How HubSpot & GE Prove There's A Place For B2B Brands On Pinterest

From fashion to home décor to meals that make your mouth water, Pinterest is an eye-catching display of beautiful things. The platform is a no-brainer for B2C brands like makeup giant Sephora, handcrafted goods site Etsy, and recipe resource AllRecipes. Their content inherently has great visuals, typically because their visual is their product. But what about the B2B brand, especially those whose content isn’t always visual, or “pinnable”, by nature? There’s room for them on Pinterest, too—and these brands prove it.

HubSpot

HubSpot’s Pinterest account offers a ton of resources, including e-books, webinars, templates and more, all with strong graphics. They have a fantastic arsenal of content to offer, and what takes their Pinterest presence to the next level is the way their brand personality shines through. The last sentence in their Pinterest bio is “We also like to have some fun!” and they follow that through with entertaining boards like “Awful Stock Photography” and “Bad Marketing Kittens”. It’s not just catchy content; even these just-for-fun boards don’t stray far from the business HubSpot is in. They show their personality in boards like “Behind the Scenes @ HubSpot” and strike a balance by staying strictly business on other boards like “Books for Marketers” and “Wonderful Webinars“.
Overall, HubSpot has managed to make Pinterest a marketing tool that showcases their work and makes you feel like they’d be fun to work with—all despite the fact that they don’t sell a tangible product. As a software company, at first HubSpot would seem like a complete mismatch for a visually-based social network like Pinterest. But with their smart and creative approach, HubSpot proves that’s just not so.

GE

GE’s Pinterest mantra is “Pinning things that inspire us to build, power, move & cure the world.” That sounds outstanding; who wouldn’t want to see what that’s all about? That statement is powerful because it explains what can be expected from GE’s Pinterest account and makes people want to be part of it. Since the GE brand is both B2C and B2B, this type of statement also helps nicely bridge the two.
Their boards range from serious business (such as “Cancer Pintherapy”, a GE Healthcare-focused board) to more light-hearted (“Mind=Blown” includes fascinating science facts). A board named “Hey, Girl” puts a twist on the typical Ryan Gosling memes by, for example, using an image of Edison and the words “Hey girl, no one can hold an incandescent light bulb to you.” GE is jumping on a popular trend while also owning it—a brilliant (yeah, pun intended) implementation of visual content. “Badass Machines” showcases some of the amazing technology GE has developed. All of their Pinterest content works together to push their cool factor equal to their geek factor while showcasing the breadth and depth of their work in ways that can go head-to-head with anything in Pinterest’s stream of visual goodies.

Move over, B2C.

Pinterest isn’t the right answer for every business, but whether you’re an industry giant like GE or a small company, you don’t need to count yourself out of Pinterest simply because you’re B2B-focused. When you’re developing your Pinterest strategy, think about the lessons role model brands like HubSpot and GE have taught by example:

• Start with a strategy that ties your presence to your business. If it’s not immediately clear, also include a statement that clarifies what you’ll be up to on Pinterest.
• Be open-minded about what’s pin-worthy. Look at the content you already have and determine what’s pinnable. If it’s not already pinnable, what can you do to add great graphics that’ll stand out on Pinterest?
• Create ways to showcase your brand personality. Let that special element that makes your brand unique be reflected in your pinned content, the boards you create, and the names you use.

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Have you encountered any other stellar examples of B2B brands that stand out on Pinterest (or maybe you’re one of them)? We’d love to hear about your favorites and what makes them great.