Pinterest – Worth The Bother?

 
Billed as a “virtual pinboard to organize
and share the things you love”, Pinterest.com had 104 millions visits in March alone, and is now the 3rd biggest social network in the USA, behind Facebook and Twitter.  However many are surprised that such a simple concept could be whipping the online community into such a frenzy, and marketers are wondering if its worth their while joining in on the pinning craze…

You may be hoping the answer is no! Another social network to add to your marketing strategy may seem like just one too many, especially when you consider the inevitable learning curve and time commitment.  But studies suggest that you can’t afford to miss out on Pinterest’s traffic.  One such study finds that Pinterest’s referral clicks bring more revenue than clicks from Facebook or Twitter, for both first-touch and multi-touch visitors.  Another piece of research shows that while the user base in the UK is small, 29% of those users are in the affluent  highest income bracket.

However, with such a fast growing phenomenon as Pinterest, unknown to many web users before this year, marketers should act early to make use of the site’s popularity before the bubble potentially bursts, and to benefit from being an early mover in their brand space.

But how best to use Pinterest for brand awareness and revenue generation?

• create separate themed boards for each category of product or service you want to showcase
• be selective with your images, only note-worthy, beautiful, funny or inspiring images get shared or go viral
• optimize your images according to these guidelines
• make full use of the description area with each image, using hashtags and links to your website – linking to the most relevant individual webpage for each image
• if your product offering doesn’t lend itself to image sharing, how about pinning industry-relevant infographics or photos of your staff or customers – take a look at this recruitment firm‘s pin boards or this charity‘s pages for examples
• consider a competition to acquire followers e.g. BMI’s Pinterest Lottery
•  be inspired by the best! Here is one of my personal favourites…

If you do decide to take the plunge, you won’t beat Hubspot’s  detailed guide to using Pinterest for business.  Happy pinning