By Amanda
Pinterest, an o
nline pin board that allows users to organize and share images, is taking the social media scene storm and many businesses are jumping on the pinboard bandwagon to claim their piece of the action. Perhaps you’re one of them. Or, maybe you’re hearing a lot about it and you’re trying to decide if it’s right for you.
We’ve been using Pinterest for Strella Social Media and several of our clients. It’s still too early to tell what the lasting results will be, but we can say our clients gain the most interaction when they ‘pin’ regularly, remain active and engaged, and pin their content. It also helps to follow others and re-pin their content.
Just like other social media channels, consistency is crucial. If you pin something, it can become old news within a day – or even a few hours. Engaging with others on the site is important because you want others to see that you’re interested in what they are pinning, not just pushing your own pins. Pinterest is a great way to drive traffic to your blog or website – simply include a compelling photo with the blog and ‘wa-la.’ We recommended following new people and following others back frequently – the more exposure you receive, the better.
If you’re just starting out on Pinterest, here are a few tips to maximize your presence:
- Create a strong profile
- Use boards to highlight products
- Use boards to highlight other interests related to your brand
- Use pins to drive traffic to website, Facebook, LinkedIn, blog, etc.
- Pin blog content with a keyword-laden message
- Follow, like, re-pin, and interact with others
It's little preliminary to say what the future will hold for Pinterest, but it doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon. Pinterest offers a convenient web-based shopping experience and allows consumers to share ideas. As we pin things, we’re a making a virtual collection. It’s a great source of ideas for special occasions, and gifts. If you can make your business ‘pin-able,’ Pinterest could be the ultimate sharing and shopping site.
Are you using Pinterest for your business? What are your experiences?
I haven't been using it yet for myself beyond personal needs. It's tougher for those in service based businesses, though I have a lot of ideas for info-graphics about writing. I've advised a few clients on getting the most out of their pins. Aside from created relevant, interesting pins that lead people to a web or product page, a couple of tips that can help get you noticed: create vertical images to gain more real estate on the board (it'll be larger than other pins and more visible, just make sure it looks good) and, in addition to key words, put your website in the caption. You can link the actual pin to a more specific page. With repins, this should help boost search engine rank.
Thank you so your comment. You are correct, with a service business it is more difficult to use Pinterest. These types of businesses have to get more creative if they wish to use this platform. Making your pins more visually appealing will help to get them re-pinned and having a good description will also help. I have seen many pins with just a period in the description or "love this." These kinds of descriptions will not be categorized well. If you want your pins to be searchable you must put a description in that someone would be looking for. Also, good point on putting your web link in the caption. The more visual the link the better chance you have that people will click on it. Thanks again for the comment.