“I found it on Pinterest” or “just look it up on Pinterest” We’ve all heard these sentences from colleagues, friends and family before, or you’ve read about it on blogs and you’ve been hooked on it ever since discovering the DIY sections, recipes ideas and cute baby elephant photos. I know it’s magical and we all love it.
So how can you as a small business owner use Pinterest to your advantage?
Before you start “pinning” it’s important to understand what Pinterest is all about and how you can use it as a great tool to connect with your users, create brand awareness or generate leads. Pinterest gives you a platform to engage with users and showcase your content, whilst directly connecting with your users who can then become brand advocates for you. As a business this is your chance to get discovered and connect with new users on an emotional level. Rather than simply posting content around your products you can post content that creates a feel around your brand by posting content connected to the lifestyle, narrative and aesthetics associated with your brand.
You can create as many Pin boards as you want which is great for organization. For example, if you are in the travel industry you can create a board and label it “Travel Inspiration” or another board “Travel Tips” and fill these boards with related content.
Other Pinterest users can then interact with you through liking, repining and by commenting on your stuff. It’s a very interactive network. Whilst Social Media Channels such as Facebook and Twitter are used to socialize, check in with friends and start conversations, Pinterest’s over 70 million users log in to discover new outfits, recipes, DIY or get inspired in some way.
What’s great about Pinterest is that every Pin includes a link, leading back to the original source of the image. As a marketer this is great as we love when people share our content and you as a business owner can directly connect Pins back to your website.
Another reason why I totally love Pinterest is that it’s a great place to discover new trends. From marketing to DIY, fashion and beyond you can discover what’s currently trending and what people love to share. You are able to follow and observe your followers and potential users and see what inspires them. This gives you an opportunity to understand your followers (target market) wants and needs, what’s hot today and use this information to position your own services and products.
I hope this helps you to understand the vital part Pinterest plays in today’s Social Media driven marketplace, so are you ready to get pinning? For more information email nami@marketingfuel.co.nz
