5 Top Pinterest Strategies for Business

3 Apr. 2013 - - Total Reads 10,259

Social media is increasingly becoming a virtual space for people to interact and share their interests, empowering social media channels to claim a fair share of the online marketing industry. Pinterest, one of the recent channels, has quickly evolved into the third most used social media channel, behind Facebook and Twitter, thus luring in digital marketers.

What are people doing on Pinterest?

Users or “pinners” pin image-based content to their “pinboards”, with short descriptions. Each pinner can follow other like-minded people and groups based on the category of their interests. While sharing images, which carry hyperlinks to the originating site, pinners let other pinners know their choices or recommendations. Due to its image-sharing specialty, a pinner within minutes can critique hundreds of context stories and decide which they will repin on their pinboard or click through to visit the referring website, to tell or sell the initial inspiration.

What makes it a hot sell for social media marketers?

Launched only two years ago, Pinterest recently surpassed LinkedIn to become the third favourite social media channel, specialising in image sharing or “image-pinning”. It stands second, next to YouTube, when the average time spent ( nearly 16 minutes per day) by a user on the platform is taken into consideration. However, if the the amount of Pinterest images viewed vs YouTube videos watched is compared, an online marketer can comprehend the overwhelming content marketing potential of this channel.

Another inspiring fact about Pinterest is its users. Almost 70 per cent are women and nearly half of them have children, with nearly a quarter having a household income above $100K. Though Facebook is still the heavyweight in terms of users and traffic, Pinterest refers more traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. And shoppers referred to retail sites by interest spend more money than Facebook and Twitter combined.

Due to these interesting and promising facts, online marketing companies have also stepped up discussions about how pinteresting their clients or products are. And yet there are others who are deciding if it is just another round of pin the tail on the new social donkey. To help, here are some tips for a successful Pinterest marketing strategy:

Vie for top-pinned categories: Popular categories are the most pinned on the platform, therefore pinning your products here is the best route to success. Home, arts, crafts, style, fashion, food, inspiration, education, holidays, humour, products, travel and kids are the most popular categories, with food remaining one of the fastest-growing categories.

Genuine and interesting content:  Genuine content specifically tailored to the interest of your current or intended followers is most likely to bring you more loyal followers and potential customers. Contrary to what you might think, you don’t have to be original to the entire world; online platforms are showing us more and more, you only need to be interesting to your current followers to engage them.

Aspirational content: Pinners on Pinterest pin any image for its visual appeal and if it appeals to their interests. Pinning images that are interesting with sharp, shop-the-look or aspirational scenes will evoke pinners to click on the buy button and bring them to your site.

Track the conversions: Blindly investing resources in online marketing does not make sense. This is the golden rule of digital marketing and Pinterest cannot be an exception to it.  If you are investing resources in pinning images to Pinterest, then you should also have the outcome of the campaign tracked. You must monitor and review the conversions of your investment by tracking referrers, traffic and sales.

Have influencers work for you: Some years ago bloggers with a massive reader base were massive wins for digital marketing. Their word of mouth would do wonders for websites. Now their reign is being taken over by influential pinners on Pinterest. Sponsoring influential pinners for your product will help leapfrog your brand into converting Pinterest success. Where possible, run this in parallel with your own pinboards and content.

Last but not the least, like in any other social media strategy, make sure all the content you pin or have your sponsored leaders pin for you, is relevant to your business or the destination site. Pinning or sponsoring loads of glossy photos of earthquakes or politics will earn a negative reputation for your brand, if you sell gadgets.

Pinterest is presently the fastest-growing social media platform, promising huge ROI for the right product with the right marketing strategy. Every month its 27 million unique visitors scan through loads of images, coming up with tons of ideas for their wall. On a recent weekend outing to the local park with my recently-born twins I found out why. One of the mothers summed up Pinterest’s potential perfectly: “It’s like your own glossy magazine, made just for me, without all the articles.” Instantly, in my head, I saw the apple falling. What could be a greater source of inspiration for an advertiser than that?

The Rise Of Pinterest

References:

http://mashable.com/2012/02/01/pinterest-traffic-study/

Michael Simonetti
Posted by:

Post Reads: 10.3K

Share this

Go on, see if you can challenge us on "5 Top Pinterest Strategies for Business" - Part of our 168 services at AndMine. We are quick to respond but if you want to go direct, test us during office hours.

Add Your Comment

Trusted by

Telstra
Liveoneday
One Shift
Jalna
iPrimus
POSTER Magazine
Cooper Mills
Passage Foods
DUSA, Deakin University Student Association
Matchbox Homewares
Arthur Galan
Coles
Ebay
Shell
ABC
James Buyer Advocates
Mamma Lucia
Tomorrow Stars Basketball
Sunday Creek
French Tables
NextTech
Passage To India
Parker Lane
Moov Head Lice
Grays Ecommerce
Palace Cinemas
QV Skincare
Eway
Victorian Government
ADP Payroll
High Street Armadale
Bondi Sands
Fresh Cheese Company
King Wood Mallesons
Thomson Geer
Tek Ocean
Positive Poster
Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre – MSAC
Bigcommerce
Associated Press
VISSF
Dial Before You Dig
Arc One
Florsheim Shoes
Heat Holders
The Burger Cheese
Boston Consulting Group
The Royal Melbourne Hospital
SunSense Digital Agency
Bulk Nutrients
Bank of Cyprus
Uber
Royal Freemasons
Switzer Media+Publishing
Loan Market
Novvi
Peter Mac
Celebrate Health
Metricon
MAP
White Suede
Fast.co
Hanover
Instant RockStar
Beaumont
Scrum.org
National Relay Services
Federation University Australia
Vendor Advocacy Australia
Gadens
Maxine
Mecca Brands
Amino Active
LBG Australia and New Zealand
Grainshaker
Craft CMS
Grow Your Business
Google
Van Egmond Group
MyAccount
Elucent
Chia
Toy World
Federation Square
Herbert Smith Freehills
Acquia Certified Site Builder Drupal
Windsorsmith
CB Richard Ellis
ISO Certified
Vitura Health
The Canberra Times
Catholic Insurance
Bostik
Gilbert+Tobin
Cell Therapies
Forbes
Jetstar
Unsw Australia
Smart Company
Melrose MCT
ACTUATE IP
Ubertas Group
Max’s
Rydges
Wild Rhino Shoes
WTFN
DepSkin.com
Inferflora
The Age
Plants
Melbourne Heart
Engineers Without Borders
Etihad Stadium
Atlantic Group of Companies
Madman Entertainment
Castran Gilbert
NMI Insurance
Sports Power
Australian Government
OJAY
Watches of Switzerland
Magento Solution Specialist
131 Pizza
TPP
OMS – Order Management System
Cleanfit
RMIT University
Mark Alexander Design
Appstore
GPT Group
DeeWhy Market
Dinosaur Designs
Bintani Australia
Rock Pool Group
Paypal
Crumpler
Carlton Football Club
News
Viktoria & Woods
Adobe Professional
National Museum of Australia
Australian Physiotherapy Association
Street Kitchen
GooglePlay
Buy Aussie Now
Garmin
Green St Juice CO
Tribe
Ego Pharmaceuticals
Fairfax Media
Kay&Burton
McArthur Skincare
Kadac
Marshall White
21st Century Australia Party
AC/DC
Movember
The University Of Melbourne
CAN- Common Wealth Bank
Cronos Australia
Think & Grow Rich Inc
Toni&Guy
The Fortune Institute
Focus On Furniture
Australian Anthill
BlackMores
Oakdale Meat Co
Magento
CSquared Executive
Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals
Brisbane Times
Natralus Australia
Hairhouse Warehouse
Engine Swim
Macmillan Publishing
Oracle
SwinBurne University of Technology
Tassal
Australian Organic Food CO
Drupal
Melbourne Central
HGG 
Melrose Health
Ello
Xavier
Plan It Sync It
Aqium Gel
SMH – The Sydney Morning Herald
Rackspace
Schiavello
Naturtint
PranaOn

Testimonials

The AndMine team have been delivering our digital strategy and online services for many years now. Strongly commercially aware they know our industry well and have consistently delivered winning results for Matchbox. David Cohen, Owner, Matchbox

More Testimonials
AndMine-Google-Partner-Signature