You would think everyone would be over saturated with social networks and social sharing, but in just over two years since its Beta-version launch in March 2010, Pinterest is the latest hot, new social network.
We love new social networks! So strap in and read Pinterest for Beginners – a quick guide to help you make up your mind if this social network will be useful in your food, wine or tourism marketing mix.
What It Is…
Pinterest is a photo, video and graphic sharing social network that presents itself as a “virtual Pinboard”. What sets Pinterest apart is the ability it offers for organising visual data you share. ‘Pinners’ (the members of Pinterest), are able to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organise their wardrobes and recipes all through this simple photo sharing network. Pinterest is organised by categories, which makes it much easier to find graphic displays attuned to your particular interests, as well as organise yours.
You are also able to see and add to other peoples’ Pinboards… and they can in turn, are able to see and add to yours (settings permitting).
Who Uses Pinterest?
The Pinterest user base consists of 70% female users most being between 25-34 years of age.
There’s one other factor no stats appear to take into account: Pinterest users seem to lean towards visual-based learning styles.
What Makes Pinterest “Tick”
Judging by the sample Pinboards that Pinterest features, it’s about creating snapshots of your life and tastes – what makes YOU tick – theme by theme.
What Pinterest is really about, however, is sharing tastes and personal stories. For example, if you love travelling and post a Pinboard featuring photos you’ve taken on your travels, your respondents and those who share your Pinboard photos would likely be other travel enthusiasts.
What Pinterest Can Do for Business
Pinterest can:
- Create backlinks
- Take fans to your site
- Invite comments
But most of all, Pinterest can spread your images (and links) virally across the net… to people likely to be interested in your Pinboard photo subjects.
In the example above, you click on the website name in the single photo “Tweet with me on Twitter” pinned to the “Social Media Blog” board…
…And a new window opens up in your browser, taking you to the original source of a photo: In this case, a BizEez website page on How to Use Twitter for Business.
So what you want to do is create highly-appealing, original graphics that people will want to pin on boards.
And yes. The graphics can be keyword-based so make sure the description also contains your keywords.
How Pinterest Works
To pin an image, install the “Pin it” bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar. (You can find it in the Pinterest Goodies section.)
Depending on what browser you’re using, you’ll see browser-specific instructions on the Goodies page for using it:
The “Pin it” button lets you:
- Select an image from any website
- Add it to your Pinterest Pinboard
You just drag the “Pin it” button icon up to your bookmarks bar.
Pinterest is a very handy little social network to help with social media marketing of your food, wine or tourism business.
It’s fun, easy, and catching on like wildfire right now. Are you using Pinterest?
Until next time…..
