Pinterest and Crisis Communications in PR
Pinterest is a rising star in social media thanks to its unique visual elements and social sharing dynamics. The network recognized a niche in the amount of photos that users share and made an awesome albeit unique platform directly for this purpose. People love visuals and Pinterest satisfies this desire by providing today's social centric audiences with a great tool to bring awareness or 'interest' to virtually any topic.
The most fascinating aspect of today's communication tools is the transition from pure text to interactive elements that take advantage of the power of visualization, imagery, storytelling, and creativity. Social media takes this arena a step further by integrating the conversational component. Pinterest is a tool that merits special attention through its ability to add a nice visual touch to any topic at hand making it important for marketers and PR practitioners to focus on intertwined social communication.
Picasso couldn't have imagined such a tool.
Crisis communicators are interested in channels of communication that allow for additional information, expertise, and answers in the wake of a crisis. Pinterest is one of these channels that makes it easy to tell the real story. A few possibilities come to mind that would demonstrate the power of Pinterest:
BP could use Pinterest to post pictures of its clean up efforts and safety measures.
Coke could use Pinterest to offer visuals into the world of its WWF collaboration and the polar bears themselves and perhaps tackle its white can debacle. The NBA could offer backstage pics that invite fans to see the NBA like never before. Just a few pinteresting ideas.
A combination of creativity, visual aptitude, storytelling ability, and passion comprise just the right collection of skills that are sure to propel brands to trailblazer status when it comes to using Pinterest for crisis communications, public relations, social business, and beyond.
