For some strange reason, known only to my unconscious, the name Pinterest makes me think of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. The more I think it about it, though, the more this comparison makes sense — just like the child’s party game, the latest social media craze will make any small business owner spin out of control if they don’t have a clear sense of direction. Exactly what is Pinterest?
Where Facebook and Twitter are essentially text-based, Pinterest is about images.
You still have “friends” or “followers”, can “share” or “re-pin”, and leave comments — the key difference is that Pinterest shares users’ aspirations and inspirations in a visual format. Essentially, it’s the modern version of an old-fashioned cork board … you upload images and videos from your computer or re-post those you’ve found on other websites. You can even categorise your images into themed, customised boards. Oh no, not another social media application Did I hear you groan? Just when you think the Internet is saturated with online community tools, another emerges. Pinterest, however, offers unique possibilities for small businesses that can be achieved with relatively little effort. Overall, the power of Pinterest is the accessibility of visual communication … it’s instant and emotive, and gets a message across within seconds. A matter of mood A digital mood board is perhaps Pinterest’s widest application; that is, a collection of images and samples that convey a project’s feel or stylistic direction. This tool translates extremely well into small business, especially for developing concepts for branding, advertising and product development. For example, try putting together mood boards to:
- Create a picture of your ideal customer, including their physical appearance, lifestyle and interests
- Develop a new product or line, including its look, application and market
- Build your corporate image or brand, including colours, design, associations, values and personality
Alternatively, simply browse other businesses’ Pinterest boards when you need ideas for … anything. You’ll find a plethora of images in your news feed or can look at anyone’s boards, even those you don’t follow. Do your research Pinterest is a handy market research tool. Take time to note what motivates and inspires your followers or the type of person you’d like to attract as a customer:
- What lifestyle do they aspire to — the house they want to live in, the places they want to visit, the products they want to buy?
- What themes and values emerge from the images they pin, the names they give their boards and the people they follow?
- What are their online habits — do they upload their own pins, re-pin other people’s photographs or find pins on certain types of websites?
Given that you can browse pins by theme and popularity, and product pictures by price, Pinterest is also a clever way to research or spot trends, and compare how other businesses present and price their products. A social media marketing power house Pinterest’s real strength is in marketing, which I divide into two key areas. First, Pinterest gives you the opportunity to visually showcase your business, brand and products or services. Using a simple and customisable gallery, you can make an instant impression — use photographs and videos, even those you didn’t take and don’t own, to infuse what you do with a feeling of value and to help people “see” things that are otherwise intangible in the online world.
Second, more than any other social media, Pinterest acts as a referral tool to drive traffic to your other online presences, whether a website, Facebook page or blog.
This is a consequence of the way the site is built — for copyright reasons, users are asked to pin an image from the original source and when anyone clicks to view that pin, the original source page opens.
Pinterest’s referral traffic statistics are currently fairly low at 3.6% compared with Facebook’s 26%.
However, this imbalance is unlikely to exist for long as Pinterest monthly unique visitor count is taking off like a jet plane — we’re talking an increase of 4.5 million between December 2011 and January 2012 alone. That’s the population of Ireland! Pinterest already out-refers Facebook and even Yahoo for some small business owners. It’s number one for Alaskan carpentry blogger Ana White, bringing in 6,000 unique visitors a day. In case you don’t know, Ana’s blog brings in enough advertising revenue to support her family! Make every pin count As with everything, there are ways to make your pins work harder. Again, I divide this into two parts.
First, choose attention-grabbing images that tempt others to re-pin.
Whether they’re your own or from other websites, go for creativity and quality — establish mood or create “wow” factor by considering the use of light and shadow, composition, colour, angle of view and selective focus. You don’t need to be an artistic genius to do this — look at photographs and videos you find appealing, ask yourself “why” and replicate those elements in your own pins. Likewise, up the ante on the images you choose for your website, blog and Facebook page to entice pins. Make it easy for people to access and share these by installing “follow” and “pin it” buttons on your web pages and link your pins to Facebook. What to pin Finally, the nitty gritty of Pinterest! You’ll be surprised at just how innovative your pins can be:
- Make a virtual storefront: display your products, preview new products, pin sale items (you can even add prices)
- Create an online portfolio to showcase success stories or completed work
- Share “extra” information with your customers: behind-the-scenes photographs, tips and ideas, or images that embody your brand or values
- Turn the unexpected into visual form: make mini posters from client testimonials or transform statistics into graphs.
The downside of Pinterest
No small business tool or strategy is perfect and, unfortunately, Pinterest is no different.
Its weakness is a limited and specific audience: women whose leisure pursuits are traditionally feminine and domestic, including: craft, home decorating, fashion, gardening, collecting recipes and planning weddings. While statistics vary by country and collecting agency, the majority of users are:
- Women
- Mothers
- Aged 25-44
- Not university qualified.
Their interests are also specific:
- Travel planning (real or dreamed)
- Home improvement and DIY projects
- The convenience of online shopping
- Good deals of quality products
- Being the best parents possible.
As you can imagine, this suggests using Pinterest for research and marketing really only suits small business with the same target audience and interests. Don’t, however, dismiss the site yet! Other social networking applications initially had a similar demographic, which quickly diversified … the ratio of males to females using Facebook is now virtually equal, with more men in some countries. At less than two years old, Pinterest is still in its infancy, so it’s reasonable to assume its user base will also broaden with time. And, given that the site grew a whopping 4377% between May 2011 and May 2012, this may be considerably sooner rather than later!
