Pinterest is a great tool for sharing interesting images and ideas, but sometimes you might not want to share. For example, say your company has a project where the organizational capabilities of pinning would be useful, but you don’t want the whole wide world to see your confidential matters.
Now Pinterest is offering a new option that allows for private collaboration. The social media site recently introduced Secret Boards, which are only visible to the creator and any collaborators they invite.
While the intended core users may be individuals concealing surprise parties or guilty pleasures, these Secret Boards have plenty of potential applications in the business world. For example, as reported on Ogilvy & Mather’s blog, job seekers can brand and market themselves to potential employers by sharing access to a Secret Board tailored into a visual resume. We see this innovation as a growth outlet for creative business thinking. Following are five examples of how brands and business can put the Secret Boards to work.
1.) Collaboration – Pinterest’s Secret Boards can be used internally to collaborate on projects with different team members. Project managers can also use the boards to open communication when working with another vendor; it closes the gap on access to materials for all involved. Additionally, the boards can be used for team inspiration. Companies can utilize the tool to build a mood board for the brand or use it to help brainstorm for an upcoming campaign.
2.) Market Research – Secret Boards allow for companies to organize market research materials without sharing that information with the rest of the Pinterest world, especially competitors.
3.) Product Launch Strategy & Planning – Product launches are typically tightly held secrets until the day of the launch. The Secret Boards allow product management teams to brainstorm, research, develop and plan without the risk of leaked ideas.
4.) Content Gathering – Secret Boards are great tools for pinning evergreen stories or content. For example, social media managers can pin content to use at a later date when it’s more timely or relevant.
5.) Personalization – People love when things are personalized and made specifically for them. Secret Boards allow marketers to create and pitch completely personalized strategies and ideas to current and prospective clients. With just a click, board contributors can secretly share concepts, articles, images, videos and other content with other invited members to build brand strategies for clients or future clients.
How could your business use these Secret Boards to build your brand?