How Do I Use Pinterest for Business?
In 2011, some social media forecasters predicted that Google + would lead the charge towards user engagement. But as social media enthusiasts will tell you, mass acceptance of Google+ didn’t happen last year. It was a different social network that came out of nowhere to capture people’s attention.
According to reports from Mashable and Experian Hitwise, Pinterest is now one of the top ten social networking sites. A reported 3.3 million users logged more than 421 million page views in October 2011.
Given the popular – and addictive! – nature of the visual bookmarking site, clients often ask us, “How do I use Pinterest for Business?” Here are three ways we’ve used Pinterest with our clients:
1. “Pin” all blog post pictures. Our best practices for writing blogs state that all entries should include an image to draw in the reader. “Pinning” the blog entry’s image creates a link from Pinterest directly to the entry. This way, Pinterest serves as a source of referral traffic to your blog.
2. Create boards featuring your products and services. If you’re a B2C company, this is a no-brainer. For a B2B organization, Pinterest allows for some added creativity. Consider adding photos of your subject matter experts, linking to company bios or whitepapers. Another idea is to add boards from your CEO’s perspective. For example, a board called “CEO John Smith’s Favorite Places,” could represent pictures of travel destinations.
3. Create a group board to increase engagement. Whether your goal is to encourage your employees to spread the word about your brand or receive feedback from current or potential customers, Pinterest allows for boards to have contributors. Consider hosting a group board so that your followers can add their own additions and pictures.
Before writing off Pinterest as a site simply for freshly-engaged women or people redecorating their houses, consider how it can both encourage interactivity and drive traffic to your blog. Get creative and start your own set of boards today.
If you’re excited to expand the influence of your company and achieve greater financial success through social media, now is the time to contact us! Keep up with Splash Media on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also find our YouTube channel and read our blog for the latest updates.
I’m glad you mentioned that Pinning the blog entry’s image creates a link from Pinterest directly to the entry. I will now take all the images from my blog posts and add them to my Pinterest account. Thank you so much for providing this useful information!
I honestly appreciate this post because I struggle with the thought of marketing on my wife and her friend’s favorite social outlet. It feels like I’m breaking up their tea party (just being honest). However, your points and strategies make sense, so I’ll give it a go…Do they really let guys in?? J/K
-Andrew
Can you setup a separate “board” for your business so it isn’t apart of your personal board?
Michael Sherman » We actually recommend that! We have Pinterest boards set up for our brands using the brand Twitter account. That way you can use your pins as tweets!
Great post! While my creation of a Bacon board and 1982 Topps Milwaukee Brewers board may not my attention, it’s obvious that Pinterest deserves our attention. I’m amazed at the explosion in usage by my Facebook women friends, who aren’t just signing up and using it — they are passionate and ADDICTED. That’s the key.
Something to be careful about for businesses: It’s my understanding that it violates Pinterest terms to create a board for business purposes. So I’m sure anyone could create a board for your brand if they are unrelated. But you shouldn’t. At least that’s my understanding. They want it to be natural.
My recommendation is to simply make your content pinnable and pin-worthy. Add the “Pin It” button, especially if you sell products that utilize dynamic imagery (fashion, food, design, etc.). And it could also be as simple as putting the Pinterest logo on your site and reminding people to pin your stuff. Can’t hurt!
Thanks for the great info!
Great pointers! Thanks for sharing!
Love it! thanks for sharing!
I had not thought about Pintrest at all but this makes sense. Kind of like facebook but for photos. I like it.
3 Trackbacks
[...] word says it all, and so does Mashable. I’m so in love with this social media platform, that I wrote about it for work. And I also created a dozen boards with several hundred pins. See for [...]
[...] now at 18.8 million users. ComScore went out of its way to highlight user engagement on Tumblr and Pinterest; people want to stick around, share media, post bite-sized thoughts on whatever is capturing their [...]
[...] Social Media Helpdesk: “How Do I Use Pinterest For Business?” [...]
Comments
Post a comment