The latest “hot” social network to launch and gather large market share in a short time is Pinterest. It’s particularly hot in the female market with the largest portion of the Pinterest user base being female.
But that’s not the only thing that’s making it attractive for businesses. In a recent report Pinterest was shown to be the number one referrer of buyers to ecommerce sites out of all social media sites.
This means that Pinterest is sending more buyers to online stores then sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linked In. Which is a staggering statistic considering how new Pinterest is and how rapid their rise has been. So knowing this, the question then is how does a business use Pinterest?
There are essentially three things businesses can do to engage with Pinterest and the Pinterest audience:
1. Create A Profile
Like all social networks Pinterest is profile driven, so you should set up a profile which is relevant for your business. Once you’ve set up a profile then create “boards” (the Pinterest word for Web Pages) which highlight the visual aspects of your business.
For example, if you’re a pancake shop then take photos of your pancakes and post them to your pancake board. Then take photos of your happy customers and post that to your customers board.
The key here is that Pinterest is visual so when setting up your profile and creating these boards make sure you make them visually engaging.
2. Add The “Pin It” Button To Your Site
Much like Facebook has a Like button and Twitter has a Tweet Button, Pinterest has a Pin button. The button allows users to get images they like and pin it to their own personal board.
If you’re an online store they may see a dress they like and then pin it to their board as a reminder that they want to buy it when they are financially able to. These kinds of pins, where they are setting reminders for purchases they wish to make are called reminders of Commerce.
3. Re-Pin Relevant Content From Customers To Your Own Board
If you find a customer has pinned up photos of them, their friends or family, which include your product, business or service, then Re-Pin these to your board. They act as social proof that your business is trafficked and liked by your customers.
Now these are just the 3 basic things you need to get started, there’s plenty more you can do to engage in the network. The key is to remember it’s a visual network, so the more appealing your images are the most likely you are to get results.
