As the latest and greatest social media platform, Pinterest
now has users perusing photos and products for hours every day. With
more than 11 million users, Pinterest creates an incredible opportunity
for businesses to market their products and inspire brand recognition.
The successful use of Pinterest can result in higher site traffic,
greater sales, increased marketing success and better public relations
opportunities. Businesses can even further their Pinterest marketing
success by linking their Pinterest account with other social media
platforms and encouraging others to “follow” the account.
When using Pinterest as a marketing tool, some marketers may overlook
some of the useful pieces in the Pinterest marketing puzzle. Generally,
Pinterest has three main components that can be used by a business for
marketing purposes:
1. Virtual Bulletin Board with User Information
This is the perfect opportunity for branding. A username, user
caption and user photo is then associated with the profile. Businesses
should attempt to maximize the marketing potential of the user
information by using their company name, logo and tagline. Since this
user information is associated with every post, the importance of the
provided information should not be overlooked.
2. “Boards” with Organized Pins
While the Pinterest boards may not appear to be a useful marketing
tool, they may actually help to provide implicit information about the
pins. For example, if a business wants to showcase unique uses of their
products that may not be readily apparent, the business can establish a
posting board titled “Creative!” This allows the user to focus the
content of the caption on other relevant information.
3. Photo with Caption
This is the most obvious marketing element of Pinterest.
Digitally-savvy businesses may want to pin photographs that link to
their websites. Users can also provide links, tiny URLs and trending
topics in the caption. The photograph should be unique, worthy of
re-pinning and, most importantly, drive traffic to the business website.
Witty captions, Internet memes (objects of interest) and great
photography are good methods of promoting pins.
Pinterest also adds an element of public relations for the business
and its marketing. Apart from marketing products and services,
businesses may find value in marketing and advertising other aspects of
the company that may spur sales and inspire brand loyalty.
For example, if a small grocer specializing in local produce wants to
encourage people to shop locally and support local businesses, the
grocer could make a pin board dedicated to their community and local
efforts. The business could promote their philanthropic efforts, market
weekly specials on local produce, link to articles featuring local farms
and more. The idea is to think outside the marketing box, drive traffic
and create interest.
While the potential marketing and public relations benefits of
Pinterest are endless, there are also common mistakes that could result
in an unsuccessful venture. Spam, boring content, a lack of business
promotion and high expectations can truly hinder the marketing success
of a business.
First, businesses should never participate in spam-like behavior.
This includes posting multiple uninteresting images of coupons,
marketing a pin as something but linking to something unrelated, or
writing captions with keywords that are unrelated to the pin. While it
does not necessarily violate terms of service, the tactics are less
likely to provide sales leads and may even result in negative publicity.
Second, do not be shy about marketing your product. Many small
businesses may feel this is showy or pretentious. However, the purpose
of the site is to create interesting content and drive traffic. Under
utilizing the true marketing power of Pinterest is a grave mistake.
Businesses should feel confident about promoting their content and
products.
Finally, do not overestimate new customers and do not expect immediate success.
As with any marketing technique, patience is necessary for success.
Pins should be refined, sales should be analyzed and marketing tactics
may need to be revised. Success, however, should never be expected to be
immediate or easy.
Additionally, Pinterest has a relatively small base of users (when
compared to Twitter and Facebook) from a relatively predictable
demographic. If your product or service is outside the interest of
current Pinterest users, which are primarily female, you may need to
consider alternative marketing techniques to drive success.