The second social media platform that we cover in this series is Pinterest. We consider Pinterest to be an incredibly valuable platform. Why is it so important? Because people look to Pinterest as a source of information and as a source of products. Your potential customers are more likely to buy your products as a result of seeing them on Pinterest than any other social media platform. Pinterest is also very valuable as a platform for bloggers to share content.

Like with any media, your Pinterest strategy will vary depending on your business, but the first thing you'll want to do is sign up for a business account with Pinterest and apply for Promoted Pins. You may have a significant personal following and want to convert your own account. Depending on what you pin and your audience, this may be ok, but be mindful of your target market. However, if you routinely use your Pinterest account to find home improvement ideas and activities for your four-year-old, that may not translate to your audience of 20somethings who are looking for HIIT fitness routines and clean eating recipes.

When you create your Pinterest strategy, think about the way that you want your brand represented. If you provide online wellness courses, your boards might be primarily inspirational with a lot of light and airy imagery. You can create boards boards that are arranged by area of expertise and sprinkle in your own images and Pins, along with others that are slightly different, but still fit your overall brand and messages. If you provide baby products, you might arrange your boards by age and stage, fitting your own products into the right categories where they belong. Tailor your overall strategy so that you can incorporate your own products and information with others that your potential customers and audience will find valuable.

When you're using Pinterest there are a few key things to keep in mind, no matter what type of business you operate and no matter what your strategy looks like:

If possible, use and re-pin primarily portrait-style or vertically-oriented images. They take up more of the page and are easier to see. They are also more likely to be re-pinned by others.
Spend your time wisely. If you have only a few hours a week to devote to social media, use Pinterest twice a week for 20-60 minutes at a time. That time is more valuable and better spent than pinning just one or two items each day.
Pin both images from your website and images from other great sites. Mix it up. Curate a great mix of your own pins and pins from other sources that augment your own and add value for your potential customers. If your audience wanted to see only your website, they'd already be on your website.
Check the source before you re-pin. Do not blindly re-pin images from SPAM sites. Click on each link if you're not sure of the source. Think about it this way... Do you want your brand to be associated with the source of that image? Good Housekeeping or Southern Living, probably a good source. Junkyrandomspamsite.com, probably not a good source.

TB

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