The latest social media creating a stir with social networkers? That would be Pinterest. What is Pinterest? The site which is nearly a year post-beta, self-describes as a "virtual pinboard." Essentially users are socially sharing photos (called pins) they find across the web with their followers on virtual boards they create and customize to their liking.
A word of caution - like any other social network - avoid out-and-out self promotion. It's still about being social, and not about broadcasting your brand. So, how can you use pins to enhance the context of your online community and brand story?
- Follow other users. Comment on and like the pins of users that are in your other social networking communities and new users, too.
- Generically speaking, pin images that are complimentary to your business, products and services.
- Obviously, use keywords in your tags to describe the images your pinning as they relate to your business, products and services.
- Customize your board names to reflect what's important to you and about you as a brand.
- Is there content on your website that you want to make shareable? Consider adding the "pin it" plugin to your site.
- If you can, go "behind-the-scenes" at your company and share photos of the experience. Your followers will enjoy seeing aspects of your business operations that aren't immediately obvious to them when they patron your business.
- Did you know you can pin videos, not just static images?
- Give credit, give credit, give credit! But, don't pin copyrighted images.
Will we be pining for social pinning long-term? Only time and pins will tell...