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Three Ways to Use Pinterest for Business
I’m not going to lie. I’m obsessed with Pinterest. I blame my sister. She’s an enabler.
Since its launch, I’ve been a big proponent of it. It’s, in a sense, an online scrapbook. You find images and videos you like and “pin” them to your online boards.
For instance, I have “must make,” “winter training,” “books worth reading,” “gift ideas,” and more that feed my creativity. But the best part? The “what do you want for dinner” discussion has left our house. Now we just look at the “must make” board and decide very quickly what’s for dinner.
Something like 84 percent of us are visual learners. Pinterest feeds that in a big way.
I’ll admit I avoided it for a long time. I knew there were business applications for it, especially if you sell something visual such as clothes, food, or jewelry, but I knew once I got on there, I’d have to quickly attend rehab. I was right.
But the more I play with it, the more business applications I’m finding.
Following are three things you can do for your business right now.
- Hold a contest. When I saw what Samuel Gordon Jewelers was doing with their “Pin It” contest, I was very intrigued. In order to win Honora Pearls, Samuel Gordon encouraged people to visit their website, pin photos of the jewelry to their personal boards, and share with their networks. Because Pinterest incorporates Facebook and Twitter, the sharing capability is automatic and the viral effect is large.
- Add the “Pin It” widget to your sites. Just like you have the social network widgets on your website and blog, you can add the Pin It widget. This allows readers and visitors to automatically share something they like on your site with their networks.
- Create a company board. The site is still by invite only (let me know if you want an invite), but once you get in, you can create a branded board. While you’re not allowed to blatantly promote your business, you can follow the lead of brands such as Nordstrom and Whole Foods.
Granted, there aren’t a ton of applications for a business-to-business organization, but if you’re thinking about how to share your products and services visually, you’ll want to consider Pinterest. It might be behind-the-scenes shots of your manufacturing floor, the insides of an engine, oxidizer, or gauge, or how-to videos.
Remember most people are visual learners so think about how you can cater to them while showing off the cool things you do.
This first appeared in my weekly Crain’s column.
Great post, yes, love an invite! Thank you. :) esta email esta@sheconsulting.com @sheconsulting
sheconsulting On its way!
My latest conversation: Gin and Topics: No Toilet Paper, Tech Terms, and Puppies
Still sending invites, Gin? Please, may I? Thanks.
My latest conversation: Whoops! 404 Error!
Good ideas. Seems obvious when you see maddiegrant 's board for Humanize.
My latest conversation: screen-awesomebar : Free Traffic Tips
Tinumaddiegrant Or Jen's board for SMAC.
My latest conversation: FBQOTW: Angels, the Super Bowl, and LaToya Jackson
Just a quick correction to No. 2: The "Pin It" button you linked to is a bookmarklet for users' browsers. So if I add this button to my Firefox or Chrome, I can Pin a page quickly.
If a widget or Share It-type button exists for sites/blogs for Pin It (like the Like or Tweet buttons), please let me know.
Wade Kwon
I believe the button you're referring to is listed on the same page (http://www.pinterest.com/about/goodies ). Try scrolling down, past the "Pinterest for iPhone" app link and you should find an assortment of badges, either for following a Pinterest account or pinning your posted images, that you can embed on your site or blog.
Hope that helps! :)
jacque_PR Ah, silly me. Thanks!
I'm a man and I enjoy Pinterest to store any manly ideas I find. It is interesting to think about using it for business and I enjoyed your article. One thing I like about social media in general is someone or some organization can't be too irritating or they will be "unfriended". It forces businesses to look at marketing totally differently. This new way of marketing is difficult to determine effectiveness. How would someone track how effective their efforts on Pinterest were? I know you can track referring web sites using traditional web analytics but what other ways can you track marketing efforts on Pinterest?
BenjaminHofmann I'm not sure how to track (yet) outside of Google analytics. I'm testing a few things, but haven't gotten definitive answers yet.
My latest conversation: FBQOTW: Angels, the Super Bowl, and LaToya Jackson
I may not be as obsessed as you Gini but I agree that there is a major opportunities for business here, especially if there product has a visual element. I posted a picture of the new Range Rover Evoke on my Pinterest the other day. I think the design of the car is amazing so I pined it. My email went nuts over the next 8 hours with people repining and liking it. It was amazing to me. Range Rover should be in there engaging with these people - they are possible customers. I agree with you - very addictive. The other site I love like this is www.houzz.com.
matthixson Oh nooooo. Please do not give me another site to check out! Dang it.
My latest conversation: Boners BBQ, Papa John's Need Crisis Coaching
Gini, I recently got an invite and signed up, but haven't had a chance to pin anything yet. From the way you've described it--and what I've already seen--I, too, predict I'll soon be addicted. Thanks a lot for promoting yet another thing to compete for my time and attention! ;-) In fairness, you did introduce me to Evernote, which has turned out to be a productivity gem, so I guess it evens out. :-)
I do see Pintrest being useful for nonprofits as well though.
feliciahudson OK. So next tool I recommend will be something that gives you time back...to make up for this.
My latest conversation: Cause Marketers: Connect to Fundamental Human Needs
ginidietrichfeliciahudson , you could try Rescue Time. It is swell for keeping a track of where you spend your time online.
Every day I look at the pretty bar charts and am absolutely gobsmacked by how my time leaks. And as you become aware, you can clamp down on time wasters
As usual, I am a late adopter and actually just getting in Pinterest this weekend so I haven't really done anything with it yet. However, without doing anything I have picked up a handful of follows and most are people I know but a few I don't......of course, I'm not that picky so I will probably welcome them all.
I do like the books worth reading idea............
bdorman264 And the food! Check out the food!
My latest conversation: Cause Marketers: Connect to Fundamental Human Needs
bdorman264 dude have you checked out panasonics new 8 track tape player. It rocks. But my BeeGees tape is having trouble.
I just heard from a very reliable source (a good friend) that he has seen on his own account, and confirmed with friends, that Pinterest is auto followng people for users insinuating intrest in others thus creatng activity/growth. <That'd be a shame because I am really digging Pinterest!
ryancox Interesting...I haven't noticed that, but I did notice I'm collecting follows from people I don't know.
My latest conversation: Cause Marketers: Connect to Fundamental Human Needs
ryancox They do auto follow from your contacts...I linked mine to FB and it auto-followed my friends on it already. But I didn't mind that so much. IDK. Brings up a few issues I guess.
Conversation from Twitter
suzicraig Very cool. if you end up with a case study on it, please let us know. We'd love it for Spin Sucks or even spinsuckspro.
KatieMHutton you're not pinning up a storm yet??
Al_Winmill Not at all ... I know I would become so addicted!
PhilOllenberg Ooooooohhhh..... Ya, you definitely probably shouldn't have shared that! #URSMUG
KahanPromotions ginidietrich thanks for the tip! Followed & followed back :)
KahanPromotions ginidietrich thanks Barry!!! You are on top of it!
hackmanj Are you trying to jack up that post's numbers?
ginidietrich hehe, I had it queued the day it came out (buffer ftw!) :)
RT britmorse Three Ways to Use Pinterest for Business - http://t.co/cDcUjnBE via spinsucks
abbynicole1204 just started doing all of these things for my business! Loving it! #brandchat
CoburnsExclusiv Awesome! You're already ahead of the game then :)
VMasseGagne sujet d'actualité...tout de même fière d'avoir publié la première! ahah
franceskadion Hahah! Et tu fais bien! Je surveillerai: il y a plus que matière à développement!
caritos_12 http://t.co/PH2yw78z
AmyL_Bishop Thanks for the RT Amy!
EdenSpodek DoctorJones I haven't, but I'll check that out right now. ginidietrich pinterest
jkozuch I cannot talk pinterest up enough.
jylui I wasn't overtly excited about it, to be honest. But when I saw what some of my friends were sharing, I got into pinterest more.
jkozuch the amount of stufff curated on pinterest now is staggering. A quick search and who knows what other graphs etc you'd find
jylui It certainly is. Seeing alot of great content from my network on there. pinterest would be a neat tool for creating mood-boards.
jkozuch it's mostly what I use pinterest for. It's entirely addicting once you start. Enjoy!
jylui What can I say? I'm every product marketer's dream! cc pinterest
morganneh shellykramer Thank you Morgan! trophycupcakes loves Pinterest! http://t.co/6VhjNLla Thanks for sharing that article. #MoreIdeas
asanchez82 Yes, it is interesting. I'm now exploring Pinterest. Thx for the RT.
adamtoporek Now you have 198!
ginidietrich Too many! But I'll still DM you about invite. Imagine a world with just YouTube and Twitter... sounds like heaven 2me. :)
brandonmeves awesome, thanks!
ginidietrich saw this article and loved it! Plan on putting the tips to good use!
NicoleGSimonds I'll see you in rehab!
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