By Katie Rompel, Senior Art Director, Dalton Atlanta
Pinterest launched in 2010 and has been the fastest growing social media site to date. With more than 11 million visits each week, now businesses are trying to figure out how to be a part of the whirlwind.
Pinterest is a site where users can save, upload, sort, and manage images and video. Content can be found almost anywhere, from uploading your own personal photos or video to bookmarking an image from anywhere on the Web. The idea of the company was to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.”
For businesses it’s important to connect the dots between a physical location or website and your Pinterest account, but avoid self-promotion. This can be tricky, but can be done by getting creative with the visual content. The goal is to gain brand recognition, drive traffic back to your website, and convert new visits to leads, or potential customers.
B2B companies can lack content due to the fact that they sell products or services that are difficult to represent visually. Then what’s the best way around that? You can create content that speaks to the company’s culture. Incorporate visuals from company events or blog articles that point back to that article. Also, you can add infographics or visual industry data. You can also request that customers pin images that showcase the lifestyle they enjoy because of your brand.
Here are nine ways to boost your business with Pinterest.
Is Pinterest right for my business?
Here is a great visual example to help you decide if your business should get an account.
Infographic: Should your business be on Pinterest?
If Pinterest is right for your business, how do you get started? How do you reach your audience and make sure your account is helping to convert those viewers and followers into clients?
Here are a few easy steps.
Create visual content that you think your prospects will find interesting. Choose things that speak to the culture of your business. Just like any social networking site, gaining followers is the key to building sustainability. Building reach can be done a few different ways:
1) Promote your Pinterest page using other social media sites.
2) Add a “Pin It” button to your website
3) Create unique boards on specific topics to reach those who are passionate about that certain topic. You can use keywords you already use in your SEO strategy, which can help your reach.
As with any marketing activity, you need to track and analyze your participation. Sites are popping up to allow a company to add analytics to their Pinterest site to measure the impact of it. Below are a few examples of those companies:
PinReach—Helps you understand activity, measure impact, and gauge your success.
Pinstamatic—Allows you to add calendar dates, Twitter profile links, sticky notes and websites to your boards.
Pinerly—Enables you to add a comprehensive analytic dashboard to your account. It graphically measures click-throughs, likes, and repins for campaigns created through the service, which makes Pinterest for business a good idea for brands.
