Visuals have always made more impact than simply written content. This is what that has made Pinterest one of the hottest social media sites! Launched in March 2010, it has over 70 million users with a significant number being businesses. Content on Pinterest is not only impactful, but also extremely shareable and keeps audiences engaged. This a major reason that is leading more and more businesses to unleash the marketing power of this social media site.
Pinterest is a pin board style sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme based images of products, hobbies, interests, services, etc. A user can go through pictures of their interest and pin them to different boards that they create, like, share or comment on them.
Photos are the center stage of Pinterest and audiences love to share. This attribute is encouraging businesses to resort to this potent medium as a part of their marketing strategy. This emerging trend has prompted digital marketing gurus to come up with tactics for success on Pinterest. Let us check them out here:
Understand Pinterest well:
This is the most important pre-requisite if you want to succeed on Pinterest. Since the website is image centric, it is crucial that you know what the image requirements are, what kind of images can your pin, know the various categories, understand the concept of themes and create themed boards, what kind of content will work, etc. Once you have understood these vital aspects, it will help you to create pins and boards that are more appealing in nature.
Share content of significance:
It is important that you identify your niche in Pinterest so that you can share images of their interest. Monitor and analyze popular trends so that you can create pins and boards that attract your target audiences and engage them. You can also use images that are related or allied to what you are offering. For e.g. if you are in the business of window coverings, you can share pins of different kinds of window dressings and styles to get your niche interested in what you are posting. However, original content is also very important. Make sure that your own content does not become insignificant or lost in the process of pinning. Seeing images prompt people recommending products and also buying them. Also use hashtags as you would in Twitter. Pinterest has similar tagging system so that your pictures are easily found.
While re-pinning you need to check the source of images, so make sure that the source is genuine to avoid copyright issues. For your original images, add watermarks for authenticity. Infographics have also proved to work extremely well for businesses.
Maintain activity levels:
It is important for you to constantly interact, post, comment, share, pin images to various boards and remain active. This way audience will look forward to your pins expecting something new, fresh and interesting. At the same time do not lose out on posting your own content. Work on creating visually appealing photographs for more attention. This practice encourages more sharing and enabling users to re-pin. Regular comments on images also helps build connect. Frequency of posting is another important aspect that you ought to keep in mind.
Integrate Pinterest to other social media accounts and your website:
Pins and boards that form the basis of Pinterest are perhaps the most creative tool that any social media can offer. It gives one the ability to create one’s own pins and boards. You can create pins by using photos of your own products or services from your own blog or website and link them so that when someone clicks the picture, it goes straight to your website. Also it makes great sense to link your Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts with your Pinterest. This way your users or fans on one site automatically become a part of the other as they get to view whatever you are posting. Sharing news and information on one platform will be visible across other platforms too. Combining fan bases will expose your brand to a multitude of audiences.
Add ‘Pin It’ button to every image
You must add a hover on ‘Pin It’ button on every image be it in your website or blog or anywhere else. This will enable users to share the image on Pinterest and if you are able to build connect with your niche users will look forward to pinning your images.
Keep close watch on competitors
It is important that you keep an eye on what similar businesses are doing on Pinterest or what their strategies are. Follow their pins, so that you know what they are pinning. Pinterest is all about collaboration. Doing this will give you new ideas about what to pin and what not to pin, what is more liked by users and what is not.
Along with market research about on-going and upcoming trends and rivals’ practices, it is also crucial that you closely watch how your pins are faring through Business Insights that reveal numbers about likes, comments, pins, repins, etc. This helps you modify you pinning strategies so that you can improve the numbers.
Optimize Pinterest for SEO
Every kind of content can be used for fruitful SEO so can be the content that you are posting on Pinterest. Use an optimized company or business name, optimize the ‘About Us’ section, add descriptions to pins that show up in search results, include backlinks to your website from your pins. Do everything to make your pins easy to find!
Pinterest is here to stay and holds a promising future for businesses, big, small or medium. The website offers immense potential for digital marketing for every kind of business, making it crucial for enterprises to become a part of this potent social media site.