By now you may have heard of Pinterest, the latest social media craze, but may not be entirely sure what it is or how it can benefit your business. Pinterest is a photo-rich platform that works on the concept of ‘pinning’ visually-pleasing images; allowing users to curate collections of images from across the web and categorise them on their own virtual pin board.
Since launching in March 2010, the site has continued to grow steadily via word of mouth. To put Pinterest into a little more context, according to a report by Shareaholic, the site is now driving more referral traffic than Google+, YouTube, Reddit, and LinkedIn combined. It’s fair to say that it’s gained a pretty strong foothold in the social spectrum.
How can it benefit my business?
Not only are Pinterest users a highly engaged audience but using the social media platform as a tool to grow and promote your business has many other benefits too:
- SEO/ Link building – Posting images alongside keyword rich terms can be an effective tool, as re-pins work as inbound links, therefore, giving you a far better search engine ranking. One vital thing to keep in mind when ‘pinning’, is to make sure that the picture is worthy of being re-pinned. Posting an image with a keyword won’t be worth the time if it’s not a picture that will earn some re-pins.
- Driving traffic – Make sure that every one of your pins includes a link back to your site. Also, make sure that your Pinterest profile is as detailed as possible to ensure that users know exactly who you are and what you’re about.
- Brand building – The more high-quality the images you pin, the more re-pins you’ll get, and in turn, the more organic exposure you will gain for your brand (without needing to advertise). Your Pinterest boards can help to build a strong reputation, whilst giving your brand a personality too.
How can I use Pinterest for my business?
Unlike Twitter and Facebook, Pinterest isn’t about the things you have, it’s about the life you’d like to have. It centres very much on long-term aspirations, making it perfect for reaching out to singles looking for their own ideal – a relationship.
The key to using Pinterest to promote your business is to think outside of the box. Instead of using it as a tool for self-promotion, use it to excite your audience with visually stimulating ideas. Creating boards such as ‘Date ideas’, ‘First date outfits’, ‘Inspirational dating quotes’ and so on, will appeal to your target audience by showing them that you understand their ideals and what they’re looking for.
So why not create some boards and get pinning? A word of warning though: pinning can become seriously addictive! Trust me!
Here are some brands and business’ that are already on Pinterest and using it well; Mashable and EConsultancy.
Amy Loudon, Content and Copywriting Coordinator, WhiteLabelDating.com