Pinterest is said to be the fastest growing content sharing platform, according to the online content distribution service ShareThis. In the third quarter of 2013, content sharing on Pinterest grew by 19.2%, compared to Facebook’s 14.7% growth and 7.6% decline on Twitter.
Pinterest is very heavy on visual content, and ecommerce sites such as Kate Spade are a natural fit for this social medium. Kate Spade currently has 14 boards and 2,844 pins. It has a nice set up of boards categorized by colors and patterns that are visually appealing to their followers. Kate Spade’s Pinterest account has a total of 168,116 followers.
Kate Spade uses Pinterest to creatively showcase their products that best convey what the brand is all about. They use the social sharing platform not only to highlight new products but to allow consumers to get a peek into what the Kate Spade lifestyle is about. Kate Spade is known for its sophisticated style apparel in vibrant colors and graphic prints. It is all about “utility, wit and playful sophistication.”
One interesting way Kate Spade uses Pinterest is their focus on how their products are used by customers. Of their 14 boards, only 1 – the obsessions – uses images of their products straight from their ecommerce website. The rest of the boards juxtapose their products with non-Kate Spade items.
Unlike other fashion retailers and ecommerce sites that focus solely on their own products, Kate Spade combines its own vibrantly colored images and products with curated images seen across the Web that expresses their lifestyle. In the board 2012: the year of the pattern, they’ve posted images of the patterns used in their apparel collections as well as random patterns they find on the Web. They posted geometric patterns, wallpaper patterns, kaleidoscopes, even colored pencils. They even posted vintage apparel designs from other designers such as Balmain.
Kate Spade also uses Pinterest to show that the brand is at the forefront of the New York fashion scene with their “fashion week: behind the curtain” board. The board includes images from backstage of the New York Fashion Week presentation, as well as the website images of the products featured on the show.
Lessons for Small Business Entrepreneurs:
Kate Spade’s approach to content sharing on Pinterest highlights the importance of being creative in showcasing your own products. The images it shares fall into two categories:
- Product photos from the website
- Photos of how the products are used by customers
More importantly, Kate Spade does not limit itself by featuring only its own products on Pinterest. Instead, it broadens its approach on Pinterest by highlighting the lifestyle it represents – even if they have to pin images from other websites and blogs.
Leave a Reply