The 5 Things a Brand Can Gain From Pinterest

Pinterest is a social media platform that is gaining popularity amongst businesses. It’s a simple and easy to use tool for businesses to reach out to customers and spread brand awareness. The concept of the site is more on visual communication. Users can post images they like, whether they took them themselves or they find them online, by pinning them on their “Boards.” Boards represent a user’s category of interest like Lifestyle, Books to Get, Places to go, and any topic that a user is interested in.

Sharing and pinning images are easy because of the “Pin It” bookmarklet tool, allowing users to instantly save and post an image they see on the web. Their iPhone app also makes it convenient for users to upload and post images on their account.

The site’s growing popularity among businesses is attributable to its ability to drive traffic to a website. You can market your brand on Pinterest by posting pictures of your products and services then add a link to your website or blog. According to HitWise, Pinterest is becoming one of the top 5 referrers for apparel retailers. When customers see an image they want, they want to know more about it so they click on the image. This directs them to a brand’s website, learning more about the business. Personal brands or services can also gain and take advantage of Pinterest and here are 5 ways you can do it:

Promoting a lifestyle or culture – Share your interests through images and let your images speak about your brand. If your brand is about traveling, share images of places you’ve been to. If you have a blog site, link that image to your blog if you have already written something about that place. Soon you will be attracting others that share your passion for traveling and they will visit your site when they want to know more about the places you’ve been to or how you plan your trips. Through Pinterest, your images can be shared to others and so will your blog.

As a focus group – When you post an image, users can “Repin” your images and share them on their network. Users can also comment on your images. You can post a creative image of your brand or services, and when users comment on it, you can ask them what they think about it. You can use their comments to get an idea of how other consumers think about your business.

As crowdsource – when you post images about your business, users will start commenting. As consumers, we like to share our insights about products and services that we’ve tried or got our attention. You can gather insights and ideas from other users – it’s exciting to see how another’s “perspective” can help you view your brand, services, and even problems from a much different angle and advantage.  This will help you make improvements in case the ideas you get are doable.

Run contests – as consumers, we like contests. We like getting free things or discounts because, after all, the best things in life are free. Your brand or business can run contests using the site. There are many ways to do it. Let’s say you are running a contest to give away free massages. You can ask users to comment on the image and why they deserve the free massages. As a way to promote your personal brand, you can give away free accommodations or discounts to users who Repin 5 to 10 images that you traveled to that they find interesting and why. Be creative and attract other users to interact with you through the site. Keep them interested.

Inspire your team – If you have a team that works for your business, you can share images of anything you can find on the web that can inspires them. Make learning interesting by using the site. Instead of sending them links to inspirational articles, images, and videos, post the image or video on your site. Link inspirational articles through an image relating to the article. This will make your team inspired to learn because of the fun and creative approach of learning through the things they see.

Your business brand and each team member's personal brand have lots of good visual play time on Pinterest.  Just remember to answer the question, "How does this fit in my marketing and communication strategy?" before you make your first board, and this platform can be a powerful tool in your brand toolbox.