Pinterest has been getting a lot of interest lately. This new social media platform is a virtual pinboard, for visually organizing and sharing all the beautiful, interesting, innovative, inspirational things you find on the web.
Personally, I find the social media site pretty captivating. I will log on and find myself looking at pins for hours. So how do you utilize the new hottest social network for your business? Here are some helpful tips to get you started.
1. Getting Started: Pinterest is currently, invitation-only. You can either request an invitation directly from Pinterest, which can take awhile, or you can ask someone you know on Pinterest to invite you. If you are setting up a Pinterest account for your business, make sure you use the same email address that is linked to your business Twitter account. That way you can sign up through the Twitter option and tie Pinterest to your business Twitter. Pinterest has not created brand pages yet, so you cannot link Pinterest to your Facebook business page. Before creating an account and investing time, make sure you are a good fit for Pinterest. The majority of Pinterest users are looking for cooking ideas, decorating inspiration or clothing trends. If your brand does not match with the Pinterest Demographic, it might be beneficial to spend your time elsewhere.
2. The Lingo: Some key words you should know when navigating Pinterest.
- A Pin is when you add an image to Pinterest. It can be added using a Pin It button or uploaded from your computer.
- Pinning is the act of sharing content.
- Pinboard is a board with a set of pins. The board can be created on any topic and a user can have as many pins to a board as they want.
- Pin it is button that will live on another companies website to allow users to share the item on their Pinterest. The Pin It button will always link back to the site it came from.
- Repin is adding an image you find while browsing Pinterest to your own board. Repins maintain the source-link of the image no matter how many times it is repinned.
- Pinner is a person who shares content on Pinterest.
3. Pinterest Etiquette: Pinterest has outlined some rules for their users to follow. An important rule to look at when monitoring the Pinterest account for your business is “Avoid Self Promotion”. I would recommend posting visuals that pertain to your company along with unique finds.
4. Posting Content: Post visuals users will want to share. This can be unique photos, infographics and data, do-it-yourself ideas, ebooks, visuals from your blog, photos of your company’s culture, etc. Posting content others will want to share will increase your following.
5. Integrating: It is important to integrate a Pin It button onto your website, so people can share your content directly with their Pinterest account. This will also create a source-link that will bring traffic back to your site. “Early research shows that Pinterest is more effective at driving traffic compared to other social media sites, even Facebook.” (Hubspot.com)
Check back for more marketing tips.
