Pinterest is a social media site where users can share images by re-pinning them to their own boards for their followers to see. Pinterest has a great benefit to brands, as it has become one of the biggest traffic referral sites on the web.
SEO benefit- do follow links
Currently, the links on Pinterest are classed as do follow, which means they will add some SEO value to your site. It’s unclear how long this will continue, as Pinterest becomes bigger and more popular, they may choose to remove this particular benefit. However in the meantime, it’s a great way to get a bit of extra link power from a high profile site.
Brand building – sharing quality images
Even without the linking benefit, Pinterest is still beneficial for the purpose of brand building. There’s huge potential to connect with customers through the sharing structure of the site and possibility for brands to create an interesting and original profile that appeals to their target audience.
What type of businesses could use Pinterest?
Although Pinterest is open to use by anyone, there are some that would be most suitable to use this image sharing platform. Interior, craft, baking, fashion and lifestyle images are very popular topics on the site, so businesses within these industries would probably fit in. Pinterest’s typical demographic is women aged 25- 44, does this sound like your target customer?
How to get started
Create your boards
You can create different sections for your brand. Perhaps you are a fashion e-tailer, you might want to separate your images into boards for different colours, designers, seasons or garment type. Think of it as a mood board and be selective with what you pin.
Image Quality
Pinterest is for beautiful, high quality inspiration photos. Think about this before you post anything, no one will share your poorly lit, blurry product images so save the time and do it properly. Have a look around first to get a feel of the type of photos, so you can gauge what might turn viral.
Add price tags
One of the great features of Pinterest is that you are able to add a price tag to any of your images. You can then link this image to the product page on your site, this is a great way to grab those potential customers and can give a nudge to users who are “just browsing” to make a purchase.
Promote
Use your Pinterest account alongside your current social media, if you’ve posted a new photo, tweet it! Let your followers know you are on Pinterest and remember to include a pin it button on products or images you want to share (similar to a Facebook like button ) so that readers can help you by pinning it themselves.
Be socialable
Like other people’s photos, repin them, tweet them, it’s all about sharing, remember the best way to show your brand cares is by helping out other users. Don’t just use it as a way of solely promoting yourself, like other social networks this isn’t what Pinterest is made for and you will alienate users if you aren’t genuine.
-Guest Post by Becky Yardley, Marketer for Appliances Online, the UK’s largest retailer of kitchen appliances.
