Have you noticed the new social media platform Pinterest recently? If not, seek it out and give it a careful review.
Pinterest, an online bulletin board for your favorite images, launched in 2010 and is already experiencing wild growth. According to comScore, Pinterest usage in the US shot up from less than half a million unique visitors in May 2011 to nearly 12 million in January 2012.
The site signed up more than 7 million unique visitors last December, up from 1.6 million in September. And it’s driving more traffic to company websites and blogs than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined, according to a report from Cambridge, Mass.-based content-sharing site Shareaholic.
Pinterest allows you to organize images — maybe food or wines you’ve tasted, or great photography — into boards for specific categories. When you “pin” something new, your followers will see it. They can like, comment or re-pin it to their boards. Like Facebook content, your Pinterest pins can go viral.
I have started many boards … from favorite posters to inspirational quotes to creative marketing. The possibilities are unlimited.
Here’s a look at why some business owners — particularly retailers — might want to seriously consider creating a business presence on Pinterest.
Perhaps the most powerful business application is the ability to post images of your company’s products on your Pinterest board and link them back to your website. It works as a sort of virtual store catalog.
But remember that this is social media … you’ll want to be relevant to others interests and avoid selling at all costs. If you simply display images of your products without contributing other content or sharing other users’ pins, you’ll likely find that people will tune you out.
A wide range of major brands are using Pinterest to engage fans through social curation and as an online focus group to see what clicks with consumers, including:
Lands’ End – The Lands End sub-brand ran a contest last month called “Pin It to Win It,” inviting customers for pins of items on the site they liked, with the ten most creative awarded prizes of $250 gift cards.
Whole Foods Market – pins things related to their products such as recipes, delicious-looking food, food art, and images of recycled or reused products to inspire customers to be environmentally responsible.
Etsy – offers stationery, gift ideas, seasonal decorating advice and a “Smile Booth” for employees and consumers.
Travel Channel – a big fan, the U.S. cable TV network taps into interests such as animals, street food, behind-the-scenes personal photos, beaches, landmarks, and souvenirs.
Gap – repins “popular Gap images on Pinterest including its puffer jackets and celebs like Will Arnett and Amy Poehler sporting the brand’s products.
Pinterest already is driving buyers to some websites. In the last six months, the retail site ideeli.com has seen a 446 percent increase in web traffic from Pinterest and sales resulting from those visits have increased five-fold.
The site does have some drawbacks for businesses. If your product or service isn’t particularly visual, your images may not tie directly back to your brand. The platform also doesn’t offer business-oriented features, and its search function prioritizes pin and board subjects ahead of “people,” the category that brands would fall into.
The best way to determine if Pinterest could attract buyers is simply to experiment with it and don’t give up too quickly. If you run a landscaping business, for instance, pin pictures of landscaping you find online or snap in your community. If you’re a lighting store, pin shots of the interesting in home lighting designs. You also can search through the site’s categories and add some inspirational, funny or beautiful images you find.
Then, follow interesting boards and individuals who post images that inspire you. Once you’ve done some pinning of other people’s content for a week or so and attracted a few followers, create a new board of your products.
Add descriptions and perhaps the price to the images. Make sure they link back to your website and start tracking pinterest.com as a referral source in your website analytics.
Invite your followers from other social media sites and your customers to join and follow you … perhaps give them a small incentive to do so. Next, try creating an image of a special deal or coupon just for your followers. Upload it to a new board for Deals. Perhaps offer a prize to the person who gets the most likes or comments on a re-pin of the coupon, and then sees who shares it the most.
In a month or two, see if you’re getting referral traffic or sales. Depending on the results, you may need to tweak your boards with new images and words.
One thing is clear whether you’re on Pinterest for personal or business reasons: the best images — be they funny, beautiful or thought to provoke — attract the most attention.
The Bottom Line: Where there’s buzz, there’s opportunity.
How can you use this exciting image-driven channel to engage your customers better?
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Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on Twitter, and LinkedIn.