Pinterest is one of the newest players in the social media world, yet it is growing to be on par with some of the big names like Facebook and Twitter. Unlike Twitter and Facebook, however, Pinterest is primarily visually driven, with text only playing a small role in the site’s design. If you have the right audience and use the site effectively, it can draw traffic to your site, boost your sales and improve your SEO. If you’re getting started with Pinterest for the first time, here’s what you need to know.
Keep the Right Ratio
Pinterest users have little toleration for pure marketing. If your boards are full of nothing but your own products and your own interests, you’re not likely to see much interaction. People want to learn something, smile or feel inspired by your pins. This doesn’t mean you can’t pin your own images, but you need to keep the right ratio in mind.
The majority of your pins need to be educational or inspirational. In fact, a full 40 percent should be devoted to each category. This leaves just 20 percent to devote to your brand specifically. Divide this evenly between your services or product and your business or brand.
Now, if you have links on your page that are purely inspirational or educational, they can fit into that category, but look carefully at them. Make sure they’re offering value to your readers and are not simply promotion, clothed in inspiration or education.
Know What Pinterest Can (and Can’t) Do
Pinterest is a valuable marketing tool, but it has its limits. Pinterest is visually driven, so you’ll be “pinning” using images, not text links. You’ll use it primarily to draw traffic to your site. Inspirational photos and infographics can be great linking opportunities.
Pinterest doesn’t allow you to sell items on its pages, but it does allow you to link to items you have for sale. To do this, add a dollar sign and the price in a particular pin’s description. When a user searches for “gifts” and a certain dollar amount, that pin will show up, with a bubble showing the price. If a user clicks on the link, you may generate a sale on your site.
Know the Audience
In 2012 a Pew report showed that 70 percent of the users on Pinterest are women between the ages of 24 and 44. If you’re going to use Pinterest, you need a business that appeals to this very specific demographic. If your business cater to this demographic significantly, then you should be using Pinterest to draw more people to your site.
Let Pinterest Help Your SEO
The search engines love social networking sites, so make sure you’re optimizing your Pinterest pins. Use keywords in your descriptions to draw search traffic to your pins, and thus to your page. Make all images on your site that you can “pinnable,” so your current users will be able add those social links easily. Add “follow me on Pinterest” links on your blog and website as well.
Keep the Big Picture in Mind
No matter what you’re doing on Pinterest, keep your overall marketing goals in mind. Know your audience, your ultimate goal and your branding ideas at the forefront of every action you take. If a pin won’t, in some way, help you attain your goal or solidify your brand, then you probably shouldn’t be doing it.
Like all social networking sites, Pinterest is a tool. It can be used well, helping you reach your branding goals, and it can be a waste of time, if used poorly. Before you dive into this latest social marketing craze, take a look at your goals. If you think it can help you reach them, then I suggest you consider Pinterest as an addition to your marketing toolbelt.
21 Responses
Hi Doc, thanks for the info. I must admit I don’t know much about Pinterest. I think it might be a worthwhile tool for me given the right circumstances.
Best Regards Robert
Very informative and authentic information and I think this will really help people like me who don’t know so much key of mineral. Can you provide me your Facebook page URL ? I want to share with my followers. Thanks for all your information.
I love to see thsi digital scraping in the pintrest social networking website. Beign social platform most of the customers love to share their valuabel information as their services. with million visitors this social site has became more famous. I suggest small business will definitely get promoted through this pinterest website.
Great social media tool
Hi Doc & Gabriella,
Within the last few weeks I finally created a Pinterest account. I haven’t devoted much time to it yet so I’m happy to see an overview of it by someone I trust to know value as opposed to jumping on the glitter-wagon.
With a little more knowledge under my belt about how to best integrate the bigh P, I’ll be ready to add it to my toolbelt, as you suggested to Monty above.
Yes pinterest has evovled as a good social media. It helps the website in gaining proper traffic if we pin the right images and keep following the audience with similar interest. This is the experience i had with my site.
I will say also that Actually, I’m searching for this kind of article about this issue for about 1 hour in bing. After a long search I found this website where this topic and information shared very clearly.
Your posting always help me
Now today’s some of the most useful social networking site is pinterest…Where we can share our interest and pin it, which leads to increase our business traffic source more and more…As per my experience am saying, pinterest works great…i got many visitors to my blog through this pinterest only..try to make your business sharp..
Thanks for the article! Didn’t have time to read it yet, it’s far past my bedtime here… but I mark it a favourite to read it in the morning, as I have to finally understand the whole fuss with Pinterest and Google+. Gotta be where my customers are!
Exactly. When both are used correctly, it’s like peanut butter and chocolate. 🙂
Pinterest is really important marketing medium now. specially if you have products related to girls, as we all know there are lots of women user on it.
Hey Thomas, did you know that women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care. So they don’t just buy or look at pretty things. In fact, women account for $7 trillion in consumer and business spending in the United States, and over the next decade, they will control two thirds of consumer wealth. Women make or influence 85% of all purchasing decisions, and purchase over 50% of traditional male products, including automobiles, home improvement products and consumer electronics.(Top 30 stats you need to know when marketing to women)Therefore, please keep in mind it’s when creating campaigns using Pinterest it’s not just about products for girls, the buying power online today and in the future is women. Period. 😉
Actually, I’m searching for this kind of article about this issue for about 1 hour in bing. After a long search I found this website where this topic and information shared very clearly. It’s really logical and perfect for this time being. I will try to visit this website regularly and waiting to get more awesome news from here. I will help thousands of people damn sure.
Learned a lot about Pinterest from your writing.. Initially i thought it’s just a photo sharing website but now i know how i can use it for my site..
Thanks a lot for sharing such an amazing information..
Pinterest is useful for your business, if you’ve amazing images on your blog to share. Otherwise you have to put extra efforts to create relevant images, which can engage people. Motivational thoughts and funny images are most popular and receive lot of likes.
To be honest i dont really get the hype about Pinterest… but now i think its time to start using it.
I use Pinterest but also a site called Showcase which is very similar but with more of an e-commerce value! It’s true that visual can often have more of an impact than words but I do question it’s SEO potential…
I’m glad you decided to take another look at the possibility, Evan. Pinterest certainly isn’t “the new SEO”, as some people seem to claim about various channels now and then… but it is a good channel to add to your toolbelt, when used wisely.
Thanks for commenting, and don’t be a stranger!
Hi Sheldon,
very informative article. For my web site to generate relevant traffic which key word should i choose, means how to judge any key words effectiveness can you suggest me? my web site is about consultancy for business. thanks
“Pinterest is a valuable marketing tool, but it has its limits.”
“it can draw traffic to your site, boost your sales and improve your SEO.”
I read this article and was very surprised by these claims. I was especially skeptical if people who use Pinterest are in a buying frame of mind. I imagined it was more like “I can haz a cheezeburger” as opposed to an actual marketing tool.
Anyway, looked into it and found out that it very much does have an active customer base (see, for example, Marketer’s Guide to Pinterest SEO.
Good lesson for a Monday morning. I appreciate you sharing this info on Tribber and making me think about this issue a bit. My partner and I have been ignoring Pinterest, but that may have been a bad idea… thanks for making us think about it!
Hey nice to see a Triberr on our blog… 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the post!