Usually, I post pins from boards we’re following from our Apogee Results Pinterest account. In the past couple of weeks, though, I’ve personally started following a board that has made me pay attention, because quite frankly it’s an awesome use of social media.
First, some background.
I’ve been a fan of matchbox twenty (take note of how they’re using social media on their website) since 1996 when “push” was first released (back when they were known as matchbox20 *g*). Considering I cut my musical teeth on musicians such as Tom Petty, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, Bryan Adams, Foreigner and Bon Jovi with some Skynyrd and Nugent thrown in for good measure, it’s really no surprise that I fell in love with those five guys (they’re now down to four). Sixteen years later, they’re still my favorite band and “push” is still my favorite song. I follow them on Twitter and Facebook (Rob Thomas, too, FWIW), and back in college was a frequent poster on their fan club message boards. It’s safe to say I am totally a matchbox twenty fan girl. So again, it was no surprise that when they announced they had a Pinterest account I immediately started following them.
From a fan’s standpoint, I love the fact that they’re interacting and releasing a new album later this year. From a marketer’s standpoint, however, I am absolutely loving what they’re doing via social media, especially on Pinterest.
These guys (or whoever’s doing their marketing, I know Paul and Rob are very involved in the band’s social media interactions) know their audience. Anyone who’s ever been to one of their live shows would agree with me when I say that their fan base is at least 70% female. Yes, there are men who like them, but the overwhelming majority of their fans are female. Considering most of their fans seem to be around my age (late 20s to late 30s), Pinterest was a brilliant move on their part, since that’s where a lot of us 30-something year old women are.
So how are they using Pinterest? Their boards are clearly defined and have very definite purposes, from promotion of their latest single to fan interaction. For example:
1. She’s So Mean. Scheduled to be their first single off the new album, “She’s So Mean” will be released later this month. Their She’s So Mean board is an awesome example of fan interaction via Pinterest. Basically, people will pin photos with the hashtag #shessomean, provide a caption or reason for tagging it as such, and the band will repin it to their She’s So Mean board. One of the biggest problems marketers face on Pinterest is a lack of fan interaction. Yes, it’s great when fans repin your pins, but interaction beyond that has been hard to come by for a lot of marketers.
2. “Found Twenty” Fan Photos. This is a board that’s crossed over from Twitter and Facebook, which I love. The basic premise is that fans in the past have tweeted or posted to Facebook photos with things that feature the number 20, like interstate signs and such. Again, the band uses a hashtag–#foundtwenty–in order to increase and encourage fan participation. And again, I love that it’s one more way for fans to interact via Pinterest (and other social media outlets–it’s a great example of consistency across social media channels, which is also super important to marketers).
3. Official Music Videos. Incorporating video into your Pinterest account? Yes, please! They also posted some videos I didn’t know existed, which was pretty cool. Posting videos has also encouraged fans to comment on the pins, which is just one more form of fan interaction, plus every video goes back to their YouTube channel, giving them some extra link juice. Every video except for one has 30+ repins, with “If You’re Gone” leading the pack at 77. Not bad for a video that was pinned two weeks ago.
4. Lyrical Photos. matchbox twenty has always been a band that’s embraced its fans (at least, that’s how it’s always seemed to me). And goodness knows, fans can be a little, well, fanatical. Some are creative. Some are a bit, well, “emo” for lack of a better term. Right after I graduated from college, I went through this phase of creating LiveJournal user icons in Photoshop that were usually comprised of a faerie and super sad and depressing song lyrics (lots of “push,” along with “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon5, if I recall correctly). At 23 I was about as emo as they came. Basically, this board embraces the emo in their fans, not to mention the creativity and simple love of the band’s lyrics (which are admittedly awesome). I love that the band is giving a hat tip to their fans, and showcasing the fan rather than the band.
5. Live. This board is basically live shots from their various tours, aka “time to drool over Rob Thomas.” Fans appreciate that, too. From a marketing standpoint, the photos do a great job of capturing the essence of a matchbox twenty live show–energetic with a focus on the music rather than crazy pyrotechnics.
6. Matchbox Art. Again, the guys are allowing their fans’ creativity to shine through. The best form of marketing is word of mouth, we all know that. Showing fan love and appreciation is one of the best forms of word of mouth marketing out there for a band, IMO.
7. Webisodes. This is the band’s newest board, but the one I’m guessing fans will probably gravitate towards the most over the next few months, as this is where the band is posting sneak peeks at their new album and going behind the scenes and into the studio. I know I watched it as soon as it was posted.
This is the first band I’ve followed on Pinterest, and is the first band I know of that’s actively on Pinterest (I know some musicians have their own personal boards, but not one that’s dedicated specifically to marketing themselves and interacting with fans). Like I said before, matchbox twenty obviously knows their audience. The teenage girls and women in their early 20s who fell in love with them in the late 90s are now grown ups, and most likely are married with kids. Those are the women on Pinterest–the women looking for new recipes, summer activities and tips on braiding their daughters’ hair. Or they’re like me, and use it to post snarky memes and things to do with used wine bottles. The point is, though, their fan base has grown up, and so has the band. I’m so happy as a fan and a marketer to see that they’re going where their fans are, encouraging fan interaction and using Pinterest in a pretty cool way. As a marketer, I’ve definitely taken note. As a fan? Yeah, I’m totally squeeing with fan girl joy.
Tags: friday feature, pins of the week, pinterest
