Many social platforms these days can be used to enhance your business endeavour. It’s best to take note, and utilize them to your advantage!

While Pinterest started as the platform for artsy businesses, this social media platform has expanded at a near exponential rate.

Here Are Ten Ways You Can Make Use Of Pinterest To Promote Your Business:

1. Starting Out

Setting up your Pinterest profile is obviously the first and foremost step you should undertake. Make sure you feature your business name on your profile for maximum exposure. If possible, use your business name as your username, or change your profile name to your business name after your profile is set up.

As with a personal social media account, add a paragraph about your company in the “About” section on your Pinterest profile. It will show up right under your photo. This is one way that users can find out more about your company.

Connect your account with other social media accounts that your company may already be using – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. This will help you direct the traffic of your current followers from other existing social media accounts to your new Pinterest account.

2. Creating A Blog Board

By creating a blog board on your business Pinterest account, you are providing an additional place for your followers to find all your blog posts. Followers also automatically see any new blogs you pin appearing on their homepage. Make sure you name your board using relevant keywords, so it’s easy for followers to find in search engine results. After you publish a blog post on your site, pin it onto your board. Make sure to include –

• A brief summary of the article
• A relevant high-quality image
• A link back to the blog post itself

3. Beneficial For E-Commerce 

Pinterest is the ultimate platform that e-commerce businesses should get on. Why? Simply because people who surf Pinterest don’t only look for ideas, they’re ready to buy. However, there is a very fine line between pushing your product/services over-aggressively and merely giving your product/service a shout-out. Provide true value to your communities with a healthy and balanced mix of utility, inspiration, and product information.

4. Content Marketing Is Key As Opposed To Advertising

The majority of active Pinterest users (59%) click on Pins that go to blog posts, articles, and even photos; and less than half of those users click through to brand or shopping sites. Clearly, engaging content is what users seek. Boards containing infographics, images from blog entries, and even photos of staff members are popular. But all that’s needed is a little creativity.

5. DIY Promoted Pins

This allows businesses of any size to connect more with Pinterest users through Pins that show up in search and category feeds in the platform. The Pins work on a cost-per-click basis. As with any social media platform, monetising important posts are a small investment which brings great returns – in forms of increased visitorship to your website and/or purchasing of product/services.

6. Optimize Your Website Content For Pinterest Sharing

Use images in every single post you write, so your post can be shared on Pinterest. When you find yourself getting lazy about this, remember –- not using an image in your post means no one will pin it. And remember — the prettier the picture is, the more it will get pinned. The images that appeal to Pinterest members are powerful and emotive, so keep that in mind when choosing your pictures. That combination tends to work well for your blog readers, too. Also consider watermarking your images, or adding text to them. If you’re using your own images on Pinterest, one of the best ways to help your image stand out is by adding a clear description to the image itself or adding a watermark with your business name. Make sure it’s clear, but that it doesn’t block out the main subject of the photo.

7. Utilize Pin It

Pin It is a feature that lets others bookmark your content for later reading. Prospective buyers/customers may come across your pin for the first time but not have time to check it out. Ever felt the pain of looking for content on an overcrowded platform? Most of the time, people will not spend that much time and effort – unless your content resonates deeply with them. With Pin It, there is a higher chance that your audience will revisit your content. Here’s how you can set it up:

• Publish a blog post, then pin an image from the article to a board. Copy the URL of the pin

• Use that same image for a post on your Google+ page

• In your Google+ post, include both a link to the blog post for those who have the time to read the article then and there and a ‘Pin it for later’ link back to the pin in your Google+ post

8. Create Collaborative Boards

Collaborative boards can help you reach a new group of pinners and have your pins be seen by more people. You do need to be careful about which boards you join because all the pins will show on your Pinterest presence as well. You can only select the cover photo if you are the owner of the group board.

9. Monitoring Your Pin Views

Go to:http://pinterest.com/source/yoursite here. Look at your site’s page often to discover which posts and images are resonating with Pinterest users. Use that information to shape your content strategy.

10. Use PinGroupie

PinGroupie is an easy to use and free tool that finds Pinterest group boards. Go to PinGroupie’s home page and fill in the search fields. First, choose a category. These are the same as the categories on Pinterest. Then choose the order in which you would like to see the boards – you have the options pins, collaborators, repins, likes, and followers. Using Pinterest group boards is an excellent way to reach more people to get repins, followers, and traffic.

Visit Influenshine page to find out more about Swati’s work.

_{This post was first published on Influenshine blog and has been reposted on Connected Women with the permission of the author. 
Edited by Michelle Sarthou
Image credit: Shutterstock}

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