With so many social media channels offering varying degrees of marketing services, it can be hard to decide which one to put your time, effort, and cash flow towards. This past August, Pinterest opened their first Australian office in Sydney offering another option for businesses to reach their audience in a unique way.
Globally, Pinterest has achieved a 62% increase in revenue after expanding its advertising business to more and more countries. In both Australia and New Zealand alone,
Pinterest has 7.5 million monthly unique visitors, according to Nielsen, and has already been working with local advertisers across retail, home, beauty, and technology. In fact, larger brands such as Myer, Domain, and Woolworths are already advertisers on the platform.
Since Pinterest is so different from its social media counterparts, a whole new set of rules and best practices apply when it comes to using it for your small business. So, let’s take a look at some key ways your business could benefit from using this image-savvy social channel as part of its marketing strategy.
Offer a unique approach.
Pinterest’s primary objective is “to bring everyone inspiration to create a life they love.” Today, more than 300 million people around the world utilise Pinterest each month to help plan, organise, and dream. Whether it’s looking for ideas for meal plans, product purchases, travel itineraries, or home decor, the platform offers a vast array of options. Carin Lee-Skelton, Pinterest’s country manager for Australia, states, “As people come to Pinterest full of intent, businesses have a unique opportunity to inspire them to bring their ideas to life.”
Promote your products.
If you sell physical products, one of the most obvious ways to use Pinterest is to share images of those items. Your photos can feature different variations of colours and styles, and you can even share photos of your customers using your products. Create specific boards with very clear titles to showcase what you have to offer. For example, boards with creative titles like “Fun and Fast Snack Ideas” will most likely attract more attention than a board called “Recipes.” In addition, be sure all your board and pin categories are correct, so they can be found easily when users are browsing.
Feature your blog posts, newsletters, and articles.
Bloggers, writers, and content marketers are using Pinterest to highlight their blog posts, newsletters, and articles in order to create a visual directory of the unique content they publish. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that in order to do this, you need to correlate the photos or other graphics that you’re using on your blog and website so Pinterest has the right image to pull in when your post is pinned by a follower. And remember to always pin all your blog content, articles, or newsletters on a specific board for each, or in their applicable category.
Share videos, infographics, and charts.
Video alone has become a major player in effective marketing strategies. When it comes to video promotion on Pinterest, it works exactly the same way as a blog promotion, except you can embed your videos right into the platform. Videos have proved to be a powerful tool for small business owners, so this is another effective channel to promote this type of content on.
In addition to video content, gifs, infographics, and charts, add a variety of visuals that grab the attention of pinners. For example, studies have shown that the more space a pin takes up, the more likely it is to get pinned. So, look for infographics or colourful charts you can add to your pinning repertoire. Whichever type of content you choose, be sure to use a wide variety of all. Then, pin and repin at least 1–2 times per week.
Conduct market research.
Pinterest also offers you a great opportunity to conduct market research to gain helpful insight into who your target audience is and how effective your pinning efforts are. For example, you should consider the following questions:
- Are people liking your pins or repinning them?
- Are you getting new followers and interest in your brand?
In addition, you can take a look at the profiles of anyone who interacts with your pins to see who they are, what they do, and what other interests they may have. This is a great way to tailor the content you pin going forward.
Create a space for collaboration.
Pinterest also can be a group activity. You can designate boards that are collaboration spaces and add contributors for group pinning and discussions. This is the perfect way to bring your team together to brainstorm, share ideas, and learn from each other. You can also display your company culture by having a board that shares images from your office or company events to humanise your business and its employees.
Although your main goal is to promote your business and drive traffic to your website or blog, you also should consider creating boards that highlight great images, content, and information from others. When you repin or follow your customers’ Pinterest boards and interact with them in an authentic way, you are building a relationship that will hopefully create brand loyalty.
Expand the reach of your website.
Your activity on Pinterest doesn’t have to be self-contained. You can use Pinterest to build on other online marketing activities you’re doing in your business. One idea is to design visual versions of the static content you already have on your company website. You can create an “About Us” board, provide testimonials, and even document the history of your business in photos.
Finally, not all businesses will find that Pinterest is a good fit for them. Take the time to try it out, analyse your results, and revisit its effectiveness on a regular basis to ensure you’re getting the most out of your marketing budget. And remember, Pinterest is about being creative, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box. No matter what industry you are in, your strategy should be based on presenting a creative and fun side to the service or product you’re providing—without trying to be too pushy or salesy.
