5 Pinterest Strategies to Create Branded Boards
Some hardcore business types say that small businesses shouldn't waste their time on Pinterest. My suggestion is that each business owner reading this advice should look into their own site stats at Google Analytics before brushing off the social platform that has hooked its audience, especially if women are coming to your website. My experience with business owners is that their visitors from Pinterest are interested in their website, visit several pages, and sometimes buy. We're not talking one-hit-wonders, aka people who click a link to your website and leave. We're talking interested folks who click several pages. Of course, a Pinterest strategy won't be right for every type of business, and could be a waste of time.
As of 2012, 15% of adults are using Pinterest, which is about the same numbers as Twitter users (67% are Facebook users, according to this same Pew Internet study). Women are 5x more likely to use Pinterest, and we all know they carry the buying power in the household.
[caption id="attachment_5934" align="alignright" width="300"] The pin boards at Dwell Studio are visually intriguing right off the bat, which is key for a designer brand.[/caption]
So let's dig in to what your Pinterest account for your brand should look like, whether your brand is a product, a service, or if it's you being an expert:
Fill up your boards. Boards should have 20+ pins in them. Take a couple of weekends, or put your marketing pro or your assistant on it to fill up those boards. Don't fill them with meaningless stuff you'd never want to look at. Pinterest has a reputation of being pristine. You won't be clicked on if your images representing the content you like aren't great. I published a collection of some of my favorite brands on Pinterest, and you'll get a great take-away of what to do from these guys.
Here are 4 tips on how to create a strong Pinterest strategy:
1. Be visual, very visual. Pinterest is filled with awesome visuals. If you're pinning shopping- and design-related pages, then pinning high-end graphics shouldn't be a problem. But if you're pinning informative articles, this could become challenging. Definitely select the infographic if there is one as your main pinnable image, or something else. Let this suggestion be a reminder to you if you are a content provider: provide pictures that can be pinned.
2. Don't repeat logos or images. If you're pinning information-based articles from the same website, don't repeat logos or images. Find a unique image on that web page. Otherwise, your board for that subject will look like repeating images because you selected the same image to represent each article. Bor-ing. Visual surfers might move on despite the awesome content you found. Consider writing an abstract for them at your blog, and use a cool picture and then pin that.
3. Clever names for your boards, but not too clever. You're in the heat of the moment, all inspired, and ready to pin. But your pin is so special that it requires a new board. Here's where you want to step back a few days later and revisit the wording you selected, and make sure it makes sense to others. It has to make sense. Browsers on Pinterest are in an organized state of mind. Don't distract them with your too-hard-to-decipher-board-name. I mention a few in my Pinterest round-up article that use good board names, with themes.
4. If you're going to pin, go all in. Don't be naked. Fill up your boards with pins. Don't create a bunch of boards and have only 2 or 5 pins in them. Your overall Pinterest account will look sparse because the 3 thumbnails under each board will be blank. The safer number is 15-20 pins in each board.
