Pinterest has been surging in popularity amongst consumers. As more and more users are hopping on the band wagon, small businesses should consider taking advantage of what the platform has to offer.
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a digital platform that allows users to post images of the things they love to personal ‘pinboards.' The concept makes for easy sharing and discovery on a network consisting of over 2.7 million invitation-only users.
‘Pins', or posted content, are sorted by themes that you create. For example, if you're a chef that specializes in vegan diets, you can make a board titled ‘vegan recipes' that contains images of all your recipes for vegetarians. This is a great way to get your name around and people will begin to ‘re-pin' your content.
Pinterest in small business
As with any social website, Pinterest also has great potential for small businesses. Here are some benefits for using Pinterest for your small business:
Content distribution
Social media for your business should always act as a channel for sharing the most valuable content on your website. The same goes for Pinterest. The idea is to get people to ‘re-pin' your content. Create a board, add content related to that board and begin sharing your content. If your business' content is interesting enough, you will start to experience an increase in traffic.
Establish credibility
Pinterest allows business owners to establish credibility. Pick a niche and make different boards (subgroups) for that niche so that users will see that you know what you're talking about. Establishing yourself as an expert on a specific topic will not only increase your Pinterest followers, but also give your website another traffic boost.
SEO value
A component much looked over by users on Pinterest is how it can help small business' SEO efforts. Pinterest stresses the idea of linking images back to the original source page. This link building strategy is most effective when Pinterest users begin to ‘pin' your business' products. Over time, the result will be a boost in search engine rankings.
Monetize your pins
A business-friendly feature on Pinterest is the ability to put price tags on your ‘pins.' Using the "$" or "£" symbols followed by the price will tell Pinterest that the item can be purchased from the original website. This gives businesses the ability to create a catalogue of products on Pinterest as well as link backs to your website as users will look to purchase.
Customer engagement
Simply put, Pinterest is fun. Your small business can use the platform to increase customer engagement. Develop creative strategies to connect with your customers. Whether it be creating a wish list or having a photo contest, customers will appreciate the forum of interaction.
Pinterest certainly has its benefits for small businesses and it will be interesting to see how more and more small businesses begin to use the social sharing website in the future.
Do you personally use Pinterest? What do you think of its business potential?
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