pinterest 102: effective marketing strategies

MarketingMotivator.com Effective Marketing Strategies for Pinterest | Data as of March 2012

http://www.marketingmotivator.com/


Greetings!

I hope you find Pinterest Introduction – Part 2 helpful. Pinterest is a great tool

for your business.

If you need help with understanding social media, be sure to contact me. I can

help you expand your reach, build relationships, generate more leads, and

increase your sales. Most importantly, I can help you to save time with your

marketing, leaving you with more time to do what you do best.

I also offer a great Do-it-yourself Pinterest Video Training Series here:

www.ProfitonPinterest.com

Let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to chatting with you

soon.

Jennifer Henczel

Marketing Motivator

www.MarketingMotivator.com


http://www.profitonpinterest.com/



Why Care About Pinterest?

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing websites in history. With all the attention

it's gotten, it left businesses and marketers drooling to get in on all the action. There's

good reason for their desires, too. Pinterest has become a top traffic driver for brands.

So businesses are wise to want to learn what they can about Pinterest early in the

game so they are ready as the site experiences even more growth.

It's important to know that the growth of Pinterest isn't just a mirage.

Pinterest is the fastest growing standalone website in history. It passed the 10

million mark in January 2012. It's expected to crack into Alexa's top 50 soon. So how

can your business tap into this tidal of a social media for bigger profits? There are

many strategies you can take, none of which are wrong. Some may be more right for

your company than others. But, first, you need to understand what Pinterest is and

some of the philosophies that drive it. Then you can figure out how to get your

business on board. That's when the real fun begins!

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a social network that allows its users to share what's important to

them. The hook of the website is what they share must have a picture somewhere on



the webpage. This will be what's displayed or "pinned" on Pinterest. You can have

"pinboards" that are a collection of "pins" that revolve around a common theme.

Pinterest uses a visual emphasis and is very much focused on a person's

lifestyle. Users can share their tastes and interests with others and discover likeminded

people. The social network's goal is to "connect everyone in the world through the

things they find interesting." Users can either use images they find online or ones they

take themselves.

Just like any other social network, users can follow the boards of friends, like

things others post, comment on each others' pins, and re-pin things they find

interesting. They can even share things they like on Facebook, on Twitter, in email,

and they can even embed individual pins on their blog.

The Magic of Pinterest

While an entire book could be written on exactly how to use Pinterest, for the

sake of this report, we will focus on 2 of the most important elements when it comes

to marketing on Pinterest:

Make Your Content Pinnable

Make Your Content Eye-Catching



Make Your Content Pinnable

If you have a Wordpress hosted website, you're in luck because making your

website pinnable is a piece of cake! There are a number of plug-ins available you can

use so pinning is just a mouse click away for visitors. There's the Pinterest “Pin It”

Button Plugin and Slick Social Media Share Buttons, to name just a few.

If you aren't on a Wordpress hosted website, don't worry, there's hope for you,

too. While visitors to your website will have to take a little more initiative to pin

something, chances are good they will if they like what they see. Pinterest is visual so

they need to see pictures they like first and foremost.

It's a good idea for any website owner to do a practice run and pin some of

your webpages just to see how they show up on Pinterest. Are the images high

quality? If not, get some new ones pronto! This small little exercise will give you a

general idea of what you need to work on to get your website "Pin Ready."

You can also use the online pin board to see the type of images that other

brands in your niche are sharing. Remember: Pinterest is a visual platform, so users

will look for the largest and most appealing photo available. In other words, make

sure to pin the best image that your website has. This can't be stressed enough!!


http://pinterestplugin.com/

http://pinterestplugin.com/

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Make Your Content Eye-Catching

Much of the information about creating pinnable content applies here, as well.

You MUST have photos that are eye-catching or Pinterest marketing won't work no

matter how much work you put into it. Pinterest is like a scrapbook sans the scissors

and glue. You wouldn't put an old ugly photo in a scrapbook, you would put

something in it that was memorable and meaningful.

The most commonly shared photos on Pinterest are emotional ones, the ones

that make you either want to laugh or cry. Keep that in mind when you select your

photos. That's not to say if you sell lawn equipment you're going to find a photo that

makes someone want to cry. But, if you try hard enough, you can probably find one

that makes people want to laugh. If you can't find one, take one yourself.

Marketers who are able to leverage great visual content on Pinterest can weave

their boards into a cohesive social experience within their social community. Granted,

some brands translate better to a “visual bulletin board” social experience than others.

But most brand need to be on Pinterest marketing themselves to the masses.

Clothing retailers, shoes stores, jewelry, and the like certainly benefit from a site

like Pinterest. But what about a website that specializes in something like home

improvement…can they benefit? They just have paint brushes and ladders. This takes

some creative "out of the box" thinking, but most goods and services can. For those



DIYers business people who think Pinterest isn't for them….think again! What about

before and after shots of room designs for that home improvement site? Remodeling

ideas, furniture, patio designs, the list could go on and on. Don't let yourself be

limited to thinking there's nothing eye-catching about your business.

People Love Sharing Images and Photos

The real attraction and viral capability of Pinterest is that people will “share”

images and photos much more readily than a boring piece of text. The web is moving

in the direction of being a more visual medium. Facebook is trying to keep up and

recently increased the size of images in its new Timeline user interface. This visual

phenomenon is why Pinterest has gone viral.

If your company has products to sell or services to provide that require photos

it's more important than ever to have quality photos displaying these. Paying extra for

a quality photographer is worth it because your company will benefit tenfold in the

long run. Funny, cute, and emotional photos are best on Pinterest. So even if you sell

shoes, throw in a few quirky photos of your shoes that are more likely to get pinned.

In fact, they don't even have to be shoes. You can add some artistic flair to your

website with a few random eye-catching photos. This is where your business will



benefit greatly from Pinterest. Taking advantage of an increasingly visual online world

in your business that now consumes and shares rich media images on a social web is

now vital and essential.

8 reasons Why Marketers Should Use Pinterest

Pinterest and business together may be a hard concept to wrap your mind

around. It was at first when Facebook came out but most businesses caught the

phenomenon that social media was creating eventually. If they didn't, they were surely

influenced by products that did, even if they didn't know it.

So why should marketers jump on bandwagon of Pinterest now? Here are 8

reasons you should be using Pinterest as a part of your marketing plan. Or, if you're a

pessimist, 8 reasons you'll regret not using Pinterest in your marketing campaign.

1. Shift in Consumer Behavior from Search to Discovery

The Internet has been all about searching for answers. Pinterest is different. It's

about discovery. Discovery is about finding inspiration and that is something

the Internet community as a whole has been lacking and Pinterest has filled this

hole. It could change how we purchase items. Right now we are trained to



search for items we need or want. Pinterest starts before the search. Before we

even realize we need or want something. This is where the heart of marketing is

anyway. A user might go to Pinterest to browse recipes and then land on a

piece of interesting bakeware and end up purchasing it. The search was for a

recipe but the discovery and purchase was the bakeware.

2. Little Interaction Needed From Brands

Any time a new way of marketing comes up a legitimate concern arises: Do we

have the manpower to make this happen? The nice thing about Pinterest is

there is very little overhead. Besides the occasional pinning, categorizing,

tagging images, you don't have to worry about managing comments or playing

the follower game. You do Pinterest at your own pace.

3. Connect with a New Segment of Your Audience: The Visual Segment

Pinterest is visual. It attracts visual people. These may be people who prefer

images over the written word. These may be people who have missed your other

marketing campaigns. You can open the doors to a new segment of buyers who

may be interested in your product but may not even know about it by building



a community around the images you pin. These images can draw others in and

inspire them and, in the end, lead to referrals.

4. Inspires the Introvert Content Creator

There is a term online for people who don't build blogs, don't speak up on

forums, in blog comments or really anywhere else online. They're called

"lurkers." Chances are they're shy and don't really want to put themselves "out

there." But they need to be marketed to, too. Pinterest is great for them

because it doesn't require them to write, it just requires them to find things they

like and pin them on their boards. They don't have to do anything original.

These people shouldn't be ignored in a marketing campaign and that's why

Pinterest is valuable for this market.

5. Magnifies the Content of the Original Creators

The average Tumblr blog post is shared 9 times. That means it is reaching far

more people than just those who visit the site it was originally on. While there

aren't firm numbers on "re-pins" for Pinterest, you can assume the same thing:

content is re-pinned and shared across a broad audience. So if you create



content on Pinterest and it is shared on Pinterest, chances are good it will reach

far more than just those who like it at your original pinning of the content from

your website.

6. "Re-Pinning" is the new "Re-tweet" or "Facebook Share"

Online social media is all about community. It's almost like high school when

there was an elite group that all the others paid attention to. Social media is no

different. There are those who have a mass following. Pinterest is just like

Twitter or Facebook where you can build a following simply by "re-pinning"

just like you can by "re-tweeting" or the "Facebook share."

7. Tap Into Niches

You can build a board on anything in Pinterest. This means you can have boards

on many different niches. If you're a business, this is great because you can

reach different groups of people based on your different boards.



8. Build Your Expertise

Even if your brand isn't a perfect fit for Pinterest, you can still share your

experiences and build your expertise in a particular location, industry or

through relationships. Don't allow yourself to be limited just because your

business isn't that perfect fit. Find a way to engage with customers in whatever

way possible on Pinterest. By developing relationships, you develop trust and

that can lead to an excellent way to promote your business.

Effective Marketing Strategies to Use on Pinterest

So where should you start when it comes to marketing on Pinterest? That

depends on the type of business you have, of course. The one way not to do it is make

your Pinterest boards look like ads for your business and nothing else. That will get

you nowhere. Remember, Pinterest is a community. You need to treat it as such. Even

if you're a business trying to promote your products, you still need to interact with

others and provide something meaningful. Create some boards that have nothing to

do with your business but are inspiring to others, such as quotes, photos, or anything

else that might get someone's attention.



Once you understand that Pinterest is a community, you also can know it's OK

to market. That's what you're there for after all! Here a few strategies to help.

Online Catalog: This is the most likely way for a business with physical

products to sell on Pinterest. Just make sure you separate things by boards so it

doesn't get overwhelming for the viewer. For example, if you own a pet store,

you might have a board for cat toys, one for dog toys, one for pet cages, one

for bird products, etc. Don't forget to add the price tag to each image. Make

sure the image links back to the product description page of your website, too.

Grow Your Pins and Boards: In order to successfully market on Pinterest,

you must pin your boards regularly so the Pinterest community knows your

presence is alive and well. You might consider keeping a schedule to keep

yourself on track. You also want to keep your eye on popular pins or re-pins so

you know what's trending. That can give you an idea of what to pin or re-pin.

This will help people flock to your boards to see what you have to offer.

Show the Human Side of Your Brand: Surprise, surprise! Pinterest doesn't

have to be all about hard core marketing your brand. Social networking is about

real people and people love seeing the human side of things. Show your

followers behind the scenes of your brand. Show a silly side of something of

your brand. Show something emotional. These are the things that get shared the



most on Pinterest. This is what will initially draw in your audience. Only then

will they start to pay attention to your other pins. But being real and honest is

vital in the social medium.

Pin About Your Event: If your brand or business hosts events, create a board

dedicated solely to each event. You can pin content leading up to the event to

create interest. You could pin profiles of the speakers. You could highlight any

special events that might happen during the event. You could highlight

workshops that might be there. After the event, post pictures of the event, a

synopsis (you could have more than one, each highlighting one aspect), and so

on. This is a great way to keep your board alive and generate interest in an

event. It's sort of a "two for one" deal.

Create a Board for a New Product Launch: Similar to creating buzz for an

event, you can also create a lot of buzz about an upcoming product launch on

Pinterest. Create a board devoted to the new product. Don't wait until it's

released, create a board a few months before it's released to start building

anticipation. You can pin pictures, features, or anything else about the product

you think consumer will get out of your product. When it's released, don't stop

using your board. Keep posting pictures, customers' reactions, and anything

else you think might benefit your product. You might even set up a board for



customers to leave feedback. This can be a bit tricky if you think there might be

some negative feedback but it can also payoff in the long run because people

love honest reviews.

Offer Exclusive Discounts Only Good for Pinterest Followers: The most

direct way to promote your product is to offer exclusive deals to Pinterest

followers. While this might seem boring and done by the masses, it works! A

more "out of the box" way to do it might be to pin a QR code with interesting

content that makes visitors immediately want to click through to a description

of the product. This could work for local businesses, too. They could offer QR

codes for iPhone users to bring to their stores for special discounts.

Create a Video Gallery: Videos have their home on Pinterest. They also have

a lot of capabilities for anyone who wants to create a tutorial or record

segments of a webinar, conference, or anything else. A great way to draw

attention to your videos is to add annotations. This is basically a call to action

for you audience to pin videos they find appealing. These annotations should

tell the visitor to “pin this video to Pinterest” or provide a link to your

Pinterest profile. The annotation also serves as an invitation to users to engage

with you in another way in a different community.



Welcome and Encourage Comments: Popular pins on Pinterest have three

things going for them: likes, comments, and repins. You have the power to

invite users to do one of those things, rather than leaving it up to them to

maybe remember they can or should. It's easy to engage your audience to get

them to leave a comment. For example, you might post an interesting beach

picture and say, "Guess where this was taken." Use your new pins and boards

as opportunities to converse with users on Pinterest.

Add Watermarks to Your Images: It's important to remember that most of

the pins on Pinterest are re-pins. So the pin of the pair of shoes you're selling

may eventually be from an unknown source to someone. Then you start to lose

the marketing impact you initially set out for. To keep that from happening,

add a watermark to each image you post on Pinterest. It can be your website

address or your brand but it needs to be something that reminds the viewer

where the picture is from.

Use Pinterest as a Focus Group: Focus groups are an excellent way to find

out what your target market is thinking. You can create a new board on a new

product you're developing and see how your followers react. This gets into the

mind of your target audience to really see what they're thinking. This may be

some of the most important marketing you will do. Invite feedback from



followers. Ask them what they like or don't like. Ask them what they wish the

product had or didn't have. The only way you're going to know what your

audience wants is to ask them.

Top 20 Websites Shared on Pinterest

It's important to remember anything goes with social media. So just because one

company does well doesn't mean everyone else should give up. But it's nice to know

who the "heavy weights" are when it comes to any sort of business so you have a

successful model to follow.

Pinterest is pretty quiet about who does well on their site. This silence has left a

lot of people wondering why they are so quiet and exactly who is performing well on

this earth shaking social media website. Businesses want to know for the sake of

marketing and the general public would like to know for nothing more than mere

curiosity.

RJ Metrics decided to take matters into their own hands. They wrote a script

and analyzed random Pinterest user data. The end result was that about 1 million pins

were examined. So this data is not from Pinterest itself, but is probably a pretty good


http://info.rjmetrics.com/blog/bid/52877/Pinterest-Data-Analysis-An-Inside-Look


indicator of what Pinterest would offer if they were offering anything in terms of

statistics.

Keep in mind, most pins are re-pins so most people aren't necessarily even

visiting the site that is pinned. They're just pinning something they like and may or

may not come back to later. There is also a very large spread of websites that are

pinned on Pinterest. The top website pinned only made up 3% of the total pins.

1. Etsy

2. Google

3. Flickr

4. Tumblr

5. WeHeartIt.com

6. MarthaStewart.com

7. Polyvore.com

8. BHG.com

9. Houzz.com

10. Pinterest's iphone app

11. Imgfav.com

12. StyleMePretty.com

13. ApartmentTherapy.com



14. Amazon

15. SunSurfer.Tumblr.com

16. Anthropologie.com

17. Ffffound.com

18. Blogs.babble.com

19. Piccsy.com

20. RealSimple.com

What do most of these have in common? For one thing, they have great

pictures. As has already been said, Pinterest is a visual community. If you want to do

well on Pinterest with your marketing efforts, your top priority needs to be great

images. This is the first thing that draws consumers in to re-pin and re-pinning is the

only way something will go viral. The websites above also show the site's largely

female demographic. In recent months more men have started to join Pinterest but

for now females still dominate.

The takeaway? You must adapt to this visual community or you won't survive.

And, for now, market to women. Keep your eye out for changing trends though,

because men may begin to creep up there and change those top websites.



Top Brands on Pinterest

Want to know what brands do well? Remember, this doesn't mean if your brand isn't

like any of these you won't do well. But it's worth taking a look at jut to see what is

successful. Many of these brads were "early adopters" and have been on Pinterest for

a while. They've built their following and their Pinterest site up to what it is today.

Follow the early adopters to get a sense of how they're using it. Whether they're big

companies or individuals with a big following, pay attention to them so you can learn

what they're doing so you can follow their success. Even if they're a brand that is the

complete opposite of what you sell, you can still learn something from them. It's not

the brand you're trying to emulate, but the way they use Pinterest. These molds can fit

any business.

Whole Foods

Martha Stewart

Better Homes and Gardens

Real Simple

West Elm

Bergdorf Goodman

The Today Show

Travel Channel



What Are You Waiting On…Get Started!

The only limitations on how you can use Pinterest for marketing is your

imagination. That's an old cliché saying, but it's true. There are countless ways to

market on a social website like Pinterest. The great thing about the ever changing

nature of the Internet is that it allows for so many creative ways to market. But, this

does mean you need to keep up on trends and know how to market to the ever

changing marketplace.

You can't ignore Pinterest if you have a business, particularly if it's a business

that offers goods or services to the public. Some of the methods mentioned in this

book might be out of your "comfort zone," but there should be at least a handful that

resonate with you and your business.

So marketing today involves "pinning," "repining," "liking" someone's picture

and even commenting on some else's pin. Sure, it sounds funny but there is a LOT of

power in that last sentence.

So what are you waiting for??….Get started!!

If you need help with this stuff, take a look at this

helpful video training series…



It’s an easy to follow, step-by-step video training series that will show you how to use Pinterest to build relationships, build your exposure, build your

branding, and build your business:

www.ProfitonPinterest.com


http://www.profitonpinterest.com/

http://www.ProfitonPinterest.com

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