Using Pinterest to Grow Your Business

Using Pinterest to Grow Your Business

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Michael Martin Leaño

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are useful marketing tools for your business, but you might have left one out– Pinterest. For the uninitiated, Pinterest is a pinboard-style image-sharing website, and it’s currently one of the top networking sites today. In other words, if you use social networks to promote your company, then you should be in Pinterest as well. Here’s how you can use Pinterest to grow your business.

Develop relationships with influencers

There will always be movers and shakers in every social networking service. To be successful in growing your business, you’ll have to find these driving forces, who have the attention of the audience you want to reach, and build a relationship with them. This is done by liking and re-pinning their pins, and making carefully thought-out comments. If an influencer enjoys your pins and boards, you can gain credibility in the niche and drive traffic to your website (more on this later). You might even learn something in the process!

Follow your competitors

One way to keep track of your business competitors is to follow them in Pinterest. This can provide you a source of ideas and information through their pins; allow you to replicate what works for them; and learn from their mistakes (and avoid them). Pinterest’s secret boards, for instance, let you keep an eye on your competitors’ products and the information they reveal. You can then use this data to take advantage of what your competition doesn’t do or offer.

Expand and measure your reach

With Pinterest, you can go beyond the geographical confines of your business and reach more people. You can influence and win over people in other countries, and at the same time, grow the size of your audience. One way is through using Pinterest’s group boards, which let you make a board where others are allowed to pin. Doing this can increase your number of followers and re-pins; just be careful–users invited to your group boards can invite other people you don’t know.

But how do you know if your efforts to expand your reach are actually working? You need to quantify it using a couple of useful tools. The first is the Pinterest Pin Count tool, which shows you the number of times a specific page on your company site was pinned and re-pinned. The second is Pinterest’s web analytics tool, which measures the number of people clicking your content, pinning from your website, and several other useful information. To use the analytics tool, you first have to download a verification file and upload it in Pinterest’s business website.

Engage directly with your customers

Pinterest is a social networking site, so make sure you like, re-pin, and reply to comments. Doing this lets you engage directly with your current and potential audience. Why is this important? Replying to, commenting on, re-pinning, and liking pins improve the chances that other people will reciprocate what you’re doing in their pins. In turn, your posts and pins become more popular, allowing you to reach an even wider audience. Furthermore, directly communicating with your audience is great for developing your brand.

Drive traffic to your company website

Did you know that Pinterest is one of the most effective social networks in driving traffic to websites? Some sources claim that Pinterest is more effective than Facebook in boosting web traffic, while others say Pinterest is second to Facebook. Either way, it’s clear that using Pinterest can be a useful tool for businesses that depend on internet traffic for its sales.

Gives your business a human touch

Even with all the advances in technology and how it affects our marketing strategy, the importance of relationships stays the same. To develop relationships with your audience, you’ll have to add a human touch in your interactions with them. Pinterest is a great platform to do this, thanks to its more casual atmosphere. Good luck conveying a relaxed tone in your professional-looking Facebook account or in your 160-character tweets.

This, however, doesn’t mean that you’ll behave unprofessionally in Pinterest. The social network’s relaxed tone allows you to provide insight on what makes you laugh or pictures of things you like, and be more personal with your audience.

Inform and entertain your followers

Like other social networks, Pinterest is a great tool for informing your audience. But if you want to gain more support, find a way to entertain them. You might think that making your pins more diverting would reduce your credibility. On the contrary, entertainment and levity can improve communication and result in better trust. However, you’ll have to find the right balance.

To achieve that balance, you’ll have to put in a little more effort. For instance, you can organise your boards into several topics: you each have a board for new products, events, job openings, and offbeat stuff, then pin several of each every day. By making your boards more interesting, you can gain more followers and expand your reach.

Improve your brand authority

Another way to build trust among your audience is to establish yourself (or your business) as an authority in your field. This is done by creating boards and sharing pins that have the most accurate, compelling, helpful, and practical information. To gain trust and authority, the information you share shouldn’t be limited to your business’ products or services.

Increase sales

Everything listed above boils down to one point: to drive your company’s sales. Through Pinterest, you can inspire your audience to shop and buy what you’re selling, encourage them to keep up with the latest trends, and ultimately improve your company’s bottom line.