How to use Pinterest successfully for your business

Pinterest was launched in 2010 and can be regarded as a virtual pinboard for your favourite images. Boards are created to pin your favourite images onto with the most popular boards being baking, wedding ideas, ideas for your home and fashion. You can pin an image to your board from another website or repin somebody else’s pin, or alternatively you can upload your own images as pins.

Pinterest is growing at a very fast rate and by January 2012 it already had 11,716 unique users and 10.4 million users by early 2012. Pinterest has become the fastest growing Social Media network with 80% of users being female and 30% of users are aged 25-34.

The main topic of interests on Pinterest in the UK are:

Web stats/Analytics
Crafts
SEO/Marketing
Blogging Resources

The best times to post on Pinterest during the day is 2pm – 4pm and in the evening 8pm – 1am.

Using Pinterest for your business

Just like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest can also be used for business and can become an integral part of your Social Media strategy. Build up a network of followers by pinning and creating interesting pins and boards. Plan your strategy and keep your account active, find out who your audience is, what they like and what they want to see.

Pinning images

Your followers will be interested in you as a business and the people behind the business too. Pin images of your product, your workplace, employees, blogs and videos. It is important that your images are of good quality, the maximum width of your image should be 600px and the thumbnail width should be 190px.

Google loves Pinterest, so make sure you use keywords in your description relating to that particular pin. Think about what keywords your audience will search with and use Hashtags (#) too as this will make your pin easier to find. Drive traffic from your pins to your website or blog wherever possible.

Boards

Create many boards that relate to your business. For instance, if you are a furniture retailer you could create boards on Dining Room furniture, Living Room furniture, carpets, and sofas. You could also think outside the box a bit and create boards on How to remove stains from furniture, kid’s bedroom decor or even famous people’s homes. Set your boards/pins to align with popular topics, i.e. this seasons colour, and popular furniture brands.

Follow other boards associated with your business as this may give you some inspiration. Engage with users by commenting on their pins, liking their pins and repinning their pins.

It’s good to be different so why not have quirky board names, descriptions and profile picture, your audience will become intrigued.

Spreading the word

Once you have established your presence on Pinterest you will need to tell people about it. Add a ‘follow me on pinterest’ button to your website and remind people on your other Social Media accounts that you are on Pinterest.

Get started on Pinterest today!