<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Gigaom]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://gigaom.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Carmel DeAmicis]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[http://search.gigaom.com/author/carmeldee88/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Here's how one marketing firm is tackling the Pinterest problem]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>Pinterest is coming of age and marketing firms are gathering to preach Pinterest marketing gospel. The site is an unusual beast: a mix of image-focused design (like Instagram), founded on a social-follower premise (like Twitter), but has since shifted to search-driven results (like Google). Making the most of the site&#8217;s reach takes more than just a promoted pin &#8212; brands need a marketing strategy that taps into all of Pinterest&#8217;s qualities.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ahalogy.com/" target="_blank">Ahalogy</a> is one marketing firm that aims to provide it. Its president, Bob Gilbreath, outlined the advertising strategy it uses with brands like Procter &amp; Gamble, Kraft and Nespresso. It&#8217;s a mix of tracking pin virality, sponsoring external pin-happy blogs, using search engine optimization technology and promoting pins when a little extra boost could go a long way for sharing.</p>
<p>Pinterest is already fueled by the Internet&#8217;s content creators &#8212; legions of food bloggers, hair stylists, fashionistas, and other hobbyists and craftmakers who populate the site with their tips and tricks packaged with perfect photos. Ahalogy steps in to pair a viral pin with a brand or to help give it the push to go viral.</p>
<p>Their software will allow a brand to stick a &#8220;sponsored by&#8221; type of ad to the blogger or craftsperson&#8217;s site. Since all pins link back to the original site where the image came from, when a pin starts performing well then traffic is routed back to the blog. By sponsoring that blog post, a brand gets the opportunity to piggyback on the viral pin.</p>
<div id="attachment_917291" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 804px"><a href="https://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/screen-shot-2015-02-25-at-4-19-31-pm.png"><img  src="https://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/screen-shot-2015-02-25-at-4-19-31-pm.png?w=804&#038;h=441" alt="A pin about creating the perfect cheese plate links back to a personal foodie blog. Since the blogger has partnered with Ahalogy, Ahalogy placed an ad from crackers company Town House after the cheese pin started performing well." width="804" height="441" class=" aligncenter" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">A pin about creating the perfect cheese plate links back to a personal foodie blog. Since the blogger has partnered with Ahalogy, Ahalogy placed an ad from crackers company Town House after the cheese pin started performing well.</p></div>
<div>For example, <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/417920040396635462/" target="_blank">here&#8217;s a pin</a> from one of Ahalogy&#8217;s blogger partners. When you click it, you&#8217;ll go to the blogger&#8217;s original site, and in the bottom right corner an ad for Town House will appear (see above). If people seem to like a pin but it hasn&#8217;t gone viral yet, sometimes Ahalogy will prompt a brand to pay for the pin to be promoted &#8212; that can give it just the bump it needs to start spreading far on its own accord. Any additional repins don&#8217;t cost the company anything extra, and the repins lead more traffic to the blog (and therefore the brand&#8217;s ad).</div>
<p>It&#8217;s about gaming the application&#8217;s virality to make the most of the marketing dollars spent.</p>
<p>The other tactic Ahalogy uses is search engine optimization, a term we associate far more with Google than Pinterest. Ahalogy pays attention to people&#8217;s search habits to help brands plan their pinning strategy. For example, it will make sure companies that want to pin chocolate images only do so between 8 pm ET and midnight (peak chocolate search time, Gilbreath said).</p>
<p>You can see the trifecta of Pinterest marketing strategies &#8212; search, social, and visual &#8212; in Ahalogy&#8217;s approach. Pinterest isn&#8217;t quite like any of the other social applications out there, and as it tries for an <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/19/us-pinterest-fundraising-idUSKBN0LN06D20150219" target="_blank">$11 billion valuation</a> other brands&#8217; advertising approaches will only grow more sophisticated.</p>
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