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Offbeat Bride got a shout out on a list called “The 30 Most Brilliant Social Media Campaigns of 2014,” which is very flattering. As I read the list, I was like “Ooh, which of my amazing social media shenanigans got noticed?” Gloat gloat! How proud I am.
Then I got down to our mention in the post, and it’s this:
Offbeat Bride’s boards
It’s the wedding gift that keeps on giving. Wedding site Offbeat Bride has a wonderful Pinterest account that not only pins content from their own site, but also general wedding information and inspiration. It’s all curated with the same editorial care as the full Offeat Bride site. The account is a must-follow for soon-to-be brides using Pinterest, and surely has a great conversion rate for sending traffic to their website.
Of course Offbeat Bride’s Pinterest boards ARE wonderful, and yes I DO personally curate them with the same editorial care as the blog… but this basically amounts to “Offbeat Bride uses Pinterest to pin things about weddings.” I’m not being humble here when I say that “using Pinterest to pin wedding inspiration” is not my most brilliant social media campaign of 2014.
I mean, if you want to talk about clever social media things I’ve done with Pinterest, at least talk about the way I use Pinterest’s source page! That’s at least something that not everyone else does (…yet?). Again, it’s flattering to have been included in this list, but I’d love to push the bar a bit farther when it comes to social media campaign brilliance.
My fellow social media marketers, we can all do better.
i sorta figured that you did something like the pinterest source page, since EVERY SINGLE time i pin something from OBB, you re-pin it. and actually (god this sounds petty) it doesn’t flatter me all that much. because then when it goes viral, it’s on people repinning it from you, and not from me. i don’t really MIND, but i don’t see it as flattering. it’s a point of pride for me that i pin much more original content than repin things that other people have pinned…
Super interesting perspective! Is there an instance when you would mind being repinned?
like i said, i don’t really MIND- i am sure you have a WAY bigger media reach than i do, and if you re-pinning means that more people see OBB, that’s awesome. because not only is it your livelihood we’re talking about here (obviously important), i really think OBB is the best wedding media that is available to folks. inclusive, not catty, representative- people need to be exposed to it. it’s why i mention OBB on /r/weddingplanning all the time too. sure, the karma is nice, but when people ask questions that are perfectly answered in the archives here, that’s the most important part.
and i guess on the pinning part, i’m maybe more observant than the average person, but when you re-pin every single thing (or what feels like every single thing) it’s obvious that there is something else going on (as you mention, not wanting to pin your own content/using the pinterest source page feature) rather than “hey, ariel thinks my pin is super awesome!” (which you probably do since it’s your own content, but it’s not the same when it’s always happening)
all of this is to say- don’t change what you’re doing on my account! obviously it’s working, since you’re getting noticed in listicles, and that’s AWESOME. and i’m really glad to know that you folks value these sorts of interactions/insights. because like i said in my first comment, it sounds really petty to say it out loud, and i don’t want to shout into a vacuum, but i also wanted to say “not all pinteresters” (or something like that) so that you had a more well-rounded view. (i’m kind of a pinterest hipster, had an account since they were requiring invites…)
Aha, so if I’m understanding you correctly, it’s not that you MIND being pinned, it’s that having been pinned by Offbeat Bride so many times, it doesn’t feel flattering at all, and actually makes you feel like re-pinning is just self-serving. (Which of course it absolutely is, because it’s part of our content marketing strategy.) This totally makes sense, and suggests that I should be more judicious about not repinning from the same people repeatedly.
Now of course I’m dying to know: What’s your Pinterest username that I’m repinning you so often?
that’s exactly it. sorry i’m awful at articulating sometimes! i’m melissa_cherie on pinterest
I have a feeling this shout-out is less about your Pinterest strategy and more about your dedication to diverse, relevant content. The vast majority of wedding stuff on Pinterest is very same-y (and very repinned): the $50,000 boho-chic converted barn twinkly lights slate grey bridesmaid cushion-cut engagement ring photo booth pinwheel cupcake wedding. If the person who made this list is encountering Offbeat Bride for the first time via Pinterest, it seems like they’re interpreting your nuanced editorial standards as social media wizardry, rather than a call for authenticity and a celebration of ALL weddings, be they boho-chic in a barn or same-sex Harry Potter-themed elopement.
That’s ok Ariel — we know you’re a whiz at this and every month your sponsors and ad vendors reward you with checks, a better testament to your prowess than any random list of social media campaigns.
LOL