Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.
People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.
Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things
and get inspiration from people who share your interests.
Five Ways Businesses Can Use Pinterest
Focus on quality not quantity. Much like Twitter, you want to manage your signal to noise ratio by not over doing it on repins, and by only pushing content you created that you really get behind
Think like an online retailer. You are creating an online brand around the content you choose to repin, so make sure it is products and services you yourself would see in an online catalogue if you don’t already have one
Add a Pinterest “Follow” and/or “Pin It” Button. One important way to let your clients and prospects know about your presence on Pinterest is to add a Pinterest button. Pinterest has several choices available on their goodies page. Find the one that works for you. When you add a Pin It button, you can encourage your customers and readers to pin your products onto Pinterest.
Think Focus Group. Pinterest users’ likes and interests are easily viewable for all to see. Millions of people using Pinterest to keep track of objects “they love, places they enjoy, foods they devour and things that inspire them” that marketers can use Pinterest as a focus group.Look at the pinners who follow your brand and see what they’re pinning and who else they’re following. “They’re volunteering a lot of information about their interests, passions, dreams and sense of humor in a more natural way on Pinterest than they would on, say, a survey or even on Facebook, where they have to manually enter ‘sarcasm’ or ‘travel’ as an interest. Use this information to your advantage to glean insights about your target consumers.”
Keywords and Hashtags. When creating a description for a new pin, you can optimize the pin by adding keywords that users may be more likely to use if they’re searching for specific content on Pinterest.
The Numbers
15.8 Minutes = Average time spent on site
Gender Breakdown = 31.8% Male, 68.2% Female
50% of Pinterest users have children
1.36 Million visitors a day
Age Demographics: 12-17 year old: 4.1%, 18-24 year old: 17.3%, 25-34 year old: 27.4%, 35-44 year old: 22.1%, 45-54 year old: 17.9%
An example of how small businesses are using Pinterest
