MARKETING SPOTLIGHT- Nordstrom Continues its Pinterest Marketing

Nordstrom was one of the first major companies to embrace Pinterest, and it has become notorious for using it to advertise the latest fashion trends and store promotions. This month is no different as it markets its annual Anniversary Sale.

Every year, Nordstrom holds its Anniversary Sale, where  select merchandise for the coming fall season is released and specially priced for just a few weeks. The sale is held in store and online, where consumers can easily take advantage of the sale up to midnight on the final day of the sale. Nordstrom typically markets the sale well, traditionally and digitally. The company  sends  out fliers to those who have signed up for their mailers and offers prominent displays  promoting the sale outside of their store. Online, Nordstrom promotes the sale to their Twitter and Facebook followers. Now, with its increasing popularity, Nordstrom has begun marketing the sale via their Pinterest page.

The sale is marketed with four boards at the top of their Pinterest profile, spelling out the word SALE. Each board contains photos with links to items centered around a specific topic to the board. For example, the items pinned to the “S” board are shoes, and items pinned to the “A” board are “accessories”. The boards have received thousands of likes and repins, which is a great thing for Nordstrom. The more repins and likes they receive, the more their items show up in the feed of followers to those who have repinned and liked the Nordstrom items. This exposes the sale to more people and helps drive e-commerce sales on Nordstrom.com.

To further market their Annual Sale, Nordstrom has released a Pinterest pinning contest. Users have to repin three items from Nordstrom.com onto one of their Pinterest boards, then send over the link to this board and their contact information to Nordstrom. The winner gets a $1,000 gift card to Nordstrom. Throughout this contest, the Anniversary Sale is promoted via images and links.

Nordstrom truly has embraced Pinterest and has developed a smart Pinterest strategy. By organizing pins to promote sales and tying in interactive contests, Nordstrom keeps users engaged while driving traffic to their e-commerce site.  They see great responses from users and display how Pinterest can be an integral part of marketing campaigns.

– Bryan Nagy