Using Pinterest for Business Marketing and Branding

Unraveling the Success Mantra on Pinterest

The internet has always been popular ever since its inception. But it has only been a few years since the internet has become the life blood of today’s generation, thanks to the popularity of social media websites.

Where websites like Facebook and Twitter focus more on the use of words to communicate with the world, those like Flikr and Instagram rely completely on visual media. A relatively new website of the latter sort has recently gained an amazing amount of popularity in a very short time, and has reached a worth of $2.5 billion. Read on to find out more as we unravel the success mantra on one of the most popular social media website; Pinterest.

An Interactive Way to Market Brands:

Seeing the popularity of Pinterest, a large number of business owners have started taking advantage of the platform to market their products. These businesses are using the website to direct more and more traffic to their own external websites which results in the popularity of their own brands among the masses. These companies have taken the whole ‘sharing’ concept of Pinterest and are using it to market their brands in an innovative way.

The Pinterest Top Categories:

Food and Drink:

The category that wins the crown of being the most popular on Pinterest is ‘Food and Drink’. Food bloggers use the site in order to pull traffic to their external websites. Pinterest’s entertainment deal with the television show, The Biggest Loser, which revolves around weight loss, shows how businesses are using the site. This partnership will involve the pinning of healthy eating guides on Pinterest among other things.

DIY and Crafts:

The second most popular type of websites that are using Pinterest for their business endeavors is ‘DIY and Crafts’, and the presence of IKEA as one of the largest companies here is proof of that. A combination of both Food and Craft, the Martha Stewart Living page has succeeded in driving large amounts of traffic to their website with the help of 283,000 followers.

How to Make Your Business Stand Out:

In order to understand the mantra of success on Pinterest you should use the following techniques when posting:

Talk Through Your Images:

Being a website about visual media doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t talk about your images. Describe your images so that people can know exactly what you want them to see.

Be sure not to post too much at once. Give people small doses of information about your brand at a time so that you can have a constant flow of activity on your page.

Be Interactive:

The whole idea behind social media websites is to share and reach out to other people. Don’t get too caught up in your own page because to be successful on Pinterest you need to re-pin other images and posts as well. It only drives more traffic to your page.

Don’t post images that are only about what you are trying to sell. You should also pin other interesting images that may attract more followers to your page and make it interesting for people other than the target audience as well.

The last and probably the most important thing to remember is not too come out as being too sales-oriented on your page. Pinterest is a website that relies on sharing and healthy interaction. Show your personality to the people you are reaching out to and you are sure to be one step closer to unraveling the success mantra on Pinterest.

8 Tips for Business using Pinterest

With over 10 million users (and counting), Pinterest is one of the fastest-growing social media networks today. And, if your business isn’t “pinning” yet, we’re sure your competitors’ are.

Pinterest is like an online scrapbook where, instead of text-focused posts, photos and infographics are featured in albums called “boards” where users “pin” and “re-pin” individual media. The idea of “boards” is one of the best things to like about Pinterest because users can choose to follow boards instead of users. Thus, business owners can create boards targeted at different audience groups.

Pinterest is for users of all ages and interests. For business users who are in the fashion, entertainment, or lifestyle industries, the challenge is to stand out and organize content in boards. While, for business users in the more technical industries, the challenge is to get creative. Whether you are on Pinterest or not, the following are 8 things worth adding to your checklist to maximize Pinterest’s benefits for your business:

#1 Take advantage of the referral traffic

Pinterest is a very good source of referral traffic to promote your website. Take advantage of it by making sure your page has a good username, well-written “about” section, and links to relevant pages on your website. Name your boards in the language your customers speak. And, since search engines cannot find images, make sure you take advantage of the description section on each pin you post. If possible, include links/URLs and create relevant hashtags for every post.

#2 Share the right pins at the right time

Every business has a marketing cycle that is seasonal. Take note of the current marketing cycle season your business is in as you choose which of your boards to promote the most and which pins to post and re-pin. Pinterest gives you the option to vary your board’s positions: emphasize the boards which can gain you more followers and connections depending on your business’s current marketing cycle season.

#3 Don’t let it be just about you & your business

It is apparent in all marketing strategies that if you want to be heard (or seen), you have to state what your audience wants to hear. Know your audience’s interests and, as previously mentioned, speak the language your customers do (consider their age groups, interests, etc.).

Plus, make it a give and take relationship. Re-pin and follow your existing and prospective clients—you’re more likely to get a follow back and more re-pins.

#4 Interact (be social)—NEWS: Pinterest messaging has been made available this Aug. 2014!

Take time to acknowledge comments done on your pins/boards/account. Also, write relevant comments on posts made by others. By commenting on posts related to your business, you showcase your knowledge of your brand and build your credibility at the same time. You can also send out welcome messages to your new followers and make your promotions personal and targeted through the newly introduced Pinterest messaging feature.

#5 Pin smartly and with style

Pinning smartly means knowing how to credit the source(s) of what you re-pin and take ownership of your own pins. One way to own you pins is by using a watermark to put in all your uploaded images. Be sure to read and follow Pinterest’s pinning guidelines.

Plus, just because your business is “too technical” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be in a social media website that features images. Create colorful tables, charts, memes, and/or infographics to put life in your words.

#6 Be sure you are using Pinterest’s business page

Although a business and personal page may appear the same and sometimes undistinguishable in terms of layout, Pinterest pages for business offer SEO benefits not available for personal accounts (do not worry since Pinterest for business is also free to create). If your business is currently established on Pinterest as a personal account, or, if you want to use your existing personal account for your brand, you can always convert by hovering over the red “Pinterest button” on the top left of your page and selecting “business”.

The SEO benefits of Pinterest for business include access to Rich Pins and analytics. Pinterest also lets you verify ownership of your business website.

#7 Be a dynamic pinner

Don’t limit yourself to pinning images about your business. Expand and pin images relevant to your business. Also be sure to vary your boards’ positions and create good descriptions for both your boards and individual pins. The Rich Pins option now allows for creation of movie, product, recipe, article, and place pins.

Join some of Pinterest’s group boards that are relevant to your business. In group boards, you get more exposure, interaction, and sharing with a wider-scale audience.

#8 Make pinning easier with tools

Managing social media is always easier with tools to maximize the marketing and SEO benefits, as well as your time. Probably the first must-have for Pinterest business users is the Pin-It Button which encourages people to pin stuff from your website and/or mobile app.

Pinterest offers their own set of in-house tools including analytics, Rich Pins, and brand guidelines. However, there are third-party created tools that you may want to check out such as Viralwoot for image creation, Hootsuite for analytics and post scheduling, and Canva! or Pinstamatic for personalized image generation.

source https://brandets.com/branding/using-pinterest-for-business-marketing-and-branding/