Pinterest, Uncategorized
Pinterest is one of the newest and fastest growing social networks to date. With over 11.7 million unique visitors Pinterest boasts being the top referring site to retailers to date. Defined, Pinterest is a platform that enables users to visually share, create and discover new interests by posting images or videos to their own or other’s boards. Also referred to as ‘pinning’ users can upload their own images, utilize the “Pin It” bookmarklet button for images on the web or ‘repin’ from other friends boards.
In simplest terms—Pinterest is one of the fastest growing, creative platforms to drive traffic to your business website and social sites via online engagement. If you are looking to start your business Pinterest page make sure that you follow these steps to ensure that you are utilizing this online platform to its fullest and getting the return on investment that you deserve:
- Get a Pinterest Account: Believe it or not Pinterest is still an invitation only site. For the fastest way to get an invitation ask a friend that has an account to send you an invite or go on Pinterest’s Facebook page to request one. Last resort we recommend that you go to their website and request an invitation but from what we heard there is no projecting when you will get your invitation as there have been complaints on the slow turnaround of requesting invitations via the website.
- Activate your Account: Once you have your invitation make sure that you sign up for Pinterest with your same email address that you use for your business Twitter. You want to make sure that you sign up through your business Twitter account and not your personal Facebook account because Pinterest does not have an option yet of connecting with your business Facebook page.
- Optimize Your Pinterest Business Page: Under the settings tab choose your company name as your profile name, input a detailed summary of your company, upload your logo and enter a link to your website. If your business is in the marketing of you—and this is how people will recognize you– then we recommend that you upload a picture of yourself rather than a logo. Most importantly make sure that the option that reads “Hide Your Pinterest from Search Engines” is checked to “off” so you are searchable.
- Pinterest Etiquette: As with any social media platform you are highly discouraged from practicing self-promotion. Written clearly in the Pinterest rules the site states: “Pinterest is designed to curate and share things you love. If there is a photo or project you’re proud of, pin away! However, try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion.” To be successful on Pinterest join in the conversation, engage with others, like others content, comment and most importantly strive at creating interesting, unique content that will be of interest to others. If you follow all of these rules you will build quality followers, drive traffic to your sites and further strengthen your brand.
- Building a Following: Before you begin adding to your follower base you will want to have some content (boards) in place that are a good representation of your brand. Having boards in place before you start building is crucial since you need to give the prospective followers a reason to follow you in the first place. Once you have a few boards in place you have two options with following—you can follow a user or you can follow a particular board. When following a board you will only be notified if the owner of the board posts to that particular board. When following a user you will be alerted to when the user posts to any of their boards. Keep in mind that because of these differences in following a user’s board may boast more followers than the actual user. Make sure to follow a strategy that creates followers on both the board and the user level by creating the best boards on specific topics, promoting through other channels (such as your email signature, other social channels or website links) and by commenting and liking on other Pinterest user’s accounts.
Interested in learning on how to further market your Pinterest account? Check out our list of top ways to successfully grow your Pinterest business account. Remember that even though Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social media sites it is still a relatively young platform. We can only assume that there will be many advances in marketing as the platform matures such as direct messaging, improved linking and analytics and potentially more automated services that we are already seeing pop up as the company grows. To help stay informed and up-to-date on all the latest social media trends make sure to check back often as LMS Agency Inc. will keep you posted of any and all insights moving forward.
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