The Juggernaut That Is Michael Kors' Pinterest

Michael Kors is a household name brand, and his fashion business selling designer goods like clothing, watches, shoes, and handbags has launched him to fame.

That sort of success doesn’t happen overnight, and it isn’t easily sustained. While having an incredible product is important, having the right marketing strategies in place to get the buzz happening and to keep it going is essential.

One area of marketing that the Michael Kors brand excels is Pinterest. The branded account has 237,000 followers to date, and currently attracts more than 1,500,000 views every single month according to the account’s current statistics. Even with big name recognition, there is clearly a lot that they’re doing right on Pinterest!

In this post, we’re going to take a close look at what we can learn from Michael Kors’ Pinterest marketing, showing you how you can adapt their best strategies (and correct their weaknesses!) for your own brand.

The Value Of Pinterest Marketing

Pinterest is an outstanding marketing platform, and it’s unfortunately often dismissed as a “women-only” platform that doesn’t have the same kind of reach as Facebook.

Pinterest is a unique social media site, prioritising saving and researching ideas instead of outward sharing on the part of users. This makes it more valuable for brands, who can position themselves as the solution that consumers are happily looking for.

That’s only half true. While Pinterest’s audience is definitely smaller than Facebook’s 1.52 billion daily active users, they’re coming in at a solid 250 million monthly active viewers with a growing, diverse, and engaged audience. This includes male subscribers, as 40% of all new signups are currently coming from men.

Though Pinterest’s audience is smaller than other platforms, but is also a pretty high-value one that’s also engaged. Consider the following statistics that come directly from Pinterest itself:

84% of Pinners are using the site when trying to research a buying decision
98% of users have purchased or tried something they discovered on the site

40% of all pinners have a combined household income of over 100K USD or more, giving them a relatively high disposable income

7 Things Michael Kors’ Pinterest Does Well

Pinterest is a platform that’s clearly used to research buying decisions, and Pinners are on the site at all stages of the digital sales funnel, ranging from browsing to find something that strikes their fancy to looking for specific products. Michael Kors’ Pinterest does several things exceptionally well to ensure that their content will get results, and clearly it has, with more than 1.5 million monthly visits (significantly exceeding their regular followers).

Let’s take a look at 7 things he does exceptionally well and how you can copy the same strategies for your own account.

1. He Chooses an Easily Identifiable Logo

Here at Social Media College, we’re all about establishing a strong foundation for your social media presence by starting with the basics. And one of the very first things you’ll do on any account you create is to choose the logo or profile picture you want to run with.

Kors’ staff chose well, opting for the brand logo, which is just the designer name. It’s clean, it’s recognizable even on small mobile screens, and because it’s consistent with other social profiles (like their Instagram below), people will know it’s you right off the bat.

Using your logo can also help with brand awareness and recognition, so keep things simple here. Pinterest gives you lots of other opportunities to let your creativity shine.

2. His Profile Bio is Strong

Again, strong foundations here: Kors’ bio section is completely filled out, and you’d maybe be surprised how many businesses didn’t take full advantage of this strategy.

Michael Kors uses a strong bio for his Pinterest account.

A complete bio on Pinterest should include:

A description of your brand. This one is simple and relatively search friendly, stating that it’s the official page of “designer Michael Kors.” This is pretty much a given for this account, but it’s important for smaller, lesser-known businesses to fill this out.
A general location. Even if you’re an exclusively ecommerce business, put in where your home base is.
A link to your site. Never neglect this, because many interested users may want to travel directly to your site; don’t deprive them of that opportunity.

3. The Account Has Been Verified

What’s often known as the “coveted blue checkmark” on other social media sites has become the coveted red checkmark on Pinterest. The tiny symbol, which shows up at the corner of your profile picture, will tell users that you’re exactly who you say you are, and that you’re important enough to get it.

Michael Kors Pinterest with verification mark.

Verification is meant for user protection, and it’s a quick way to establish credibility and trust right off the bat.

In order to start the verification process, you first need to claim your website through Pinterest. This is actually pretty simple; head to your Pinterest’s “Settings” and then find “Claim Website.” You’ll be asked to enter in your site’s URL.

Michael Kors claims his website through Pinterest. This is actually pretty simple; head to your Pinterest’s “Settings” and then find “Claim Website.”

After you do this, you’ll be given an HTML tag, or a snippet of code, which you simply have to place in your site’s <head> section. If this feels intimidating, you can use tools like WordPress plugins to help with this.

Have other accounts you need to claim, like an Etsy store or YouTube account? See how to set these up here.

4. He Uses Consistent Board “Covers”

There’s a lot to be said for consistency in design; it’s why we recommend using the same logo across multiple social accounts. Michael Kors’ account embraces this here, too, with a creative way to give his Pinterest something unique: dedicated board covers.

Each board has a cover that’s been converted to black and white, with the title of the board showing up in a white and striking font. This isn’t something you see too frequently, and it has a great effect on his overall Pinterest because it creates an elevated, intentional look that gives a powerful first impression.

Finding ways to set yourself apart that both contribute to your branding and make it look like you really invested time into this social account will benefit you. Customers can get uncomfortable seeing a lackluster, we-barely-tried account that has a few pins spread out between two sad-looking boards, so treat Pinterest like the investment it is.

5. The Board Names are Interesting

Remember how we said there was still some room for creativity on your Pinterest account? Your board names are a pretty good place to showcase what makes you different, and Kors’ account does this flawlessly.

His board featuring shoes has become “Sole Mates,” and his watch collection is featured under “Perfect Timing.” Small, clever puns add a more distinct flare that all point back to the fun, modern branding and help keep people engaged.

I do want to note that sometimes people will look specifically for boards that match their search phrases, so to maximise both creativity and search-friendliness, make sure that you’ve got keywords stuck in those board descriptions.

6. They Have Non-Branded Content

Social media marketing should never be all about you and your brand, as counterintuitive as that seems. You’ll often see best results if you feature some non-branded content that’s directly relevant to your target audience, keeping them engaged.

Kors’ account does this with boards like “Style Icons,” which showcase the classic style of old celebrities that many draw style inspiration from today.

Other strategies you can implement following the same basic idea include:

Creating group boards, collaborating with other influencers or brands that share your target audience.
Hosting a Pinterest contest and asking users to upload their content to your board.
Featuring user-generated content and/or reviews on a dedicated board.

7. They Tell Their Brand’s Story

Your brand’s story matters a great deal with your followers. Whether you have a long history that established credibility or a new, up-and-coming next-best-thing story users have to discover, you should make sure to feature it in your marketing content.

This can be difficult to do on Pinterest, which isn’t naturally much of a storytelling medium. This account, however, found a way to make it work.

The “Flashback” board is all about storytelling, sharing the brand’s “most memorable moments” and showing how Kors and his designs rose to fame. There are pictures taking us through his entire career, starting with him on his mother’s lap, progressing to old black-and-white pictures with Janice Dickinson before finally ending up with modern day milestones. Quick snapshots and succinct descriptions are all he needs to tell his story and keep people engaged.

Want to use Pinterest to build up your brand and attract potential customers instead of the other way around? Consider making some of the following changes when implementing your own strategy.

Is There Anything I Should Do Differently?

This account is obviously hugely successful by any definition of the word, and with such an incredible brand behind it, that’s no surprise. That being said, there are a few things that other business and social media marketers could tackle with a different approach, particularly if they aren’t already working with such an established brand and online presence.

Skip the All Caps

ALL CAPS is just too intense, and it can actually be more difficult for your viewers to read, which is the last effect you should be going for. All of Kors’ board names come with each letter capitalized, and it’s a little overwhelming at a first (and second) glance.

Opt for more conservative capitalization options, using either title case (“Around The World”) or sentence case (Around the world). It’s simpler, and it will look significantly better.

Use the Description to Better Proposition Value

Kors’ already has a fashion label and is a well-known brand, so his bio description really did everything that it needed to; it stated that the account was, in fact, his.

This won’t work for most brands, especially those getting started. For these accounts, it’s best to have a clear value proposition and an explanation of who you are and what makes you different.

This KitchenAid account makes sure to focus on their mission of cooking from the heart, and how food is an expression of love. They’re still an established brand, but this is a great example of how to position your brand story up front to convince users to see what else you have to offer.

Optimise More for Search Visibility

Search visibility is crucial, because people are using the platform to research buying decisions, meaning they’re actively looking for certain things. If your content isn’t fully optimised for search, you’ll miss out.

Kors’ account did have some measures in place to rank well in search, including having a few key phrases in boards or on pins. Overall, though, they focused on the same general keywords, and many smaller brands will benefit from opting to focus on a diverse range of specific keywords that their audience might be searching for.

Let’s look at an example. This wedding photographer makes sure to mention “wedding photographers” and “wedding videography” specifically instead of lumping them into “wedding photographers and videography,” knowing that each of those are keywords.

The same account features pin descriptions like “candid photography” and “wedding photoshoot,” both of which are terms their audience will be searching for.

Conclusion

Pinterest presents an enormous opportunity for businesses and brands who are looking to connect with new audience members, establish brand awareness, and, of course, hopefully sell goods for lots and lots of profit. Both organic marketing and the ad system are incredibly effective on this platform, particularly when you execute the right strategies well.

Michael Kors’ Pinterest executes so many of those strategies so, so well, giving businesses and social media marketers alike a great example to draw inspiration from. Kors’ branded account showcases the brand and product well, effortlessly combining content marketing, storytelling, and product promotion all into one.

Take the lessons you’ve learned from Kors’ account-- including what you should do and what, as a smaller brand, you shouldn’t-- and develop your own unique strategy and put you in front of interested, engaged Pinners. They’re researching products with their wallet half-out, after all; make sure that you’re the one they purchase from.

Ana Gotter

Social Media Marketing Specialist

Ana is a strategic content marketer specialising in business, finance, and marketing writing, though she's worked across a range of industries. She works from her home in Orlando with her three dogs.