by Allysia Lowe
With over twenty-five million unique visitors monthly as of August 2013, Pinterest is showing itself to be a social media heavyweight as opposed to the fad some had predicted. This is due to its ease of use and flexibility as well as the company’s fantastic commitment to keeping users informed and up-to-date on changes.
With this in mind, it is becoming increasingly relevant and necessary for businesses and entrepreneurs to log onto Pinterest and make accounts. How can your business most effectively use Pinterest for its benefit? Below are some tips to effectively use Pinterest for business.
1. Don’t Get Bored, Get Board(s)!
Pinterest is used to collect and sort visual information or useful links that are stored on boards. The group board functions allow the creator of a board to invite collaborators to pin items of interest to the group board. This feature can be used for both in-workplace efforts and for client brainstorming sessions.
An example of in-workplace use would be for gathering ideas on what kind of branded merchandise your employees would be interested in purchasing. Say you are interested in making and buying company shirts. You can create a board and invite your employees to pin their ideas for what styles, colors, and layouts they would prefer for the shirts. Other employees can view the board and “like” or comment on the pictures and options for merchandise.
This collaborative feature can also be used to easily and quickly gather ideas from a client or share your own ideas with that client. With the secret board function, you can set up a private viewing board for the client and then simply delete the board when done.
2. Get Pinspired!
If you’ve used Pinterest at all, you’re familiar with following engineers, developers, and designers you admire. Make the most of the large volume of information delivered to your web doorstep by reviewing your boards from time-to-time and reorganizing ideas, creating new boards as necessary. Maybe some of the information is more relevant for your own personal design ideas, so move those great promotional tips to a secret board.
Instantly organize the information, visual, or tip you find on the web by making use of the “pin it” add-on to your browser. Create boards for projects you are working on, so you can instantly reference how much information you have collected, how the information relates, and who to credit for the ideas.
3. Follow the Followers
If you’ve signed onto Pinterest as a Business, the Pinterest Analytics feature is a handy way to track how Pinterest is working for you. You can see what people are pinning from your site and even what content of yours is being re-pinned most frequently. By spying on what followers are pinning your content alongside, you get a unique eye into how your customer views your product.
Furthermore, you can even take the benefits of Pinterest offline and notify in-person customers about the Pinterest popularity of a particular package or item, letting them in on the buzz around your product. Of course, you can also check in on your followers the old-fashioned way and see the demographics and interests of your client base in a more personal way than ever.
Without a doubt, as Pinterest continues to court businesses large and small, there will be even more innovative ways to promote your business identity. These are just a few of the ways you can utilize Pinterest to help hone your business strategy while staying up-to-date with the new social media platform on the block. What are some ways you came up with to make the most of your account?
Allysia Lowe is a digital marketer and writer currently working with Leighmans’. She helps businesses create a consistent, effective, and engaging social media presence. In her limited free time, she enjoys traveling and watching her cat react to videos of kittens meowing.
Photo Credits
mkhmarketing | Courtesy of Allysia Lowe
