Pinterest – how to use it for your business

I know, I know. Just when you were getting the hang of Facebook, along came Twitter. And so you hopped onto that not really too sure what to do but everyone else was doing it so you thought you should. And now, just when you thought you couldn’t possibly dedicate anymore time to social media, along comes Pinterest.  Before you roll your eyes and run for the hills, take a few minutes to read this and watch the video (linked below). It isn’t huge and scary. It’s just another social media tool that is worth investigating, particularly if you have a highly image led business – like someone who sells beautiful products, photography, craft items and the like.

So what is Pinterest?

It’s a social media site that lets you share pictures (and videos). You create pinboards of images that you categorise – for example: kids, parties, travel, homes, weddings, fashion etc. Once you’re on Pinterest (and you need to apply to join and wait to be invited) you can see what other people are pinning. If you like their images, you can pin them on your own boards. And things you pin on your boards get shared across other social networks – like Facebook and Twitter. It looks a bit like this:

So how can you use it for business?

The Pinterest rules say that you can’t self promote. So you might be able to pin a handful of your images onto your boards, but it’s not meant as way for you to just promote yourself. Like all social media, it’s about sharing!  From a business point of view, what you need is for other people to pin your images for you. And you do that firstly by having images worth sharing and secondly, by adding a Pin It button to your images/product pages, just the same way you would add other social media bookmark icons. This gives other people an easy way to pin your images to their boards, and hopefully, other people will repin it to their boards. And as you can tag your images to include your URL, you can drive a great deal of traffic to your website.

How do I do that?

This very useful video explains how to use Pinterest, how to add Pins to your blog or website and how to encourage people to pin your products. Although the video is specific to people who tend to make and sell crafts, it will be just as valid for people selling any products online or people who have image-led businesses/blogs.

And finally

You don’t have to be a member of Pinterest to add Pin buttons to your website so you don’t have to spend hours looking at pictures all day. But it does help to see the type of images people are pinning and repinning.  Yes it can be time consuming, but it’s worth setting aside an hour just to get a feel for it. Alternatively, hire in help!

Like all social media for business use, this will work best when you do it with a plan and strategy in mind. If you are feeling utterly confounded by it all and need help getting to grips with your social media, get in touch and let’s have a chat.

Happy pinning!

By Melissa Talago of Creative