pinterest

As major brands and businesses continue to expand their presence on various social media networks, keeping tabs on the latest online social sharing hang outs has never been more important.

Launched in 2010, Pinterest is by no means a new social networking service, yet it seems to be overlooked by the vast majority of businesses looking to promote products, engage customers and drive traffic back to their websites.

Despite its slight lack of recognition, Pinterest is proving to be a rising star in the world of social media. The service currently boasts 48 Million users, whilst offering traffic referral statistics which trump those of Twitter, Youtube and Google+. In light of this, we think you may be missing out by ignoring Pinterest.

What is Pinterest?

In short, Pinterest is a pin-board style photo sharing website. Users can post images – known as pins, of hobbies – events and interests on to their own boards, while browsing other boards created by others. You can also like and Re-Pin images on to your own image board, to share the content of others.

Images can be categorised into separate boards, allowing others to find content relevant to them. For example, a user may have a board dedicated to Sports and another board dedicated to Cooking. Each time that user uploads a photo, he can decide upon which category the image should show up in.

Viewing-Pinterest-Categories

You can share images you find online or you can directly upload images onto Pinterest from your mobile or computer. You can also share your Pins on Twitter and Facebook.

Viewing-Pinterest-Feed

On the main Pinterest page, a pin feed appears – as shown in the image above, displaying the chronological activity from the Pinterest boards that a user follows. Much like Twitter and Instagram, more pins can be discovered via the search bar, categories or by visiting Pinterest’s Popular page.

What can Pinterest offer my business?

As a social network, Pinterest has grown exponentially since its launch in March 2010. 15% of all Social media users have a Pinterest account, with the most popular age group amongst its 48 Million user base being between 25 and 34 years old.

So, it is quite evident that there are plenty of potential customers to be reached and engaged with via Pinterest. However, the real question is: How good is Pinterest at referring good, convertible traffic?

To put it simply, Pinterest is exceptional at doing just that.

As well as referring more traffic than Twitter, Google+ and Youtube, Pinterest Insider reports that Pinterest referrals spend 70% more money than those visitors referred via other channels. Additionally, 69% of Pinterest users claim to have found items they wanted to buy using Pinterest, compared to just 40% of those using Facebook. Additionally, Pinterest is also used by 26% of business to business (B2B) marketers.

These statistics indicate that Pinterest is not only one of the best social networks for the quantity of traffic it refers, it is also a great source of quality traffic. Thus, you and your business may be missing out massively by ignoring this rapidly growing social media website.

How to sign up for Pinterest

When it comes to signing up to Pinterest, there are various ways to get started. Head over to their website and hit “Join Pinterest” as shown in the image below.

joining-pinterest

You will then be presented with the option to sign up using either your Facebook or Twitter account. Ensure that you are signed in to the account you wish to use, then hit the corresponding button. Alternatively, you can sign up using your email address, thus keeping your social networks separated.

Using-Social-Media-to-Join-Pinterest

Additionally, Pinterest offer a sign up process dedicated to businesses looking to promote their brand or products. at the bottom of the same sign up screen shown above, you will see the option to sign up as a business.

Joining-Pinterest-as-a-Business

Signing up to Pinterest as a business will allow you to link directly to your website from your Pinterest page. Your followers will automatically know that you are using Pinterest on behalf of a business or company and not for personal leisure.

Pinterest Business pages get the opportunity to create virtual storefronts, plus access to Pinterest Analytics, widgets and buttons ready to be implemented into your website.

Using Pinterest correctly

Now that we have understood the importance of having a Pinterest handle, the next step is to master the usage of Pinterest in order to maximise exposure and traffic referrals.

Just like with any social network, It is vital to balance your Pinterest content between self-promotion and pure social engagement. Flooding your timeline with images relating only to your business or website will not attract followers, nor will it engage existing ones.

Instead, being artistic and creative with your Pins – whilst staying relevant to your industry, is the way to go. Many of the tips and tricks found in our Instagram marketing guide will also apply perfectly to Pinterst.

Well known websites and companies such as Wikihow and Sony have done well to accumulate a good Pinterest following, so adopting some of their Pinterest marketing techniques would also be helpful.

All in all, the rapid growth of Pinterest – paired with its remarkable traffic referral statistics, make it an untapped pool of marketing opportunism for you and your business. My advice is to get acquainted with the popular social networking website before your competitors can do the same.

Social media is indeed the future of online marketing and customer engagement, and Pinterest is fast becoming the best social tool to achieve such goals.

Join Pinterest.