By Brittany Thorley
Launched in early 2010, Pinterest has fast become an essential tool for social media enthusiasts and creative businesses to share the images they admire, but many businesses still donÂt include this picture perfect platform into their social media marketing strategy. However, this online scrapbooking site could be your key to marketing your business, boosting online presence and tapping into a brand new customer base  with great results!
Why Pinterest?
Pinterest is unlike any social network, and may be a confusing place for people who are unfamiliar with the format. The Pinterest network is built on a series of pinboards, which are used to collect, organise and share the images people love and the things that inspire them. Pinners set up themed boards and pin their own images from websites and blogs as well as share other pinners favourites. Pinterest is essentially a great way to exchange links, increase you websiteÂs popularity and generally spread the word about your business through images. You can also target pinners with specific interests by selecting the theme of your own boards carefully to ensure you attract the right user and interacting, favouriting and liking images and boards from pinners with similar tastes as you.
Getting Started
ItÂs free and easy to sign up for a Pinterest account but doing it the right way is tricky for many newbies, especially when keeping their business interests at the heart of their campaign.
Make sure you join as a business. Start by using your company name as your account name, add your company logo and provide a thorough description of what your company is all about in the bio. It may also be worth linking in your Facebook and Twitter accounts, giving fellow pinners more opportunities to follow your company, as well as visit your website. Now itÂs time to create your boards– focus on themes that embody your ethos as a company; for example, if you are a plumber, focus on boards centered around home improvement or interior inspiration to enthuse the pinners who could turn into potential customers.
Top Tips for Pinning Success
When pinning to promote your business, drive traffic to your website and gain the interactions you need to make your company profitable, these tips may just come in handy to ensure your Pinterest campaign is not only business-driven but customer-focused, interesting and fun.
- Promote products and services in moderation: no one likes a selfish pinner, share other peopleÂs images first before promoting your own to ensure your boards arenÂt just full of your own images from your company website. Avoid over-promotion at all costs.
- Pin your blog posts: If you update your on-site blog every day or week, create a board for industry news and pin your blog posts using their images. ItÂs a great way to share useful information, establish yourself as an industry leader and drive traffic to your website, but again moderation is the key.
- Interact regularly: As with any social media marketing, keep your posts useful and frequent to maintain your online presence. Interact with Pinterest users and re-pin their posts to build relationships, and in return they will share the images on your boards.
- Pin to Win: You can also run competitions and giveaways using Pinterest, everyone loves a freebie so indulge this with a Âpin to win campaign, where re-pinning means prizes.
- Always complete your profile for maximum business exposure: An incomplete profile could just mean the difference between getting the interaction you need to grow your business and not. Invest some time and effort in creating the perfect Pinterest profile before you start your pinning mission!
