Social Enterprise

Photos: 10 types of Pinterest boards your brand can create

By // March 18, 2015, 4:30 AM PST // ErinCarson

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  • How-to

    Pinterest users like projects. Creating a board with a how-to theme -- that can include DIY projects, life hacks, work hacks, or even recipes -- can tap into one of the most common uses of the platform.

  • Seasonal

    A good example of seasonal Pinterest boards comes from Starbucks. They mix in attractive pictures of their seasonal products, along with recipes and other images that would be of particular interest at a specific time of the year. Another example is Michael's craft store -- their St. Patrick's Day board has craft ideas, recipes, as well as products.

  • Fan engagement

    Some brands create group boards and let fans pin to them. Adobe created a board to showcase fan art from a campaign involving remixing the logo.

  • Company story

    A Pinterest board can help your brand communicate who it is. IBM, for example, has a board devoted to its own history. Followers will find vintage product shots, advertisements, old photographs, and bits of history like the role it played in the moon landing.

  • Lifestyle interests

    Don't just push your product. Know your audience. Know what appeals to them. Whole Foods is banking on a certain ethos amongst their shoppers, so they have boards like "We're Used to Reusing!" which highlights projects using recycled items.

  • Product lines

    When it comes time to talk about your product, it helps if what you have to show is visually appealing. Also, consider a sideways step and create a board that, perhaps, shows your product in use. For example, GoPro has a board with both cool pictures and the gear that helped get them.

  • Branding

    Microsoft keeps themselves top of mind by essentially giving followers pretty pictures in exchange for the ability to show up in their feed. Though, when Microsoft pins to its "Red, Green, Cyan, Yellow" board, they still manage to work in some brand association.

  • Infographics

    If your brand is looking to create its own content, then infographics might be a good bet. They're interesting to look at, and usually pretty sharable. Check out Intel's infographics board.

  • Specific campaigns

    One way to organize a campaign is to create a board for it like Caribou Coffee's #Caribouinspires board.

  • Aspiration

    What would Pinterest be without motivational quotes and pictures of sunrises? GE's "That's Genius!" board goes by the motto "Sharing the wisdom of GE founder, Thomas Edison, and other revolutionaries."

How-to

Pinterest users like projects. Creating a board with a how-to theme -- that can include DIY projects, life hacks, work hacks, or even recipes -- can tap into one of the most common uses of the platform.

Related Topics:

Social Enterprise Collaboration Software CXO Innovation

About Erin Carson

Erin Carson is a Staff Reporter for CNET and a former Multimedia Editor for TechRepublic.