You’ve probably heard of Pinterest but do you really know what it is or considered if it’s a place your business should have a presence?
Pinterest is another social media network but the best way to describe it is as a really cool shareable bookmark system. Remember when your mom found a recipe in a magazine, cut it out and “pinned” it to a cork board in the kitchen? Well that’s really what Pinterest allows its members to do except it’s not content from magazines and they aren’t pinning it to a corkboard.
When a user finds something on the internet that really engages them, like a recipe or a how-to or a complete biography of Che Guevara she can pin it (assuming the content has a Pinterest share button) to a board, or boards on their account. The “pin” has an image and description of the content and links back to the source.
OK So It’s A Fancy Bookmark…. How Can It Help Promote Your Business?
For starters Pinterest has 10 million users and growing (check out more Pinterest stats at the end of this blog). Because it is a social media site, all of a user’s boards and pins can be viewed and “re-pinned” by other members. It’s rather like a Tweet that gets retweeted except with a pin there is a link back to the source page. So yes there is value both in driving traffic, social media signals for search ranking purposes and for reputation and brand building.
Getting Started With Pinterest Marketing For Your Business
If it’s something you want to explore here’s a quick checklist on how to get started with Pinterest:
- The first step of course is to create a business account on Pinterest which includes verifying your website, including an image (logo) that represents your company and a brief description of what you are about and what you do.
- Add the Pinterest Pin button on all your content so that you or your visitors can pin it to your account.
- Pinterest is graphic heavy so you are going to want to have a source for high quality images.
- Create different “boards” on your account to showcase the various products or services you offer. Make sure when you pin an item it’s going to the appropriate board.
- Use the info Pinterest gives you regarding the people who have re-pinned your pins to determine who your audience is and what board categories they are repining to.
- Like any other social media platform you don’t want to just promote and promote. You want to engage with the community and switch up your pins to include items that promote the lifestyle behind your products. For example if you sell golf equipment, do a pin on a pro golfer or a tournament or the secrets of groundskeeping.
- Measure your progress by checking Google Analytics for referral sources and keyword searches coming from Pinterest.
Two important thing that you certainly want to consider before you jump into Pinterest marketing for your business. First, is your target market spending time on this social media platform? If your target market is spending time on Pinterest the next question you should ask is, “Do I have the time to actively participate in another social media platform?” Just like all the rest you have to dedicate time to contribute to Pinterest a few times a week. If you don’t have that time and you like the platform, then that time will either have to come from another project or you’ll have to hire Pinterest marketing experts to stay on top of it.
Questions?
We are always available to answer your questions about Pinterest or any other digital marketing campaign. Contact us or give us a ring and we will be happy to share our ideas. To get more great info about Pinterest, check out this Infographic that outlines some eye-popping stats about Pinterest in 2013.
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