Since the growth of the internet, social media networks are flourishing. Having an online presence outside of your company website is paramount and is becoming an integral part of business success within the current marketplace. Within this online atmosphere the likes of Facebook and Twitter are dominating, however Pinterest is climbing the ladder at an alarming rate, offering a personalised service which can help you enhance your brand awareness.
What Pinterest is and how it works
Pinterest is a unique, personalised social media platform which allows you to post images or videos and enables you to discover your interests, hobbies, projects or anything you find inspiring from around the web. Once you have gathered these you can attach it to your themed board you have created, also known as ‘pins’.
If you can imagine it’s like having a personalised internet page full of your favourite things.
How it would be useful for your business
Pinterest is the newest, emerging social media network and currently has more than 200,000 users across the UK alone, users ranging from all ages. However, in under 12 months, Pinterest has seen a 73% increase in the proportion of users and is becoming increasingly popular amongst businesses whom are using it to promote their company online and is now an essential marketing tool to enhance your brands sales and awareness.
Key advantages:
- Allows you to specifically target a niche market.
- Enables you to humanise the brand and communicate your brands personality, values, vision and anything you find important with your audience through creative, themed boards, which can be shared with other users, generating greater brand awareness.
- Way to spot current market trends which will help you keep up to date with your audience’s needs and wants.
- Allows you to track key metrics using the web analytics feature that Pinterest offer. Using this tool enables you to see how many visitors you have on your themed boards, how many views each pin has had and how many people have visited sites from Pinterest. All of this data together would allow you to create a personalised site visit for users and create a more collaborative experience overall.
- Connect your Pinterest accounts with other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter in order to integrate your online presence.
- It has been reported that consumers are now spending less time on company’s websites and more time on their social media networks to browse products or services via their pinboards.
- 69% of online consumers who visit Pinterest have found an item they’ve purchased or wanted to purchase as compared to only 40% of online consumers who visit Facebook.
- More than 80% of content consists of repins. Users actively promote your company for you. In fact 70% of brand engagement on Pinterest is generated by users themselves, not brands.
Top tips:
- Consider your desired brand image from the consumer’s point of view.
- Content is key, consider your audience before posting; what do your audience want to see? Exclusive images of the company behind the scenes? Real life case studies? The best images which are ‘pinned’ are those that tell a story or create emotion.
- Keep up-to-date with the current trends.
- Use high quality images to communicate your business standards.
Overall, Pinterest is a FREE and easy marketing tool which is very beneficial for companies to engage with to enhance your brands identity and increase your sales. As more users are increasingly interacting with brands online, building your unique personality is paramount. Therefore the ultimate goal is to create a fun, interesting board which creates a unique experience and positively portrays your brand in the mind of consumers. In doing this, it will generate awareness, leading to an increase in consumer traffic, resulting in a loyal fan base and strong reputation in this competitive marketplace.
