Instagram and Pinterest appear to be two of the emerging and rapid growing platforms currently in the social media community among PR professionals.  Why is this the case – what separates Pinterest and Instagram from other social media platforms?

Simply, they are used to communicate stories visually through editing and sharing capacities as well as curating information relevant to audiences across the main platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn. Looking at some of these stats coming across from Social Media Influence, public relations professionals should recognize that this is a trend to watch.  In addition, public relations professionals need to determine how to best use each of these forms strategically for their clients as well as explore research possibilities with each of these platforms.

Before embarking on the Instagram/Pinterest train for brands, it would be important to determine whether or not Instagram or Pinterest would be good for your business or fits into the overall business plan and image of your company. However, if you have determined that both of these platforms are going to be good for your company, Simply Zesty has created some great essential guides for both of these platforms dedicated to marketing and public relations practices.

The guide for Pinterest focuses on tools you can use to curate pins across Pinterest and around the web like Pinstamatic and Repinly.  However, the guide also highlights strategies that PR firms and professionals can use that are innovative and relevant to reaching audiences with this particular platform. What I also like about the guide is that it highlights companies that are using the platform well like Honda and Sephora.  We have to look at these examples as inspiration and see what they did well and we can do for our clients to reach to this level.

Instagram can be used in a variety of ways, and brands are definitely jumping on board to use this platform and share their visual content to their various audiences across the social media platforms. Red Bull, Audi, and Starbucks are just a few companies that really have taken Instagram by storm with their visual content of their products, events, and providing users with a taste of what the brand lifestyle represents.

Personally, I think both platforms have many possibilities for both research and professional purposes. Pinterest is a great tool to bookmark and share infographics, which is what I have done for my account on Pinterest, and share these images with others on the site as well as Twitter.  Instagram allows us to edit and frame our pictures from various events from conferences, travels, foodie adventures, or good times with friends and family. In summary, there are many possibilities here for PR professionals to use for both of these platforms for research and practice in the field.  Understanding the importance of visually sharing and telling your story across multiple platforms is key when it comes to Instagram, but strong curation skills is essential to inspire others through visual pins with Pinterest.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen