The newest and biggest online craze involves social media, pictures, and pinning. Pinterest is an online vision board that allows users to create their own boards so they are able to pin their favorite finds for inspiration and ideas. Think of Pinterest as the new way of dog-earing your favorite pages from your favorite recipe book, magazine, or catalogue. It’s no surprise that so many businesses have asked the question, “How can I get Pinterest to work for me?” The best way to use Pinterest for your business is to get your audience involved.
First take a look at both your target audience and Pinterest’s users as a whole. Pinterest users, for the most part, are typically women in their 20’s to mid-40’s. So your goal is to attract that Pinterest population from your audience group. Doing this will single out a certain group, but when it’s done correctly it can, in return, help your business. Your social media manager or the person that typically maintains and updates your Facebook page, blog, and Twitter account is the right person for this job.
Your goal is to create a Pinterest page that your audience wants to follow, repin, talk about, and use often; here are ways you can do that:
Promote it.
To get your audience active on your Pinterest page, promote it through your other social media sites. Post, write, and tweet weekly about Pinterest. Whether you talk about a recent pin, a new board, or a contest, promote it to your audience so that they are aware that it exists. Have link buttons on your website and blog to direct the audience to your Pinterest page and encourage them to follow your boards.
Seek them out.
You can do this several ways. First, start out by asking your audience if they are on Pinterest and state that you are looking to follow them. Every pinner is proud of their boards and loves new followers, especially if it’s from a business they like. It’s a virtual compliment. You can try a longer technique by going to the ‘Find Friends’ drop down and searching for new followers via Facebook or your email accounts. Once you have done so you will be able to follow that way.
Contests.
Create different contests on a weekly basis that your audience can participate in. Different contest ideas include having pinners try to pin the first image they see that fits your business, be the first pinner to repin one of your pins, or be the first pinner to like or comment on something. You could also have them create a board that reflects your business and have them title it with your company name. Having your audience repin your pins gives you more exposure because it repins to a whole new audience – the repinner’s own personal audience. Slogans like ‘Pin to Win’ are always big hits and attention getters.
Pin often.
The theory of the more the merrier applies to Pinterest tenfold. The more you pin the more coverage and exposure you will get. Try pinning at least once a day, if not once in the morning and once in the evening, during heavy online social media traffic times. This is a good technique so that your pinner audience sees you often.
Best boards.
The better your boards are the more likely your Pinterest followers will repin your pins. Create boards that reflect different aspects of your company. Take a look at different companies online and how they use Pinterest. The clothing store Urban Outfitters and shopping store Target are good examples of what you should do with your Pinterest account. Not only do they repin their own products, they also pin off topic things that they know will earn them a repin, such as a cute image or a photo. Your goal is to create boards to give your audience a visual on your product and business.
Comment and Like.
The more you connect with your Pinterest audience the more you will get repins and likes. The best way to communicate with your pinners is to comment and like their pins, asking simple questions to get acknowledgement or leaving positive and complimenting comments. In return the pinners are more likely to keep an eye open for your pins to repin, like, and comment on.
Getting your audience active and involved with your Pinterest page relies on you giving them something to talk about and then, in turn, talking to them about it. You want to create boards to inspire them and to entertain them. Your pins should be worthy of repins, so pin often! Try these techniques and watch for the repins. Happy pinning!
This article was first posted in Longhorn Leads.
