Pinterest Tips from the Pros

How many of you have heard of Pinterest? Okay, hands down.

Now, how many of you actually know what it is and how to use it for your business?

Unfortunately, those of you who didn't raise your hand are already losing the race. Millions of companies, large and small, are flooding the site realizing Pinterest's business value. In fact, "[Pinterest is] driving more traffic to company websites and blogs than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined." ("How Pinterest is Becoming the Next Big Thing in Social Media for Business", Jason Falls, Entrepreneur.com).

We've turned to the pros at Pin Savvy Social to provide an answer to our second question, and, hopefully, help you catch up in the Pinterest race.

How to Make Pinterest Work for Your Business

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing sites in social media. It is the one place where consumers can search for and share the products they are most excited about and a necessary addition to the social media tool box of any growing company.

The unique aspect of Pinterest is that it is one of the few social media sites that is completely consumer-driven. If you look at a major brand on twitter or Facebook you will notice the brand has thousands of followers or “likes.” If you look at the growing number of companies with Pinterest accounts you will notice, in almost every case, the company is following many more Pinterest accounts than are following them back.

Pinterest is about finding the best of the best, “pinners” repin things they love and things that represent their own personal taste. They tend not to pin all of the products from one company thus giving them less of a reason to follow a brand, but there are a few ways that companies can help make sure their products have a decent pin-life:

1. Don’t pin solely your own products. Pin things to your boards that show your taste in other areas, books you enjoy, products that inspire your style. If pinners know you will be doing nothing but self-promotion there is no reason to follow you on Pinterest when they can just visit your website.

2. Create timeless boards. If you create a board of your Winter 2012 line no one will follow it in Spring 2012. Create your boards according to the types of products you produce such as “boots” or “linens.” If your fans love your shoes or the bedding you sell then they will be more likely to follow one of your boards in order to get a peek at what you are launching next.

3. Pin sparingly. No matter how fantastic your product is, if you pin every photo from your latest line at once it is going to fill up my whole Pinterest screen. Even if I LOVE your products I will not love seeing only your self-promotion. Pin three or four items at a time, wait a few hours or even a day and then pin more, giving your followers a little bit at a time.

4. Give Pinterest users a reason to follow you. Consider launching a promotion that gives your Pinterest followers a unique reason to follow you. Maybe you release your new line on Pinterest first or offer a giveaway once you reach 1000 Pinterest followers. Just like all other forms of social media, you will get out what you put in, interaction with your consumers is the key.

These suggestions are a few quick ways to become a Pinterest-friendly company and increase your likelihood of gaining followers and repins. The trick to Pinterest is not only gaining followers but keeping them, following a bit of pin-etiquette will keep your fans coming back for more.

The Pin Savvy Social team is available for individual consultation to help you effectively market to your consumers. Contact us for more information.