There's a lot of chatter going on these days around the social platform Pinterest. The virtual pinboard allows users to organize and share things of interest to them. In addition, people can browse boards created by others to uncover new ideas and get inspiration.
Account holders may use the site to plan a wedding, uncover new recipes, discover fun DIY projects made from pallets and much more. One thing is for sure, Pinterest is filled with endless possibilities! According to comScore, the site is predominately used by woman, and users spend more time each day on the site compared to Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, it has the highest referral traffic compared to LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.
Does this mean you should create a business account? Before jumping on the bandwagon, determine if Pinterest is a good fit for your company. Are your customers on the site? What is your strategy? Do you own a boutique and want to share photos of your latest fashion styles? If you offer products and services that fit into categories users typically search, it could be a great marketing tool to increase brand awareness and grow website traffic.
If Pinterest appears to be a good fit for your organization, here’s how to get started:
1) Request an invitation. To open an account, you must first be invited.
2) Get acclimated. Before devising any boards and pinning, play around with the site and get familiarized. Learn what the difference is between a “pin,” “re-pinning” and “like.”
3) Create boards. Produce boards that represent your products and services. Target has boards that feature things for kids, food, clothing and baby items. In addition, don’t hold back from creating other boards that reveal more about your brand. For example, Whole Foods Market features a board dedicated to its foundation.
4) Download the “pin it” button. Once downloaded and installed in your browser, users will be able to grab, or “pin,” any image from a web site and add it to one of their boards. Make sure you label the pin so users know what the image is and categorize it under the appropriate board.
5) Engage. Like any other site, it’s important to connect with people. Follow your fans and learn more about their likes. This is a great opportunity to gather information on user preferences.
So how does this lead to increased web site traffic? Simple. If you click on a pin the first time, you’ll be taken to the photo of the item. However, if you click on the pin again, users will be taken to the original source: your website, where they can learn about the product and hopefully make a purchase.
Hana Abaza, the co-founder and CEO of Wedding Republic, was interviewed by Inc. Magazine and shared that she recently saw a 75 percent increase in web site traffic, with Pinterest accounting for the majority of that.
If Pinterest is the right fit for you, there’s definitely the opportunity to attract more eyeballs to your web site and increase brand awareness.
