By Jessica Rogers, {grow} Contributing Columnist
I’m not crafty. I do not scrapbook, do DIY projects, or tackle anything that involves a glue gun.
However, I recently created a “Laundry Room Makeover” board on Pinterest and completed the renovation. Pinterest was a wonderful source for before and after pictures, detailed tutorials, names and reviews of paints, and even lists of where to find the products and their prices.
I must point out many of these, if not all, were not brand sponsored! For example, like other Pinterest users I posted all the materials used in my after photos. This is an amazing opportunity for brands to increase brand recognition by way of social sharing or “pinning.”
This story is played over and over across the globe. Pinterest is the ultimate source for creative (P)inspiration.
Why use Pinterest?
Pinterest marketing specialist Piqora found that one “pin” generates an average of 78 cents in sales. Pins are 100x more viral than tweets and Pinterest Board pages can rank on Google long after the original post.
Like any social platform, Pinterest might not work equally well for all brands. However, Pinterest can be a great way to share valuable content with your target audience and showcase your brand personality.
Pinterest is obviously the home room for the visual content from clothing designers, photographers, and makeup artists. But the platform can be utilized by non-creatives like real estate agents, marketing thought leaders posting relevant articles, even parents posting ideas about home schooling their children. Almost anyone can be more Pinteresting….
Are pins really content?
Absolutely. But keep in mind the importance of “delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.” Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and of course Pinterest have a specific demographic of users and can be optimized accordingly. What is often overlooked is the importance of relevant and timely content for these platforms.
What should you pin?
- What does your target audience of client base want to learn more about? What moves them? What interests them? Find pins related to those topics. Become your follower’s go-to resource.
- Regularly visit the What’s Popular section of Pinterest to see what is trending and what really resonates with Pinterest users.
- “How to” pins are very popular. Find tutorials your audience can use and pin them, or create your own. Including before and after images.
- Infographics are a great way to share a large amount of information in an attractive, inspiring way.
- Do not always pin your own content. If you do pin your own content, be sure to do it in a way that drives users to your website.
Tips for optimizing your pins
- Add relevant Search Engine Optimization (SEO) keywords in your “About” section. Search engines index this page, so use those 200 characters wisely.
- Utilize humorous of catchy titles to entice folks to follow the board, and include keywords in board titles to make the board more searchable in Pinterest.
- Curate pins that link back to your website, email opt-in page, or product page/catalog
- Pinterest is social, so remember to interact and engage with others. Repin, follow, and make comments.
- I found this Pinterest Master Class to be helpful. It is a series of three videos equaling an hour of content.
Do you have a Pinteresting success story to share with the {grow} community? An innovative way you are using Pinterest to drive sales or brand recognition?
Jessica Rogers is a Dallas-based Adjunct Marketing Instructor at Texas A&M University- Commerce and faculty member at Southern New Hampshire University. She is currently working on her PhD in Business with an emphasis on Marketing; her dissertation research is focused on Social Media. Follow her on Twitter and her blog.
Illustration courtesy of Flickr CC and Jeff Turner.
