You’ve heard of Pinterest. You may not know exactly what it does but you’ve heard of it. For the record, it’s no longer just future brides or bakers that use it. With over 70 million users this platform is not to be ignored. In fact, over 500,000 of those accounts are business’ just like yours!
To put it simply for those of you unfamiliar, this social platform is used as a means for people to save website content. Users can choose to share the content with other followers and/or look at what other people are saving from around the web. What does this have to do with you and your business? Lots.
Be warned though; as with any social platform, do your research first to make sure your intended audience is actually using it. According to recent studies, the most active users are women between the ages of 18-49 with men quickly catching up.
According to Pinterest, 93% of people using Pinterest use it to plan purchases and 96% use Pinterest to gather information about a product. The average buying spend is $50 per purchase. We’re just going to let that sink in for a minute ….
If you think you still need convincing on why you should be joining Pinterest as a brand we’ve put together 5 reasons why you need to start pinning right now:
It’s free marketing
You rarely hear the term ‘free’ anymore, especially when it comes to marketing. While Facebook and Twitter are free platforms to sign up, if you want to receive great exposure you’re going to have to pay for it. Pinterest doesn’t work the same way. Getting noticed on the platform doesn’t cost you money but you do have to optimize your pins if you want to get noticed.
To increase your chance of your pins showing up in news feeds, you need branded Pinterest images (see example below). All you need to do to get started is create a profile, outline a few boards and start pinning. When you click on the + button in the top right hand corner of your profile you’ll have the choice to either upload an image or pin from a website. If you plan on uploading your own image, use a platform like Canva, which already has Pinterest layouts available for you to use. Just make sure to include the correct URL when uploading your own image otherwise people will just be sharing your picture!
It’s good for SEO and searches
If you want to get your website ranked anywhere on that thing called the ‘internets,’ you need to make SEO your best friend. Pinterest is one way to do this. We won’t go into everything you need to know about SEO in this paragraph (that’s a post on its own). What you should know is that Pins that point back to your website create ‘nofollow’ links. To put it simply, a ‘nofollow’ link is like a thumbs up from Google. The more thumbs up you get, the more likely you are to appear in Google’s search results.
You need to also remember that Pinterest acts as its own mini search engine as well. Many users don’t scroll endlessly through Pinterest; they are there to find answers. Having a presence on Pinterest and using the platform effectively means you’re increasing your chances of being found through a simple search as well.
Content never dies
When you compare Pinterest to other social sites like Twitter or Facebook it’s a no brainer why Pinterest should be your top choice for content sharing. When you post on Twitter and Facebook, your post is usually seen for a couple hours, maybe a day if you’re lucky, and then that’s it. It gets lost somewhere in the dark hole of the internet. Pinterest works a bit differently.
It’s not uncommon for a popular pin to be shared hundreds, if not thousands of times over. Many bloggers will see content they wrote months (sometimes years) ago still bringing readers to their website through Pinterest. Every time someone finds your pin and repins it or likes it, your chances of showing up in their followers’ newsfeed increases. This means your content gets new impressions, new clicks and exposure to a new audience.
Gain access to a new network
Like most other social platforms, Pinterest is a great way for you to connect with influencers in your network. Seek out those in your niche with a large following and start building a relationship with them. One of the best ways to do this is to approach them for a ‘group board.’ By collaborating on and pinning to a group board you are getting access to a wider network. Everyone who follows your influencer will be able to see the pins that you post, which will help expand your network. Just make sure you are posting relevant content; you don’t want to damage the relationship you’ve just built.
Inspire your audience
Many Pinners use Pinterest to build their lifestyle brand by pinning things like recipes, workout ideas, future trips and especially tips and tricks on growing careers. For those that love cooking, they can build boards that showcase recipes they have made or aspire to make one day. DIY-ers can find hundreds of new projects by simply searching on Pinterest. Even HR and recruiting managers can find new tips or tricks to help them do their job more efficiently. Whatever your niche is, use it to your advantage and build a lifestyle around it.
Think outside the box a little when it comes to building your boards; a hiring manager could also be interested in ways to increase their company culture, or the best office products to help their employees stay productive. Whatever it is you think your audience wants to read about or research, make a board out of it. Just remember not every pin has to be from your website, in fact we encourage you to build boards with more than just your pins if you really want to grow your audience.
If we haven’t convinced you by now why you should be using Pinterest as part of your marketing and branding strategy, we really aren’t sure what will!