What is Pinterest and how can it help me grow my business
This is taken right from the pinterest.com website. “Pinterest is an online pinboard. Organize and share things you love”. Pinterest allows people to pin anything on virtually any subject on their virtual pinboard. Beyond that it allows users to view what other people have posted on their pinboards. This allows visitors to discover new things about topics that they may be interested in, or discover topics they know little about. Since early in 2011, Pinterest has experienced significant growth and wide acceptance. The difference between Pinterest and other social sites is that Pinterest is much more visual and engaging than other sites, including Facebook and Google Plus. Users “pin” images and videos onto their pinboard, creating a collection of “pins”.
I know what you’re thinking. “Not another friggin’ social site! Why in the world would I want to get involved with that”? The best way to answer that is to take a look at Pinterest’s main assets for marketing.
- It’s aesthetically pleasing. Since it’s primarily a site for visual presentations, people go there and stay there for a longer period of time than other social sites. Pinterest have five million users, who average 15 minutes a day on the site.
- Pinterest has become a referral juggernaut. According to copyblogger.com, Pinterest referred more traffic in January 2012 than “LinkedIn, Google Plus, Reddit, and YouTube — combined. “
- Pinterest’s emphasis on visual content makes it a player for B2C businesses. Businesses that would find Pinterest a great fit include clothes stores, florists, hairstylists, furniture dealers, and other craft oriented enterprises. Showcasing beautiful images or videos of your product on Pinterest is an easy way to leverage the power of images.
- It is easy to share content on Pinterest. The site prompts you to download a “pinmarklet”. The pinmarklet allows the user to pin any content they found on the web to their pinboard. You don’t have to copy and paste or switch between browsers and tabs. It is very easy to offer interesting content visually to your customers or visitors on Pinterest.
Pinterest does have drawbacks. Unlike other social marketing sites, Pinterest does not have the capability to produce a dedicated branding page. This creates quite a challenge. How do you create a marketing page without it looking like a marketing page? Because visitors don’t always know that the link they clicked through links with a business, they may not be the hot referral you are looking for. To find out, use Google Analytics to tell you the referral path for your prospect. From there, you will be able to determine whether Pinterest referrals are interested customers or inadvertent visitors.
Another drawback can be the audience Pinterest attracts. According to hubspot.com, 83% of Pinterest visitors are females between the ages of 18-34. The types of businesses that might be attractive to this demographic are design, fashion, and home décor. B2B businesses will find it hard to develop an audience on Pinterest.
Pinterest can be a valuable marketing tool for those businesses that cater to retail customers, attract a lot of females and have visually exciting wares. To use Pinterest effectively requires the time and commitment to create visually exciting pinboards. Remember to track your referrals to determine if the referrals from Pinterest are the quality you want. Utilized the right way by the right business, Pinterest can be a enormous asset in your marketing toolbox.
For more information on Pinterest, social marketing, SEO, email marketing, or blogs, visit http://elvinwebmarketing.com.