Overview of Pinterest for Business

In 2010, I created a personal profile on Pinterest, followed a few friends, pinned a few cool things I’d seen around the web, re-pinned a few things and then left it at that. Since then, my only involvement has been receiving notifications that my friends have joined, some friends have started following me, and a few times I’ve been notified when someone has re-pinned one of my pins. I never really thought much about using Pinterest for business.

I’ve spend a lot of time the last few weeks learning about the many opportunities to market businesses using Social Media. I’ve spent most of my time on Twitter and Facebook  and hadn’t spent any time researching or utilizing Pinterest as a social media platform to market to potential customers. As my research has revealed, that was a huge mistake.

So today, February 25, 2013, I’ve started a Pinterest account for our company, Little Wing Marketing, and will begin sharing the compelling content right away. Be sure to follow us!

I’ve compiled a list of reasons to start using Pinterest for Business right this second…

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is virtual scrapbook or pinboard that allows users to share and organize visual imagery. You can pin anything from around the web (pictures, images or videos) and other users can re-pin their images. Users organize their Pinterest pages by categorizing content on their own boards.

Day one, here is the the homepage for Little Wing Marketing. The only board I’ve created is “Social Media Infographics,” the rest of the pins you see are based on the interests I specified when signing up. There is still much work to be done before I can expect any referrals or results from Pinterest.

This great video from MDG Advertising gives one of the most comprehensive overviews of Pinterest that I have seen. So STOP reading and watch this video.

Feel like you have a a good understanding of how Pinterest works? Either way, we still have a lot more to cover about why Pinterest is good for business.

Here is a useful infographic that illustrates who is using Pinterest, how they are using it and how Pinterest usage and referrals compare to those of Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

Why Use Pinterest for Business?

Pinterest is literally kickin’ ass and takin’ names when it comes to generating leads and making sales online and blows other social media sites out of the water.

It’s growing super fast

• Pinterest surpassed 10 million users, faster than any other stand-alone site in history

• Pinterest generated more referral traffic for businesses than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined. (Source: Shareaholic)

• Pinterest has so many page views (2.3 billion in March 2012) and each Pinterest user spent an average of 14.2 minutes per visit, your customers and/or clients have a much better chance of seeing your product or service than on some of the other social media options.

Users spend a lot of time there

• Pinterest users spend more money than users of any other major social media network, and the network has grown 145 percent since January 2012.
• Pinterest attracts 1,090 visitors per minute. (Source: Soci@l Jumpstart)

Get more traffic to your site

• Every pin includes a link back to the source of the image. While the links are ‘no-follow”, they’re still valuable as users need only click on the image to get to your site.
• A number of sites, including Time Inc.’s Real Simple and Hubspot, have noted a higher number of referrals from Pinterest than from other sources, including Facebook and Google.

Your friends and customers are using it to share content, products, services, etc.

• Pinterest lets pinners login with their Twitter and Facebook accounts and all users can share posts with their friends and followers through Facebook, Twitter or email.
• 47% of U.S. online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from Pinterest. (Source: BlogHer)

Users trust it

• Research indicates that 81% of US consumers trust pins as a source for information.(Source: BlogHer)

Pinterest users buy stuff

• 10% of Pinterest users are more likely to buy something and spend, on average, 10% more than buyers who find a product or service on another social network.
• Pinterest buyers spend more money, more often, and on more items than any of the other top 5 social media sites. (Source: comScore)
• U.S. consumers who use Pinterest follow an average of 9.3 retail companies on the site. (Source: shop.org)
• Pinterest generates over 4x as much revenue per click (attributable to first touch) as Twitter and 27% more revenue per click than Facebook.
• Pinterest drives sales directly from its website — of people with Pinterest accounts, 21% have purchased an item after seeing it on Pinterest. (Sources: comScore and Nielsen)

 

SEO, baby

• By using Pinterest for SEO you can gain engaged visitors, links and traffic.  Pinterest creates new ways of having your content found and shared, which can in turn improve your rankings in the search engines.

It’s preferred more than Facebook

A new study by Bizrate Insights (see below) shows Pinterest beating Facebook for customer engagement, inspiration for purchases and branding.

• Over 4 times as many survey respondents preferred Pinterest over Facebook “to get inspiration for what to buy”
• Almost twice as many respondents use Pinterest to “associate with retailers or brands with which I identify”
• 50% more respondents use Pinterest to “get special offers” from retailers and brands that they pin/follow

Just because there many reasons to have a presence for your business on Pinterest, it still might not be a good fit. Let’s see if your business should be on Pinterest…

Your Business Should Be on Pinterest if…

• You are selling products and/or services primarily to consumers (B2C) rather than to other businesses (B2B)

• Your target audience is primarily women aged 25 to 54 (in March 2012 72% of Pinterest users were women and 79% of all Pinterest users were aged 25 – 54)
  

• Your products and/or services directly relate to the top categories of interest – The top 10 interests according to the Infographic above include:

1. Fashion designers and collections
2. Music art and memorabilia
3. Vineyards & wine tourism
4. Utah
5. Crafts
6. Public relations
7. Venture capital
8. Iowa
9. Seo & marketing
10. Graphic design

• You are selling products or services that appeal to/target people with money – Pinterest users have above average incomes (50% make more than $50,000 as of March 2012).

Ready to Get Started?

CLICK HERE, to get started creating a Pinterest profile for your business. Hub Spot has written a nice article to help get you signed up: Pinterest Finally Rolls Out Business Accounts: How to Set Yours Up Today

Conclusion

If you are like me, and realizing that you are CRAZY not to be engaging your audience with Pinterest, then go ahead and start creating your business profile. Then make sure to check back in next week for a follow up article where I’ll explain “How to Use Pinterest for Business.”