Pinterest for Small Business

Pinterest for Small Business

Pinterest is often overlooked by small business when it comes to social media. Business owners often have the misconception that Pinterest is only for recipes and craft projects. The truth is, Pinterest can be one of the biggest returns for the least amount of effort in the social media space because it relies so heavily on mutual sharing.  Let’s dive in and see how it can help your business.

Pinning is like bookmarking content. Your Pins, what the saved content is called,  are saved in a stunning visual array called the feed and sorted onto boards users create and categorize.  Boards can be public, secret and even shared among many users making collaboration on a project simple.  You can follow people, companies and brands. Pinners can repin, or copy, your pins to their own boards.   In addition to looking appealing, each pin retains a live link to its source site making it easy to access the background information for the image be it a recipe, directions on how to make the item, where to purchase the item or an article’s text.

For small business, Pinterest is a valuable asset which allows you to share your products and content, then encourages users to do the same. You use the power of the Pinners to spread the word about your company or product, all the while, increasing webpage traffic and subsequently increasing your search pagerank. Pinterest is a great off-page SEO time investment for any small business. Pinterest has over 100 million users, with 80% female.

Some tips to help you rock your Pinterest account:

  • Like all social media, don’t make your boards one big advertisement. It is okay to include pins of your products but don’t make that the only thing you pin. Include Pins to content that compliments your products and services.
  • Make your website Pinterest friendly by including appealing images with your content or products. Fill in image descriptions on the back end of your webpage and use descriptive titles when naming your images. Consider branding the actual image with your logo. Add  Pin it button to your site to encourage people to Pin your content.
  • Follow other Pinners with products or service similar to yours. Also follow, repin and comment on the pins that compliment your products or services. Use these pins to show your customers what can be done with your product or service and share success stories.
  • Pin things that are appealing to you, even if they have nothing to do with your product or service. This is especially important if your business relies heavily on your personal style or creative skills. Pinning content outside of your products gives your customers a window into your style, creative process, and personality.
  • Use your Pinterest to become to expert in your field. A couple of years ago, I started a board of articles of interest to me regarding Social Media Marketing Strategy ( http://bit.ly/20OXHiN ). Initially, this was just a place for me to drop articles and resources to be easily accessed later. It has become my most followed board and I have positioned myself as an expert in the field by curating content from many resources.
  • Create Pinterest content. Do not just pin and repin from within the platform. Install the “Pin It” extension for your browser and when you are on websites Pin interesting content easily. The description will attribute you as the pin creator which will lead to people clicking through to your profile. Which leads me to….
  • Fill out your Pinterest profile completely, add a profile picture or logo and verify your website! When people click on your profile, it is because they want more information about your business, give it to them!