Step away from that computer…there is a new social media channel that is garnering significant attention. Pinterest is a social pinboard that has been growing at a faster pace than Facebook had at a similar time in its history. According to published stats, Pinterest garnered more than 7 million unique visitors in December.
I was curious about all of the buzz and decided to check it out for myself. The foundation of the interest in Pinterest seems to be the power of the personal referral. You can create topic specific pinboards, organize and share the things that interest you the most with others. Feel free to browse the pinboards created by others to discover new ideas and opportunities from others who may share your approach to life.
Aside from the purely personal aspect of Pinterest, there may be some benefits to explore this new channel for business reasons, especially if your product is very visual. You can promote new products, interact with potential customers and in general, use the Pinterest outlet as yet another avenue to generate awareness. While you can and should backlink to your website, it’s important that you keep the social, personal aspect of the site as a guide of what is appropriate to post. You can use it as a virtual online catalogue, but don’t forget to contribute other content and share other’s pins. Effective, savvy social media users know not to get too self-promotional.
If you are looking for some inspiration, whether it is exploring a new travel destination, an enticing meal revelation for the dreaded Tuesday night dinner or generating ideas for a fun party theme, Pinterest may be just the source.
The best way to see if Pinterest may be right for you is to plunge in. Set up an account and start pinning items that are relevant to your business. Once you are set-up, find boards and individuals that post images that speak to you. Pin on their content and attract some followers. Once you have some comfort level with the channel, try adding a pinboard with some content about your products. Don’t forget the all important backlink to your website. Also, expand your website analytics to track pinterest.com as a referral source. Pinterest allows the creation of deals or coupons to be added to a pinboard, so you can have some fun with generating a buzz – perhaps give a prize to whomever gets the most likes on a re-pin of the coupon. As with any marketing outlet, review the results, try modifying your boards and see what interest your pinterest generates.
