The Power of Pinterest: Professionals should take notice.
Pinterest is now the third most popular social network in the U.S. in terms of traffic. It is over 17 million users and growing rapidly. The sites is retaining and engaging users as much as 2-3 times more efficiently than Twitter was at a similar time in its history. For many it is being used actively as search engine. As of August 2012, Pinterest is now sending more traffic to publishers than organic Yahoo search results.
In a very short time, Pinterest has become an essential in digital marketing. The key is to figure out how your business can best use the platform for your own promotional efforts.
The beauty of Pinterest is that it captivates followers with an array of sensational imagery that allows them to build their brand and engage with their customers in a personal and cost effective way. Companies large and small are utilizing and integrating Pinterest into their existing social media network.
What makes Pinterest so compelling is that it is a very positive, uplifting community. It is more about inspiring others and discovering new interests than about sharing opinions. A great plus is that is incredibly easy and even fun to use.
Getting Started:
If you are a beginner, it couldn’t be easier. You simply sign up, follow people, create boards and pin/repin content.
Consider setting up a Yahoo or Gmail account just for social media. It is similar to FACEBOOK and TWITTER in that you will get a lot of emails that someone re-pinned something or is following you. The emails are very repetitive of what is already on your personal dashboard. It is not possible for anyone to contact you directly through Pinterest. The only way to reach you is through the information you choose to put in your personal profile or page links to pins from your website. If you don’t check your social media account regularly – you will not miss an important message.
The more you use Pinterest, the more you will see the clever ways that others use it as well. There are some pretty amazing pinners out there. When you first sign up they start you out by following a few of the more active pinners. You can keep them, delete them or follow your own. The big idea is to follow people who you know and/or follow people who have similar interest as you. The whole thing is one big inter-linking network. If you find a pinner you like you can choose to “follow all” or just select boards.
Organization is Key.
Your pins will show up in reverse chronological order. The most recent pins will always be at the top of your board. You can easiliy move your pins between boards (or folders), select the main cover photo you want to represent each board, and you can move or organize your boards anyway you want. The most highly-followed pinners have VERY organized boards – not just a lot of random pins. They are very choosy about the quality of images they pin.
To Create or Curate:
With a little creativity, you can use Pinterest to drive lots of traffic and sales back to your website. Over 80% of pins are repins, this demonstrates the tremendous sharing and “viral nature” of the Pinterest community. If you are creating original content you are definitely in the driver’s seat. Curating has its benefits too, but original pins are more likely to drive business your way.
Since at first you will probably be curating here are a few tips to keep in mind.
- Anytime you are logged into Pinterest you ONLY get the pin-feeds from those you follow. To see everything you need to be logged out or go to the EVERYTHING button at the top.
- In order to find pins on a certain subject, there is a search bar that gives results in PINS | BOARDS | PEOPLE.
- To find other great pins without using the search engine check to see if it has been re-pinned, then check out the boards of who was re-pinned it. Also check the boards of the original pinner.
Be Strategic:
As a professional person or organization, always keep in mind you are pinning for business — not for personal use. You should have a specific strategy or game plan for how you pin and integrate it in to your social media strategy. If you want to pin for personal use you should set up separate account.
When creating your boards, consider what would be of interest to your target audience. For inspiration, search around the site to see what others are doing with their boards. Your business doesn’t need to be product-based in order to take advantage of what the site offers.
Being professional is important, but don’t be all business. Be human. Be funny. Be inspirational. Whatever reflects your corporate culture.