The Growing Value of Pinterest & How You Can Capitalize on It

 

In case you didn’t realize it, Pinterest is big deal. It’s currently one of the hottest social networks not only for pinning recipes, decorating ideas and more, but businesses are also finding tremendous value in the world’s greatest pinboard.

But, is it really just hype, or is there any real value behind the pinning? Check out the 5 following facts that should get some serious head turns:

-          Pinterest is the 2nd largest driver of traffic from social media sites. Facebook is the #1 driver, but Shareaholic found that Pinterest is now leading Twitter as the #2.

-          Pinterest is the 4th largest source of organic traffic. In 2012, Pinterest beat out Yahoo as the 4th largest traffic driver in the world.

-          Pinterest is a proven sales driver. According to customer experience engine Monetate, Pinterest is the top referrer of high-value orders to e-commerce sites.

-          Pinterest generates 400 percent more revenue per click than Twitter and 27 percent more than Facebook. This incredible data came from QuickSprout.

-          Pinterest hosts at least 25 percent of accounts from Fortune 500 companies. Though this number is likely greater now, it’s still a significant finding in Burson-Marstellar’s 2012 Global Social Media Check-up.

These are just a handful of facts that prove what a powerful tool Pinterest is. In other words, if your business is not utilizing Pinterest, it would be a good time to embrace it. So, now the question becomes: what can you do to leverage it?

Realistically, we could talk all day about various ways to leverage Pinterest. But, for the sake of time, we’ve put together a few basic tips to help you as you begin your Pinterest strategy.

For starters, you need to optimize your images. It’s very important to incorporate text and information on your image, but it must be done strategically. Basically, you want to offer enough information to draw people in, but then you want them to go beyond the pinning action and land on your website for more information.

Secondly, understand that Pinterest is about the community. While this is true on other social platforms, it takes on an even bigger meaning on Pinterest. Yes, obtaining followers and getting pins repinned are important and help build credibility for brands, but you must reach out as well. Out of all the social platforms that you use, you may find Pinterest to have your strongest group of influencers. If you comment on pins, repin relevant content, and engage with other pinners, you will build your following and a strong community.

Thirdly, think outside the pin. When you’re creating content for Pinterest, obviously pin content related to your product or service, but take it one step further. Find or produce content and pins that impact the end user. For instance, if you have a line of fitness clothing, give examples of exercises or particular moves when your product shines. You could also build a board related to the best workout music, foods, etc. The idea is to essentially show the consumer that you care about their needs instead of shoving your product down their throat, which again, reinforces the concept of community.

Any good marketer knows that you should also conduct periodic evaluations of how your strategy is working, track analytics, and many other routine marketing tasks. But, hopefully, these steps will get you started thinking about how you can incorporate Pinterest and all its value into your marketing mix.

We also recommend reading Pinterest Marketing: An Hour a Day by SugarSpun Marketing’s own Jennifer Evans Cario. Yes, this is a shameless plug, but if you are looking to build a successful marketing strategy on Pinterest, the book offers a step-by-step guide to put you on the right track toward getting actionable results.

About author:

Although Abby Johnson’s education and early career are based in traditional broadcast media, her most recent experience has taken her into the world of “new media.” Abby served as a reporter for more 6 years covering topics ranging from highlighting the latest gadgets and applications to the more serious news of online consumer privacy concerns and the potential of cyberwarfare. She has also secured and conducted interviews with Vint Cerf, the Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google and who is recognized as one of the “fathers of the Internet;” Matt Cutts, Senior Software Engineer for Google; actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Jarhead, Love and Other Drugs, Prince of Persia, etc.) at the movie premiere of Source Code; comedian and radio personality Adam Carolla; former NBA star and actor Rick Fox; as well as other known personalities and Internet industry experts. By being actively involved in the Internet industry during the social media boom and working directly with many of the social media "early adopters," Abby's transition into social marketing came naturally. She now serves as the Social Media Coordinator for SugarSpun Marketing as well as Manager of Communications at design-build firm Gray. In these roles, Abby creates original content, produces digital strategies, handles media relations and blogger outreach, implements social media campaigns, and more. Through her consistent high standards and driven approach, these campaigns have resulted in meaningful conversations, relevant brand positioning, and achieved goals.

All entries by

SugarSpun: 4 Ways (with Recipes) to Tailor your Content

I met with a friend regarding blog content for her website awhile back over lunch. Part of it was an excuse to talk about content [...]

SugarSpun: Ice Cream and Content Management – What Not to Do

What feelings do the words “summer” and “ice cream” invoke for you? For me, it’s hot summer days traipsing to the ice cream store down [...]

Mega Content Part 2: Boost Long Term Leads Through Compounding Lead Generation

It’s a long recognized fact that corporate websites that include active blogs generate higher volumes of traffic, leads and conversions. After all, a steady stream [...]

Understanding the Three Primary Goals of Social Media

It seems a little funny to think that five years ago I was writing about the need for businesses to recognize that their social media investment needs to be about more than the teenage “everyone else is doing it” mentality. Why is it funny? Mostly because three years later we still have that conversation with prospective clients on a regular basis

The Creative Culture of SugarSpun Marketing (Infographic)

Work culture has been a hot topic lately, from the Amazon article in the New York Times released last week to one of the founders [...]