBlue had started his job on that very day...

Delta got a late start in social media (and was the subject of its fair share of complaints, including a dramatic rant ), but now has @Delta and @DeltaAssist looking after its customers on Twitter. Not to mention some personal interaction from a certain member of the crew from their famous safety video.

That finger wag gets me every time.

The other airline that's going above and beyond in social media is Virgin America. Based out of Silicon Valley, they're in the thick of the action from a technology standpoint. And their use of Groupon, Loopt, Foursquare and more prove it. But their always-on monitoring is essential when it comes to catching consumer complaints, especially after their switch to a new reservation system last year.

Overall, customers want interaction - they want to be heard, certainly, but they also want action - when they take to Twitter to voice a concern. According to an eMarketer article, the expectation that a company will respond increases by age cohort from 38% of 18-24 year-olds all the way up to 65% of those in the 55+ age category. And it clearly matters in terms of satisfaction:

If you'd like to see a comprehensive roster of airlines on Twitter, check out @Kayak's list of some 160 or so.

Staying Powered - and Connected
I've been in the unfortunate circumstance of leaving for a trip without power cord for a device. There are two points of good news: many times, you can charge your phone directly from your laptop using a USB port; and quite often, the hotel will have a power cord for your phone that you can borrow from their lost and found collection (I was once told by a concierge that phone cords are like currency at most hotels).

There are a few gadgets that I'd recommend as well. If you're travelling internationally, it's essential to have an all-in-one adapter that has attachments for every major country's electrical sockets. And because the hotel where you're staying or the airport may not have many readily available sockets to charge your laptop, phone, tablet, etc., it's handy to have a cord with 4 outlets, an all-in-one charging station, or even a PowerSquid that will allow up to 5 others to connect. You'll be the most popular person at the airport! (Note on all of the links in this paragraph: http://cmp.ly/5).

Then again, a number of airports have recognized that passengers travel with gadgets and need places to charge.

Thanks, Delta!

If you happen to have a non-3G iPad or a laptop without an air card, you depend on local wi-fi networks for connectivity. I've been in my share of airports that have had plenty of network access, but I didn't want to spring for a Boingo account to get connected. For that reason, it's helpful to know which airports have free wi-fi. Here's a quick list for your reference:

Airports with free wi-fi:
Boston (BOS)
Charlotte (CLT)
Cincinnati (CVG)
Denver (DEN)
Fort Myers (RSW)
Honolulu (HNL)
Indianapolis (IND)
Kansas City (MCI)
Las Vegas (LAS)
Oakland (OAK)
Orange County (SNA)
Orlando (MCO)
Palm Beach (PBI)
Phoenix (PHX)
Pittsburgh (PIT)
Portland (PDX)
Sacramento (SMF)
San Antonio (SAT)
San Diego (SAN)
San José (SJC)
Tampa (TPA)
Washington Dulles (IAD)
Washington Reagan (DCA)

But it goes farther than wi-fi and charging stations. FareCompare has developed a list of the top 12 airports for social media power users, with a list of the top airports that are also known to take good care of their customers. I've reproduced the table here.

City	Airport Code	Twitter Hits	Outlets per Gate	Other Amenities
Atlanta	ATL	14.7 million	8.1	Charging stations, work desks
Baltimore	BWI	7.92 million	7.3	Charging stations
Dallas	DFW	2.7 million	7.2	Charging stations, work desks
Detroit	DTW	3.4 million	6.7	Charging stations, Boingo data ports
Fort Lauderdale*	FLL	120,000	2.65	Fast, free Wi-Fi
Los Angeles	LAX	153 million	5.3	Charging stations, internet kiosks
Minneapolis	MSP	2.11 million	Varies by terminal	Charging stations, iPad kiosks coming 2012-13
New York City	JFK	8.45 million	Varies; Terminals 2, 3, and 5 have the most	Charging stations, work desks, iPad kiosks
New York LaGuardia	LGA	1.05 million	7.2	Charging stations, iPad kiosks
Salt Lake City*	SLC	8.97 million	5.4	Charging stations, work desks
San Francisco*	SFO	110 million	13.6	Charging Stations, lounge areas, work desks
Seattle	SEA	6.68 million	2.7	Charging Stations, fast Wi-Fi

* Airport has free Wi-Fi

The Airports
I've had experience with some airports that are downright personal. For example, I traveled to Kansas City last year and was pleasantly surprised at the greeting and send-off that I got from the Kansas City International Airport (@KCIAirport) on Twitter:

Followed by a warm greeting waiting for me at home (@DTWeetin):

When you're travel-worn and checking in on Foursquare or commenting on a queue, sometimes it's heartening to realize that there are teams of people looking out for you. For example, Logan International Airport (BOS) in Boston has a team of five people handling their social media; @LAX_Official gives travelers in Los Angeles tips, newsletter and other helpful information. For a roster of over 130 airports on Twitter, see @Kayak's list.

What's your experience with regard to social media and travel? Do you have any other examples of airlines, airports or other entities who get it right, campaigns that resonated with you, or personal touches that made the difference in an otherwise difficult circumstance? Please leave a comment with your input.

Image credit: ~Oryctes~ (Flickr)

Labels: social media, travel, trends, Twitter

About Scott

For hi-res, click here

Ranked by Forbes as one of the top 10 influencers in social media, he has been called "an unstoppable force of nature," "the best corporate social media lead on the planet," and Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him "a visionary."

At Ford, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog and cohosts I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, two literary undertakings. Scott has been featured in hundreds of news and business publications in print and on the web, in nearly dozens of books, and on a variety of mainstream media, including NBC, NPR, CNN and The Wall Street Journal. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary of English-accepted term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of Rosh Sillars; a PDF version of Scott's bio is here .

Books in which Scott or his work is featured:

The Social Media Strategist

Social Business by Design

Digital Strategies for Powerful Corporate Communications

Social Media Marketing for Dummies

Real-Time Marketing and PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now

Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web

Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business

Brains on Fire: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements

Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead

MicroMarketing: Get Big Results by Thinking and Acting Small

Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution Is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell and Live

Power Friending: Demystifying Social Media to Grow Your Business

The New Rules of Marketing & PR

by David Meerman Scott

Twitterville
by Shel Israel

Six Pixels of Separation
by Mitch Joel

Monkeys with Typewriters
by Jemima Gibbons

Read This First
by Ron Ploof

World Wide Rave
by David Meerman Scott

Get Seen
by Steve Garfield

Disclosures/Relationships

Scott has been named to the Advisory boards of Pivot, SavvyAuntie, Business Smart Tools, The Hive Awards, Curation Station and The Realtime Report
Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards

Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators

Humongo occasionally does web work for me and designed this site

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

Scott Monty Bio

Speaking Events

Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please click here to submit a speaking request for Ford-related purposes or email me at speaking [AT] this site's URL (if you know what I mean) to send a general email request.. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Recent speaking engagement:

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the global head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views. My bio is available here and my headshots can be found here.