Pinterest, the online scrapbooking platform is growing in popularity with many businesses now adding it to their online marketing strategy.
Semiocast, a social media research firm, showed that Pinterest had 70 million users, (October 2013) with growing user base outside the US.
Pinterest has become a great way for business to increase engagement with prospective customers and to showcase products. It’s also an effective way to drive web traffic and gain visibility with stakeholders.
From the outset, Pinterest’s user base was dominated by women, however, as the potential of the platform is taken up by more businesses its user base is bound to expand considerably.
Business can use Pinterest in the same way as Slideshare communicates corporate and product content such as presentations, videos and articles.
Pinned for success
There are a number of ways that business can use Pinterest. But before jumping in, it would pay to consider an overall strategy for this social media platform to ensure longer term success.
Here are some tips that may help you in planning your pin-journey.
Narrative wins
Pinterest has been has been taken up by business with growing success due to its potential to humanise communications and, therefore, influence stakeholders. Brand value can be built through the use of online narrative that conveys the “personality” of your company that invites greater engagement.
Website changes – It makes sense to make it easier for visitors to access your existing online assets (such as your website) so they can pin content to Pinterest. To streamline the user experience, you can download a “pin it” icon so items can be pinned to personal boards with fewer steps.
Structure your content – Pinterest works best if the boards are organised according to themes to assist browsing.
Brands should not rest – it pays to brand your images with your business logo in the corner. This allows your brand to be conveyed every time the image is re-pinned.
No one-way streets – to be successful you need to be active in the Pinterest community. That engagement should be relevant to your business, not simply a cynical means to gain followers.
Influencers for influence – it’s important to seek out and engage users of influence in your industry. Find those that are already popular with your target market.
Leverage value – ensure you deploy all the information opportunities available when you create a pin for example, a headline, summary and links. Product-based pins can be enhanced with pricing and distribution information. Don’t forget to pin contact information for your business pins that can work as a call to action.
Enrich your images – use infographics to quickly convey detailed information about your business and offerings. You can also share other infographics that may be of use to your followers, in the same way that you can share posts with Facebook.
Naming protocols – everything you do online should enhance your brand image. Don’t waste the SEO potential of a descriptive image description. The generic number-driven name allocated by your camera or inhouse references will mean nothing to anyone outside the company.
Fatpublisher provides social media services to our clients. If you are interested in finding out about our social media packages, please contact us.
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