You might think your business doesn't fit the Pinterest mold for marketing. The application is a visual-based tool that allows users to find and curate images and videos and 'pin' these visual collections on 'boards', collecting themes of interests from travel and crafts to weight loss and home improvement. The social networking site has a solid female demographic but a male audience is gaining strength. Over seventy percent of adults in the United States use social media sites and although Facebook is still number one, Pinterest ranks higher than Twitter when it comes to user engagement.
Before you ignore Pinterest as an avenue to promote your business, there are benefits to embracing it as a part of an effective social media plan. It can easily enhance audience interest in your company and increase online traffic to Facebook, Twitter and across your company's social media network. Here are some additional facts that might get your attention:
- There are over 70 million active users on Pinterest
- 21% of online adults use Pinterest
- Buyers referred to a site from Pinterest are 10% more likely to make a purchase
Pinterest is the third most popular social networking site after Facebook and LinkedIn and it's continuing to gain popularity. What can't be denied is that there is an audience of millions on the site, and that equates to a critical mass available for marketing campaigns. If you think of Pinterest as a collection of ideas and solutions, your business can certainly bring value for the audience.
Ways to Leverage Pinterest for Your Business
Now that you're intrigued with the thought of adding another consortium to your online marketing strategy, let's review some ways you can use Pinterest intelligently.
Connect - Promote your company's brand on Pinterest by creating visual boards that represent its product or services and attract an audience. Each time a user on Pinterest bookmarks an item of interest it's pinned to their board and shared with other users who have similar content. This means an exponential increase in opportunities to reach more consumers since over 20% of Facebook users are also active on Pinterest.
Drive - Pinterest creates another opportunity to direct consumers (70+ million) to your company's main website. You can take advantage of this by posting interesting visual aids and content to compel readers to investigate. They will quickly find the source of the information, your company's website, and browse. Since we know that referrals from Pinterest generate more sales, funneling consumers to your site creates another valuable channel of online traffic.
Retain - Once you begin attracting an audience for your business on Pinterest it's important to engage them. If someone pins or comments on content that you've posted, be sure and reply to interact with your audience. You can spend time promoting your company by answering questions, adding content, and commenting on other users' interests and content. Like interacting with any online community, responding to users can add merit to your content, improve your company's brand image, and create new and repeat customers.
Social media management requires creativity and perseverance to reap the rewards. If you're struggling for ideas to develop a Pinterest account, search for content posted by your company's competitors and build a mirroring strategy to compete and win. Or, begin by setting up your own account and build a board of interests and hobbies to establish connections. You can also interact with your competitors through content posts and comments to attract readers and build relationships.
Having the right social media framework to support your company's business development goals is important. It will increase traffic to your website, improve brand visibility, and result in a broader online-audience. Take the time to evaluate Pinterest as a strategy to drive business growth by appealing to consumers through a preferred platform.
Photo Credit: Business on Pinterest/shutterstock