Pinterest and Instagram Marketing...
How two ingenious ladies built a million
dollar company from their basement

To post original photos on Pinterest and Instagram, you need a camera. Dah... 

It all started when Jenna Walker's father-in-law found a camera sitting next to a dumpster in a shiny metal case with lenses and all. It was abandonned by a local hospital who said they could keep it.

A photographer's journey began...

Few multi-million dollar online companies can be traced to tangible products made from digital photos. But that's exactly how two sisters, Kathie Turmes and Jenna Walker, built their million dollar company.

After one pin on Instagram became viral, their company, Artifact Uprising went from basement startup to multi-million dollar company seeing triple digit growth in under 18 months.

Artifact Uprising's break came in October 2012, when Holly Becker at decor8blog.com announced how she turned her images on Instagram into a beautiful little book.

The blog went viral with more than 48,000 hits on Artifact Uprising.

Self-fulfilling viral marketing products
on Pinterest and Instagram

On their boards, they share their products and brand identity. Most important, they share their products and how to use them to inspire others.

Kate Turmes says, “Beautiful, contextual product shots drive the most traffic and revenue. We’ll typically launch 3-4 different product Pins and put all of our promotion behind the best-performing Pin. The more iconic and beautiful, the better the performance. Pins with how-tos also send Artifact Uprising traffic. Since they’re all about photography, Pins that link to guides for taking better iPhone photos, for example, do well.

Artifact Uprising adds Pins throughout the day—most often in the morning and afternoon. They also focus on seasonality, capturing interest in holidays and other relevant topics during the seasons. They do this without losing sight over their own brand guidelines, focusing on quality over quantity.”

She adds, “We’ve found that Pinterest works as the motivational bookmark for these projects you aspire to create… It helps connect the dots between making projects a reality instead of a ‘someday.''

Here's a list of their products created all from digital photos...

  • softcover photo book
  • hardcover photo book
  • wood calender
  • square print set
  • wooden box
  • instagram friendly books
  • postcard pack
  • signature prints
  • gift card

Takeaway Marketing Lessons from
Artifact Uprising

Takeaway Marketing Lessons from Artifact Uprising

  • Beautiful, contextual product shots drive the most traffic and revenue
  • A/B testing and tracking of Pins on analytics helps you see see what customers respond
  • Pin throughout the day, morning and afternoon, and take note of seasonality and timely topics
  • Use analytics to learn what your customers are interested in and create content in those categories out product sentiment
  • Pinterest-focused emails and sections of the website perform well
  • Promote Pins to reach people looking for your stuff

Now you can adapt these same marketing strategies to your business and start making it more profitable.

Just Imagine Your Success And Do It Now,

P.S. Learn how to do Split Testing on Pinterest.