THE PREMIERE FULL-SERVICE PINTEREST MARKETING SOLUTION

Case Study: Swarovski – A Crystal Clear Pinterest Strategy

Swarovski Overview

Swarovski is an Austrian producer of luxury cut crystals: jewelry, watches, accessories, and sparkling crystal objects, like small crystal animals. Swarovski’s Pinterest account has capitalized on the glamorous lifestyle, weddings and fashion. With 27 boards, over 7 thousand pins, and over 1.5 million Pinterest followers, Swarovski is obviously doing something right.

Let’s look further into their Pinterest strategy to see exactly what they’re doing successfully in the world of Pinterest.

What Swarovski is doing right

On Pinterest, Swarovski does an amazing job at integrating products among beautiful non-brand related images.

We usually recommend a 20/80 rule of 20% brand content and 80% other content interspersed at a rate of 1 brand pin for every 5 pins.

By focusing on weddings in particular, Swarovski has reached a strong niche on Pinterest. Swarovski’s Wedded Bliss board is a great example of successfully incorporating product with inspiration.

Check the Rules First

In comparison to their competitors, Swarovski is dominating.

- Swarovski has over 1.5 million Pinterest followers, - Tiffany & Co. has 65k Pinterest followers, - Zales has 30k followers, - Blue Nile has 73k followers, - Baccarat has 600 followers, and - H.Samuel has 600 followers.

A key part to gaining a high following on Pinterest is promotion. Swarovski does a nice job of posting on Facebook and tweeting about Pinterest on their other social media accounts.

Swarovski has over 2.6 million Facebook likes, 120k Twitter followers, and 250k Instagram followers so their Pinterest gaining over 1.5 million followers is no surprise to me.

Very impressive! Their Facebook page also has a Pinterest app – awesome!

What makes Swarovski really unique in its Pinterest strategy is how they’ve ran a handful of Pinterest contests and a pin party!

We found four Swarovski Pinterest contests over the past few years.

By focusing their social media strategy on Pinterest, Swarovski has been one of the first companies to experiment with Pinterest contests.

Swarovski Pinterest contests:- Create Your Style: COLORful World

- Swarovski Elements “Jewels for every occasion”

- Swarovski’s 12 #Moments2Give Pinterest holiday contest (and Pin Party)

- Swarovski’s #SomethingSparkling Pinterest contest

What Swarovski could improve on

Although Swarovski is doing a fantastic job on Pinterest – there’s always room for improvement.

Swarovski has another Pinterest account dedicated to Create Your Style, a DIY, project-focused brand within Swarovski.

This Create Your Style Pinterest account has a little over 2k followers. Instead of creating a completely separate Pinterest account for Create Your Style, they should have made a Pinterest board dedicated to Create Your Style.

What Swarovski could improve on, cont…

I also noticed that their website’s product images aren’t compatible with the Pin It button. When I try to pin a pair of earrings from swarovski.com with my pin it button I see this:

No earrings show up when I try to pin using my Pin It button. This is unfortunate and mean less of Swarovski’s products will be shared on Pinterest.

PROS of Swarovski’s Pinterest Strategy

- Beautifully curated boards.

- Good about promoting their Pinterest on Facebook and Twitter. They also have a Pinterest FB app!

- Swarovski has ran a handful of unique and creative Pinterest contests.

- Beautiful, Pinterest-optimized inspirational wedding pins.

- Their Swarovski ♥ Bloggers board is a great way to personally connect with fans that blog, read style blogs, and who love fashion. A great board idea!

- A fairly good variety of board topics.

- Great job integrating products among inspirational pins. (20% products & 80% inspiration recommended).

Swarovski’s Wedded Bliss board is a beautiful board with products mixed in, and it follows the 20/80 rule!

- They should be pinning 5-10 more pins each day (15-25 pins daily is ideal).

- Only 27 boards, we recommend 30 to 40 boards with a variety of topics.

- Very few holiday or seasonal boards. They need a summer board at the top and a fall board in the making!

- Their website is not compatible with the Pin It button. Big issue!

- No Rich Pins.

- Their board covers could be better color coordinated. I recommend changing board covers once a week to keep things fresh.

CONS of Swarovski’s Pinterest Strategy

Conclusion

From pin parties and Pinterest contests to wedding boards and social media promotional posts, Swarovski has taken a strong and committed approach to Pinterest.

By highlighting their products amongst wedding inspiration and a glamorous lifestyle, Swarovski has done a great job with mixing in promotional pins 20% of the time and sharing other inspirational content 80% of the time, which is what we recommend to all brands.

Even better, Swarovski pins daily, runs regular Pinterest contests, and promotes their pins and boards on their other social media accounts. Swarovski has done a great job at a well-rounded Pinterest strategy and the results speak for themselves.

Conclusion, cont…

Any product or brand can have a strong presence on Pinterest, the key is keeping boards beautiful, seasonal, trendy, and unique.

Well done, Swarovski – your Pinterest strategy is crystal clear!

Swarovski promotes its Pinterest on Facebook.

Want to learn more about our network of Pinterest tastemakers?

Check out: hellosociety.com

HelloSociety is a full-service Pinterest marketing and technology firm that helps brands optimize their efforts through strategic partnerships with influential pinners, robust Pinterest analytics, creative consulting and more.

HelloSociety evolved from its roots in HelloInsights, a comprehensive analytics platform that launched in April 2012. For additional information, please visit www.hellosociety.com/

HelloSociety is a full-service Pinterest marketing and technology firm that helps brands optimize their efforts through strategic partnerships with influential pinners, robust Pinterest analytics, creative consulting and more.

HelloSociety evolved from its roots in HelloInsights, a comprehensive analytics platform that launched in April 2012. For additional information, please visit www.hellosociety.com/