Pinterest for business isn’t a very popular choice in India. Pinterest and Instagram are both images sharing sites. While Instagram is where you click or download a photo on your phone, apply filters and then share it using relevant hashtags for discovery, Pinterest is a more of a curation and photo searching site. According to Pinterest website description, Pinterest helps people discover the things they want to plan, buy and do. The pins can be anything that you like and that’s what makes this platform interesting. It sounds fun right? But you might say, how will Pinterest help my business?
Pinterest is one of the most active social media platforms that send traffic to the website/ business directly. Pinterest is most popular with the female audience. Still not sure why people use Pinterest? Check this out
There are a lot more statistics out there that prove Pinterest worth, hence let’s jump straight to the question – How can it help my business?
Relevance in India
Though Instagram is more popular today, let’s not confuse with the functionality. Pinterest is mostly used to find images that are inspiring, educational and motivational. You will find very limited images that are boring, personal in nature or direct sale related. Hence if you have content that can be educational, motivating or awe-inspiring and not limited geographically, Pinterest is the place to be.
Focus on being an Inspiration
Don’t just promote your wares. Like any other social media, continuous promotion about your products or services isn’t going to cut well with the audience. Have a clear strategy about what your Pinterest page needs to be. Have minimum boards about your products. Focus more on keeping your pins inspiring, authoritative, humorous and even DIY if relevant. Create strong boards and intersperse them with your product images.
Connect and Communicate
Link Pinterest to Facebook and Twitter with find friends. Comment on others pins. Share genuinely good content. Do like and comment other pins but don’t overdo as it might be considered spam or a bot and don’t pin excessively on a single day. Take time out daily. Once you get the hang of it, it hardly takes 10 min per day.
Ease of Pinning
Make your website pinnable. Have widgets that let your images be directly pinned from your site. Use the Pinterest browser extension or Pinterest button to pin images from your site or any inspiration that you find around. Build a community around your product or service or fun ideas that are aligned to your business. Create DIY photos or videos and have them pinned on your boards. Be educative while selling your products. Pin great images from your website and blog. If you are an e-com site have a Deals board or an OOTD board and lead people to your site. Make use of rich pins to keep things interesting and engaging.
Collaborate
Identify influential pinners and collaborate with them on a group board. Group boards are a great concept and I suggest you put in some thought before you go ahead with it. Being a part of some group board which is irrelevant to your product or service will not help you in any way. Similarly, as the group boards reflect upon your choices too, ensure they are in-line with your overall strategy.
Plan contests
You can design some fun contests with Pinterest. Have a “Pin it to Win it” contest or Pin your DIY contest. Lots of brands are doing great stuff with the Pinterest contest. Look around for inspiration. Have a web page that states your contest details and pin that on your contest board. Most importantly, comply with Pinterest guidelines.
Pin the Best
Pinterest has come up with ‘Lens’ a search option where you can click a picture and search related images on Pinterest. This is a goldmine for brands. How many times have you seen a dress or a décor item or some small knick-knack and fallen in love with it, but as it belongs to a complete stranger, you can’t just ask them. Now all you need to do is click a pic and related images will be shown by Pinterest. Brands should make the most of it by putting up stunning images as you never know who is looking for you.
UPDATE
I have recently started using Tailwind and it is definitely helpful. Will soon share the stats and best practices for that, however in the meantime if you wish to join my Tailwind Tribe do check out here
Have you used Pinterest, or have some more tips to share? Do comment your ideas and thoughts about Pinterest.
I enjoy Pinterest a lot .Its great for blog traffic too if used right.
True that Amrita
Helpful post. I still haven’t understood Pinterest.
Thanks Atul
Interesting blog post. At this point, I am pretty clueless about Pinterest.
Do check it out Alice
Love the article ❤❤
Pinterest is a great option to increase your website traffic. You have shared all valid points. Sharing it on twitter, now.
Thanks Neha
I have used pinterest earlier but visits from pinterest is limited.
Pinterest mainly has US/UK traffic. But thanks for these hacks.
Yes Agreed Sumit, It has limited reach in India, hence I advise of its use only if it fits our business model.
I love pinning articles with tips for travel and yummy recipes. Pinterest is like my go to place for idea sharing.
True that Bushra
I suck at using Pinterest! But your post should change that. Very helpful, Neha and so easy to follow.
Thanks Mayuri
This one post is solution to my many questions, I am saving this post forever to look back and learn from it.
Thanks Dipika! Glad you found it useful
I love clicking pictures, and as long as they are helpful and educational to somebody, I can use Pinterest as a medium to spread the love. As I am not very used to Pinterest as much as I am with Instagram or Flickr, I am hesitant to spend too much time there. But reading this, I really think I should reconsider. Thank you for coming up with helpful posts consistently!
Thanks Animesh
This is is really important. I heard it helps bring more traffic to blog too. I should learn more about pinter estate I guess.
Thanks Madhu
I haven’t been big on Pinterest but it is definitely the place I go for when I need inspiration. Looks I need to get active there as well.
Thanks for reading Sangeeta
Thanks for coming up with this and flashing some light on the use of Pinterest…much needed..
Thanks Anubhuti
Interesting insights Neha. Your digital knowledge is amazing.
I’m already overwhelmed trying to manage Twitter, Facebook and Insta, so I’m not really sure I want to add another social media component to my life…
https://natashamusing.com/2017/09/friends-benefits-fridayfotofiction/
Right Natasha, it’s not necessary to be on every platform, see what works for you and focus on those
I love pinterest, never really thought about using it for the blog. This post was helpful
Thanks Pooja
Love pinterest. It gives me lot of idea about creating images. Need to try out Pin to win option.
Welcome Hena
I was struggling to understand pinterest since a very long time. Your post has been really useful in understanding it better.
Welcome Charu, Glad you found it useful
As a reader I always prefer Pinterest over any other social media. You have shared some really helpful information here which should help a lot of bloggers and businesses..
Thanks Preetjyot
Pinterest is interesting. SO much of ideas and images. Informative post. Thanks for sharing.
True Sheethal
This is one bit of social media that i am completely ignorant about. I do go to it as an end user and have found great ideas there but I don’t understand it much. Need to rectify that perhaps.
See if it fits your niche 🙂 Spreading yourself too thin is a rookie mistake that many do
Such an informative post. I have saved this one to go back toz.
thanks Prerana. Glad you found it useful
Hi Neha! This is exactly what Ive been needing to read. Thank you so so much for these excellent pointers. Will be following your blog religiously from now on for more such informative tips. Hugs!
Thanks Tina! Glad you found it useful
I had punters before but never used to promote
Pinterest is something I have been trying to get my hands on, by the complexities of it have somehow made me resist it. Your post is comprehensive and motivates me to give it a second thought.
Thanks Ramya
Pinterest is gaining so much traffic nowadays. Thank you sharing these insights
Welcome Anchal
Great information shared. Never thought about all of these. But agreed that I got a good traffic from Pinterest.
This is so informative.. I am sure to learn pinterest now
I am an uninitiated when it comes to Pinterest and Instagram. Whenever I decide to embark on that path, I shall definitely come back to this route.
I had completely 0 idea about Pinterest! Thanks for this post.. it was really helpful
Somehow i never find pinterest helpful, will try these tips 🙂
I swear by pinterest because it is a great traffic source for my blog! You have just enlightened me more about how I can use it even better!
You are right Indian audience is still to catch up on pinterest. Highly Informative article.
Thanks Nisha
Pinterest is equally important and useful for many. It also has many benefits. And best to use for bloggers as well.
I have not got soo friendly with Pinterest… But it’s surely a great platform …
Yes Poornima, it is
I was absolutely unaware of this side of Pinterest… thanks for sharing
Welcome Deepika
Such an Interesting and informative post about using pinterest
Such an informative blog post and would surely try these for the promotion of my blog!
I have been wanting to start my pinterest campaign. This post will really help me in growing my account. Thanks for the amazing article.
Thankks fr this post dr….pinterest wss always confusing fr me bt u shared helpful information….
Very informative post. Thanks for sharing.
Pinterest is really great for bringing in blog traffic, loved this helpful post 🙂