What is Pinterest and how can it help my business?

by Andrea Beadle

If you haven’t hear of Pinterest yet, it is one of the fastest growing phenomena in social media. Growing MUCH faster than even Twitter did, it is literally exploding onto the social media scene!

It is effectively a social media platform where you pin images that you like or inspire you onto pin boards. A little bit like a “vision board” if you are into that kind of visual approach. As you surf the internet and come across interesting articles or pictures, you pin them to your board and share them with people that are following you.

Yes, I know, it sounds as if it couldn’t possibly help your business!

However, people LOVE the visual element that it brings and there are some absolutely stunning images being shared. Everything from beautiful images of nature, animals and travel, to gorgeous food, stunning interiors and to die for outfits.

You can see one of the boards I have created above to do with animals and nature. I have a board for inspiration, another for yummy food, one for health and others to do with business.

Whilst it could be very easy to get carried away for hours on end just browsing the amazing images that are shared – it becomes very quickly addictive – there is a serious side to it.

5 ways Pinterest can help your Business

1) Connecting with your community

What I have found fascinating is how people love to see pictures of your life and find common ground to connect with you. We are getting a puppy in a couple of weeks time and when I pinned an image of a puppy very like the one we are getting there was a flurry of interest on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

Cute adorable puppies may have nothing to do with your business but sharing pictures certainly helps people to connect!

2) Links back to your website

Links back to your website are important for your search engine rankings. Whether from other websites or social media, the more links you have the better. Pinterest allows you to post your content via images from your website which you can link back to your website.

3) Visual representation of your Products

If your business and your services are very visual, Pinterest is the perfect platform for your products.

I’ve seen some absolutely beautiful images of storage solutions, carpentry work, craft and jewellery. Sharing your work in visual form and having other people pin it to their boards as something they like can help to spread your work virally.

4) Sharing Inspiration

If your work is one of sharing inspiration and messages with a wider audience, Pinterest is perfect for you. One of the key themes I have seen is the sharing of inspiring quotes and messages. These seem to be re-pinned and shared everywhere! Many people seem to have inspiration boards with many different saying or affirmations. If this is part of your work then creating simple posts on your website which you can then pin and share is a great way of sharing your message.

5) Creating a Buzz

Pinterest seems to be perfect for creating a real buzz around things. A great way of doing this is to have a “Pin it to win it” contest. My coach and mentor Sandi Krakowski was one of the early adopters of this idea. Share a picture of one of your products with a link back to your website. Give a timescale after which you will give away your product to someone that has repinned your product. This will help to create a buzz and get your product better known.

However, you must make sure that you are also being authentic, sharing other people’s pins and participating socially as is the aim of Pinterest. As with any other social media platform, heavy self-promotion doesn’t work!

Come over and see what I’ve been posting and dip your toe in the water. I’d love to see you there!