Pinterest has been around now for over two years but many people still aren’t very familiar with the social network and its many benefits to businesses and brands. A lot of people think its a site that women use to find recipes and plan their weddings – which it is (I am guilty of this), but its also so much more than that.
For those who still aren’t exactly sure what Pinterest is, its a social network that allows its users to share various things they like (outfits, recipes, hairstyles, homes etc) visually by “pinning” them onto their pin boards, that are normally separated into categories. Users can upload images they put together or find from their own computers, they can pin images they see via the web onto Pinterest, or they can simply repin another users pin they come across.
If and when Pinterest is used correctly, there are unbelievable and surprising benefits from it. Here are three reasons why you and your business need to use Pinterest.
1. The massive amount of traffic it sends and receives. Research on the social network has shown that Pinterest is more effective than Facebook at driving traffic. Considering how many more users there are on Facebook than Pinterest, thats pretty astonishing. But people love images, and its a great way to showcase your businesses capabilities, likes and dislikes, and even your sense of humor. Businesses that don’t even necessarily have a great image based product are having huge success on Pinterest. The great thing about Pinterest is that only a few of your pins could be related to what your business actually does, and then the rest can be about food, decorations, movie quotes, humor or things that you know will get people interested in you and what you have to say. Once they are interested, they will start following your Pinterest boards, and will click and repin your pins, and eventually driving them to your website and your product. If you’re looking to drive traffic to your site, you need to be on Pinterest!
2. Easily Linking to Your Website. Even though the links you put with the images are no-follow links (no SEO help), they still have a huge benefit to you and your business. The second a person clicks on the image you pin, it will take them to whatever site link you put with it. This is one of the reasons Pinterest sends so much more traffic than other social networks – they make it extremely easy to find out more information about the certain pin users are interested in. You can also put links in the description area of your pins.
3. #Hashtag’s. Similar to Twitter, Pinterest uses the Hashtag feature. When you are pinning something, in the description area you can hashtag whatever word(s) you would like, and then if someone is specifically looking for that word in the search area, you will pop up on the page. This is great feature that is very beneficial for businesses because you will get found for specific keywords when people are looking. It helps Pinterest also become a type of search tool that people can use, and if you use the same hashtag in your Tweets, Google+ page, and Facebook page, it will help have all of your social networks in sync with one another, as well as easily being found for those keywords throughout the platforms.
There are many businesses, small and large, that are using Pinterest in very productive and creative ways. If you’re still unsure and need some inspiration, check out this great blog that shows 20 awesome ways that brands are using Pinterest.
Pinterest is growing every single day, and more and more companies and brands are starting to use it to help grow and gain business. The larger the social network continues to get, the more beneficial it will become for you and your business. So join now and start pinning!
