Effective Business Marketing With Pinterest

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Pinterest is on  people’s lips nowadays. It’s the hottest social networking site to hit the Internet in a while. People with common interests get together through the online images that they select. It can be very effective for business also.

People can  create clusters of images that they can share with other people. The clusters are called pinboards and they can allow other people to have them as well, as long as those other people are Pinterest members. However, you must be warned that Pinterest is addictive!

There are many different reasons why Pinterest is so appealing. One of the reasons is that it is an aesthetic and wonderful escape from real life. The feeling that you will get (consistently) is that you will feel good. You can capture that concept and use it to market your brand with potentially overwhelming results. However, it is very important to remember that behind all of the buzz about Pinterest, it has the potential to be an extraordinarily effective marketing tool for your business. Pinterest is a great way to heighten brand awareness, generate discussions, and eventually, sell more products and services. There are several different approaches that you can take when it comes to using Pinterest as a marketing tool for your business.

The Pinterest members are at various skill and knowledge levels and it is important to customize your use of the tool to your skill level.

Pinterest beginners

If you are just beginning to use Pinterest, you should lay the groundwork for your marketing strategy in the following manner:

  • Your profile: Make sure that you include your business’s name on your Pinterest profile. You can use your business’s name as your username or you can customize your profile name to include your business’s name after you have already established the profile.

  • Describe your business: You should be sure to include some content on your profile that says who you are and what you stand for. You should express your interests in the “About” section. If you place it there, it will appear right underneath your photograph. That will make it very easy for other people to find you and your business.

  • Link your Pinterest profile to other social media channels: You should link your account with your Facebook and Twitter accounts. In fact, when you are first accepted as a Pinterest member, you will be asked if you want to do that.

  • Your website’s URL: It is very important that you add the URL of your website to your Pinterest profile.  It is another sure way that people will be able to connect with you.

  • Continuing to work it: Once you have been accepted as a member and set up your profile, it is critical that you continue to spend time building your clusters so that other people can benefit from them. You should be consistent in your efforts (just as you are with using the other social media channels). It is more effective to work it steadily for your business than to do it infrequently in large quantities. As with any social networking site, you are building relationships with other people and consistency, credibility, and trustworthiness are all critical to your success when it comes to connecting with others.

  • Go the distance: After you have pinned an image,  you should make sure to include a caption. It is very important that you make the effort to do more than just the minimum. After all, your objective is to promote discussions with other people and your captions will certainly help you to do that.

  • Include other people: With Pinterest, you can include other people in your image clusters (in the form of contributors). The more people you engage, the more interesting and effective your use of Pinterest for business will be.

  • Tell you story: It is essential for you to tell your story and the story of your business. People will be touched by your story on an emotional level and will act accordingly because you have stirred up their feelings. Emotion is at the heart of all meaningful relationships.

  • Be sincere and genuine: Even though you will be using Pinterest for your business, you are still using it as a human being. It is very important for you to show people who you really are. They will appreciate it and they will know the difference if you don’t do that.

  • Position yourself as a subject matter expert: One of your most important objectives is for you to be regarded as the subject matter expert. You want to be on the top of everyone’s mind when it comes to people needing your particular products and/or services. The way that you accomplish that is by continuing to prove that you have vast knowledge and expertise and that you are able to help them solve their problems.

Conclusion

Pinterest has gained tremendous popularity recently and seems to be stronger than ever at this point. It will only get stronger. It has many benefits that you can leverage for your business. The unique approach that is taken to bring people together seems to be extraordinarily effective and the combination of powerful images that touch people coupled with meaningful conversations is having an incredible effect on people wanting to connect. One of those is that it can increase your website traffic by a great deal. There are so many advantages that it will be well worth your time and effort to get involved with it. The stronger and more diverse your marketing strategy is, the more successful your business will ultimately be.

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Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

5 Responses

  1. Gladys Hurtado says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Digital Marketing
    Discussion: Effective Business Marketing With Pinterest

    With Pinterest you can see exactly what everyone in your target market is thinking .You can also look at this as a focus group.
    Posted by Gladys Hurtado

  2. Pam Aungst says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: MCCC – Morris County Chamber of Commerce
    Discussion: Effective Business Marketing With Pinterest

    Great article, Michael. Pinterest is so powerful that it has begun driving the blogging strategies that I create. I’ve even had some pins go somewhat viral because I crafted the blog article and featured image for the article with Pinterest in mind. It’s a great traffic generator when done right.
    Posted by Pam Aungst, MBA

  3. Gordon Burgett says:

    Nice job, Michael. I had heard that the direct business benefits were few at Pinterest, but your article says somewhat the contrary. One obvious thing is to pin your book cover there, and give its follow-up link below or by it. Good ideas, much appreciated.

  4. Fiona says:

    What a great piece of work. Relevant, insightful, informative. Really like this. Thank you.

  5. Arindom Borah says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: The Content Wrangler Community
    Discussion: Effective Business Marketing With Pinterest

    Well it’s pinteresting that’s 4 sure. But if the conditions posted there now are revised, I hate to think what the revised were. Don’t get me wrong folks..it’s a fantastic idea and a great site but the site support people should clarify news matters. Otherwise it just reinforces the doubt.!
    Posted by ARINDOM BORAH