When I first heard about Pinterest years ago, I can remember thinking, “What is the point of this? Why would there be a need for a website/app to bookmark some of your favorite things when you can simply search for them using the Internet?” Then, I decided to give it a try and it was all over from there. Hook, line, and sinker. I quickly became obsessed, 
pinning recipes, fashion ideas, home decor tips, and more. I was part of the 70 million Pinterest addicts *ahem* users.
So, for those who are not familiar with Pinterest, here’s a quick overview. Pinterest, an emerging social media, is a virtual pin-board where users are able to search, organize, and share a variety of ideas. Pinterest is no longer used merely for personal use, it has now evolved to business use with approximately 500,000 business accounts. Marketers have discovered the power of Pinterest to optimize their brand and generate traffic to their websites. In fact, in 2012, Sony published data that indicated that Pinterest attributed to driving 2.5 times more traffic to its homepage. More traffic to your website equals more money! More revenue for the company could increase the chances you could get a pay raise or some other incentive. Score!
So, now that social media sites are playing a role in search engine optimization (SEO), it is important to consider integrating Pinterest into the company’s social media or marketing strategy and set aside some time each week for pinning. Not putting enough time into Pinterest won’t help the company climb the search ranks, so if it’s a tool you want to use, make sure you are making the most of it.
Although Pinterest can be fun and addicting for personal use, businesses should carefully consider the type of content they are sharing before mindlessly clicking the pin button. Lastly, in order to be the most effective with Pinterest, consider the following 10 elements when pinning:
- Optimize your Pinterest name, boards and pins for Pinterest search
- Pin content that is interesting and relevant
- Provide link backs to company website, only if the pin is from your website
- Personalize captions under the pin’s description
- Include hashtags and keywords in the pin’s description
- Make sure you share a variety of pins, including videos, photos, and articles
- Don’t neglect your profile. Edit the About Me section to briefly describe your company
- Take the time to engage with other users by repinning and making comments on pins
- If you want to use your personal Pinterest account for business, be sure to convert your personal Page to a business page
- Follow other businesses’ boards and see the types of content they pin
Check out this interesting infographic – it’s a great example of the many infographics that are often shared on Pinterest. Happy pinning!
Jenna Wood 
Yes! Yes! Pinterest is a great tool — for marketers and consumers. It’s a wonderful way to organize your interests and inspirations, so you can (visually) keep track of it all. And it’s a great way for marketers to understand what their products mean to customers. One my favorite things to learn from Pinterest users, is the name they give to the board items are pinned on. Names like Wish List, Things to Buy, Things I can’t live without or Can’t wait to try — or great indications that your product has caught their eye. You can learn a lot from people on Pinterest!
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Great post! Gorjana, a jewelry company out of Laguna Beach, CA is very innovative with their Pinterest marketing. One of the things I really liked that they do is they put their company logo in the bottom left hand corner of every pin they post. This prevents users removing the company name and/or logo during the repinning process. Great marketing move by Gorjana!
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