Pinterest for Business: Who Should Use it and Why?
You’ve downloaded the app and seen all of your friends using it, but what does Pinterest actually do and do you need it if you run a business? Pinterest is another smart marketing platform definitely worth signing up for. Depending on your industry, it could give your website traffic a big boost.
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is very much like an online pin board mainly used for collecting images and drawing inspiration.
You can create as many boards for your pins as you want which is great if you are a bit of an organisation freak. For example, if you like collecting pictures of food or recipes, you can create a board and label it “Food” or “Recipes.” Or if you’re planning to decorate your new home, you can call it “Home Inspiration.”
From there, you can pin all the images you want into this board from searching through other users or directly from websites you’re browsing as you research. Pinterest allows you to interact with each other through liking, commenting, and re-pinning images which makes it a great way to connect with people with similar interests.
Why you need it?
According to Pinterest, 93% of people using Pinterest use it to plan purchases and 96% use Pinterest to gather information about a product. Therefore, if your business sells a product or service, it’s a great marketing tool that is going to drive people to your page. In fact, more than two-thirds of Pinterest users say they’ve discovered a new brand or product through Pinterest.
The best thing about Pinterest (if you’re a business) is that when people pin from your website it retains that link back regardless of how many people pin or re-pin your photos. This means that if your images are great and catch people’s attention (for instance if you’re a creative business like a fashion designer, florist, interior designer etc) then it Pinterest could potentially be a massive traffic driver to your website.
What we love about Pinterest
Just like Facebook and Instagram, it’s free to sign up, however, where Facebook and Instagram make you pay for greater reach and exposure, Pinterest doesn’t. There is still a paid/promotional/business element to Pinterest, but not as much as other social mediums. If you want to get noticed on Pinterest, you need to have high quality pins aligned to your business and brand. This will point others pinners back to your website.
The great thing also about Pinterest is that your content never disappears. Unlike Facebook where after a few hours it disappears, Pinterest images continuously get re-pinned and resurfaced by bloggers over and over again, especially if they are great quality.
Pinterest also acts as its own mini search engine. Most users don’t scroll continually through Pinterest, they are there to find want they want quickly. Similarly to SEO, having a presence on Pinterest and using the platform properly means you’re increasing your chances of being found through a simple search. This is again so relevant for visually aesthetic businesses in areas like weddings, home design and furniture, food, fashion and beauty.
Our Tips
Think outside the square when it comes to your Pinterest profile. Be creative and have authentic and great quality content. Content that reflects your brand, principles and values.
Like all social media, the best way to build your following is by being active and repining, commenting and liking other users content. Naturally your business exposure will increase which will hopefully generate into more followers and plenty of sales for your business.
And if you’re tech and Pinterest savvy (or at least heading in that direction after playing around for a while), you also need to get your head around “rich pins”. We’ll be blogging about this soon, so stay tuned (follow our Instagram or Facebook for blog content updates or sign up to our mailing list below).
Sarah Stevens is a former journalist, magazine editor and TV producer, and the director of Content Society. You can see more of her work here.