How to Use Pinterest for Your Business

Pinterest has grown at an astronomical rate, reaching 12 million visitors per week. As an obvious step after establishing such a massive audience, Pinterest has rolled out a version for businesses.  Here’s how to set up a Pinterest business account and a few tips on using Pinterest for your business.

Why Should Your Business Join Pinterest?

Pinterest's growth is unbelievable, and if the traffic numbers aren't enough to convince you, here are a few other reasons you need to join:

• It’s a great way to tell the story of your company and build a community.

• Pins with prices are re-pinned 36% more, showing that users are welcoming deals into their social experience.

• Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined.

• Referrals from Pinterest spend about 70% more than those from non-social channels.

• Referrals from Pinterest are 10% more likely to make a purchase (and will spend about 10% more) than those from another social channel.

• 47% of online customers in the US have purchased something based on a recommendation seen on Pinterest.

How Can You Get the Most Out of Pinterest for Businesses?

Pinterest has made the jump for businesses relatively easy.  There are only a few steps necessary to go from creating a business account to reaping the rewards.

Step 1:  Create a business account.

You can do this in one of two ways:  1.  Convert your current Pinterest account to a business account.  To do this, you can simply go to www.business.pinterest.com.  Or 2.  If you don't already have a Pinterest account, no problem—you can join Pinterest as a business right off the bat.  Simply go here.

After you’ve created the account, be sure to enter your public profile information.  Also make sure that you utilize the vanity URL option and upload your logo so that you can immediately start building your brand on Pinterest.

Step 2:  Verify and sync your account.

Similar to Twitter’s blue verification check mark, Pinterest allows businesses to verify their profile.  By doing so, your brand’s full URL is shown on your profile and in search results for easy recognition.  To verify your website, log-in and then go to www.pinterest.com/website/verify/.

Syncing your account helps you streamline all of your social media accounts together.  By doing so, you’ll be able to share new pins across multiple platforms.  This is important, especially during your initial days on Pinterest because it will help direct traffic from your other social media profiles to your new Pinterest account.

Step 3:  Make sharing easy.

By adding “Pin it” buttons to your on-site content, you’ll be sharing your items directly on Pinterest, creating a link chain that leads traffic back to your site.  Fortunately, Pinterest offers several share-friendly methods to attract more social attention:

--"Pin It" button:  This button invites your site visitors to pin things directly from your site to their own Pinterest board. Items with prices and other content will transfer over, so be sure that your product descriptions include a call to action.

--"Pin it" option under images on your blog:  Entice readers to share your blog posts with a "Pin it" button.  You can use the one Pinterest provides or go to PinterestGenerator.com and create one.

--Follow button:  This one’s pretty straightforward; add it near your other social media buttons.  A follow button invites others to stay current with your boards on Pinterest.  Note that you should complete Step #4 before you add this button on your site.

While these simple steps may seem trivial, the extra work will increase the traffic to your pins—which reverts directly back to your site.

Step 4:  Start pinning!

Now it’s time for the fun part—pinning!  But first things first:  add a "Pin It" button to your bookmarks bar to make pinning from any site a breeze.

When creating boards, make sure that your pins are providing value to your followers.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Products are an obvious choice, but don’t overdo it.  Pinterest is not a platform that appreciates an overly direct sales approach.

Highlight an area of your product or service that will not come across as a hard sell.  For example, a graphic designer could create a board that revolves around color schemes and how they work together.

DIY boards are the most popular kind on Pinterest.  Find ideas that can relate to your business and start a board.  For example, Lowes does a great job with this by featuring DIY projects that can be completed with items that they sell.

Office boards help to enhance the personality of your brand.  Think about different ways to portray what it's like at your company. You could start a board about the favorite breakfast foods of your office or your employees' favorite travel locations.

Collaboration boards invite others to pin with you.  Do you have business partners you want to engage with?  Invite him or her to share a board with you.  For example, a fashion designer may want to collaborate on pins with clothing retailers.

Seasonal/event boards make others think about what they need to get their hands on.  A fashion retailer may start a Summer Trends board and pin the items that will be featured during the upcoming season.  A bakery might create a wedding board, pinning pictures of beautiful wedding cakes that they’ve created.

The list goes on and on, but these should give your business a good idea of what you can do on Pinterest.

Lastly, you’ll want to be sure to track your pins.  Fortunately, Pinterest has made this extremely easy to do.  Go to http://pinterest.com/source/yourdomain.com to see what is being pinned from your website.  Have a blog?  You can track the pins from your blog the same way.

With these four easy steps, you’ll find Pinterest success for your business in no time.  What are the most creative boards you’ve put together for your business?  Share them with us on Twitter and follow us for more small business marketing tips: @TouchPointD.

About the author

CEO of Touch Point Digital Marketing Agency of New Orleans, specializing in web design, local SEO, and mobile marketing for small businesses.

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