If you’re tired of trying to keep up with all of the social media platforms, you might think you’re not ready to hear about Pinterest. But don’t brush off Pinterest just yet – this social network could be the next great marketing tool for your small business. Pinterest ranks among the most popular forums for social media users, along with Facebook and Twitter. Besides being a lot of fun to use, Pinterest can drive plenty of traffic to your website. In fact, early research shows that Pinterest is more effective at generating traffic than Facebook.
How Does Pinterest Work?
The concept behind Pinterest is simple – Internet users see all kinds of images that appeal to them, but they are often so busy they never come back to an image again. Pinterest allows users to create inspiration boards and ‘pin’ images to the boards to return to later. It’s kind of like cutting pages out of magazines – without all the mess. You can insert Pinterest’s ‘Pin It Button’ right into your browser’s bookmarks bar to easily pin images and videos as you browse the web. Pinning an image shares it with your followers and other Pinterest users. You might wonder what makes Pinterest a social network. Well, other users can not only ‘repin’ your image to their own boards – they can also ‘like’ it, comment on it or share it via Facebook, Twitter or email. Pins generally link back to the original source of the image, and therein lies the key to driving traffic to your company’s website. Pins highlight your website’s content and allow users to visit your page in only one click.
Getting Started
To get started, visit Pinterest’s sign-up page and join using Facebook, Twitter or email. To enhance the brand identity that you have outlined in your business plan, use your company name (or part of it) as your Pinterest username. Complete your profile, including a company description, logo and your website address.
8 Tips to Using Pinterest Effectively
Through their pinboards, Pinterest users provide a look at their lifestyles (or desired lifestyles). By sharing images, they hope to connect to others with similar interests and goals. Keeping this in mind, use these tips to get the most out of your Pinterest marketing.
- Create high quality images. If you have a blog, use strong images to highlight the content of your posts. Pin the images to your pinboards to create a link back to your website. Consider providing visuals of industry data as well as photographs and illustrations.
- Connect with your target audience. While Pinterest is regularly used for promotional purposes, the social network discourages self-promotion, and users are turned off by companies who use the forum only to sell their wares. Think about the type of product or service you offer and the lifestyle it suits. Pin high quality images from your website, but make sure you pin lots of other interesting images that suit your brand too.
- Identify several themes that make sense for your business. Then set up pinboards under those themes. Create boards based on core keywords you have identified in your SEO strategy too.
- Populate your boards with lots of striking images before you seek followers.
- Use hashtags to tag your pins and make them search-friendly.
- Promote a new campaign by creating a pinboard about it and tagging it with the same hashtags you use on Twitter and Google+.
- Add the Pinterest follow button to your website. Ensure there’s a ‘Pin-it’ button on your blog posts too.
- Find like-minded users and follow them or some of their individual boards. ‘Like’ and comment on other users’ pins. They might be inclined to have a look at your boards in return.
Finally, be sure to keep your account active by regularly pinning images and interacting with other users.