When Pinterest marketing first become popular last year, people seemed to think that it was mostly for businesses who had something to sell that was primarily of a visual nature. In other words, if you had a catalog of images of products you had for sale, like shoes for example, Pinterest would work well as a marketing tool.
As the site and the understanding of it have developed, it has become clear that Pinterest is more than just a platform for driving direct sales. It can also be used as a powerful way to develop your overall brand, by using it to tie your brand with the types of images you want to be associated with.
Images on Pinterest can go viral very quickly, so if you’re careful about the kinds of images you post, you can find yourself with a huge number of repins and new followers very quickly. In addition, you can also repin or comment on other people’s pins, which touches on the engagement aspect evident in almost every social network.
You can also use Pinterest to add value to the content you already have on your website, blog, or other social networks. The visual nature of Pinterest makes it perfect for showing examples of your product in action, image-based how-to tutorials, or just general photos that fit in with the lifestyle your brand promotes.
This in turn can help drive a significant amount of traffic to your site. If people find your pinned images interesting, they’re more likely to visit your main website. The images they repin will then be sent out to all their followers, and if the images are compelling enough, more clicks will come through.
You can also use Pinterest the reverse way, but putting a “pin it” button on your blog posts or your web pages so people can take your non-Pinterest content and put it on their Pinterest account. Again, as those images get spread around the network, this can drive more and mare traffic to your site.
Of course, if you do have a catalog of products to sell, Pinterest allows for that, as well. You can pin your products with a link to your personal e-commerce shopping cart, and you can even include the price so that people can make decisions easily.
In short, the possibilities are endless. Businesses are inventing new ways to use Pinterest every day – What ways can you think of for your business to be involved?
