Is Pinterest Right for Your Business?
Millions of people use Pinterest now in their everyday lives and work. It’s become the go-to place to collect and organize all kinds of things people love.
You might already be using Pinterest on a personal level, but have you thought about using it for your business? With the increasing popularity of this unique social media outlet, business owners should determine if their business can benefit from having a presence on Pinterest and understand the advantages Pinterest offers compared to other social media outlets.
Types of Businesses That Can Benefit
Businesses with products or services that are visual in nature—Since Pinterest is a photography-sharing site, businesses that have visual products or services should have a business page on Pinterest. It is critical to have good photography on your site with at least one photograph per story/page that is compelling to Pin.
Businesses with a target market that includes females—Women are four times as likely to use Pinterest than men, according to the Pew Research Internet Project, which means Pinterest is a great way to reach women. An increasing number of men use Pinterest, but if you target women specifically, you need a presence on Pinterest.
Businesses with idea-inspiring or instructive content—For businesses that provide content, such as magazine companies, creating a Pinterest page can provide an attractive way to provide your audience with information.
Pinterest isn’t a fit for every business. But for those perfect fits, it can be a very effective way of building brand awareness and reach.
Advantages of Pinterest vs. Other Social Outlets
Pins have a longer lifespan than posts or tweets in Facebook and Twitter (both of which are far less than a day). This article, “A Viral Pin’s Family Tree,” uses a specific example to show how an eye-catching Pin became viral and resulted in a long lifespan.
The original Pinner, Verena, Pinned about glow stick balloons to more than 30 followers 48 weeks ago. It was repinned 4 times. After 68 Pinners, 66 Repins and 32 weeks later, the Pin reached Pinterest Influencer Dan Ashback, who shared it with more than 1.5 million users.
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Pins on Pinterest continue to gain traction for months after they are originally Pinned. Even though Facebook and Twitter have instant gratification from posts, content on Pinterest has staying power.
The way users interact with Pinterest offers a wider reach for businesses. Facebook and Twitter focus the user’s interaction almost entirely around their feed. With Pinterest, the user searches using search terms or categories to find new content. This results in more people finding your content in their search for similar Pins.
Pinterest allows you to set up tightly defined boards, focusing on a narrow subject, and users can choose which ones to follow. They can follow all of your boards or only those of specific interest to them. This makes Pinterest more appealing because it doesn’t require an all-or-nothing follow like Facebook and Twitter.
Since Pinterest will continue to grow in popularity, you should take time now to determine how this social media outlet can help your business grow.
Read Part 2 “How to Use Pinterest for Business” to get started.
