Ratio blog

    Using Pinterest to Grow Your Business

Chances are you've heard of Pinterest. And while your knowledge of the rapidly growing social media site may range from "I've heard of it" to "I'm obsessed with it," there's one thing you must know about Pinterest: It's changing the way businesses connect and interact with customers.

Pinterest, in short, is a visual organization tool. According to its creators, the site "lets you organize and share all of the beautiful things you find on the web." Users create pinboards to group their pins (images) into meaningful categories, such as "interior design ideas" or "dream wedding." Pinterest allows users to follow their friends' pinboards as well as those of complete strangers and, more recently, brands.

3 tips for using Pinterest to grow your business:

• Determine if using Pinterest makes sense.
  If you're the marketing director for a company that manufactures cardboard boxes, there are much more productive ways to spend your time than pinning images of boxes (no offense). However, for companies that offer photogenic products such as clothing, home goods or vehicles, for example, Pinterest is a perfect fit.


• Commit to daily use.
  "Won't this take a lot of time?" The answer is most definitely, "yes." That's the nature of social media. Consumers don't connect with brands on social sites to look at static pages. They crave - they demand - regular interaction. Once you determine a strategy and commit to using social media, you can refine your process to minimize wasted time.


• Act more like a human and less like a business.
  The beauty of social media is that it allows the public to get to know the people behind brands. Unless they're in the field or are looking for a digital marketing agency, the average person probably doesn't care about Ratio. However, if they know that I'm the person behind Ratio's Facebook posts and Tweets, they may feel a sense of personal buy-in that promotes interaction.
  
  The same holds true for Pinterest. When creating company pinboards, be sure to mix it up a bit between your products and things that you (and your team) think are great. Make it clear that your agenda is to share and interact with people, not just peddle your products. Your followers will appreciate the transparency. Be sure to use your best judgment on personal pins, though, as you can easily muddy your brand's image by pinning unsavory, risqué or potentially controversial items.

Don't take these guidelines as a handbook for how to promote your business via Pinterest; that's not what they're meant for. My goal is merely to provide a basic, top-level understanding of what to consider when utilizing Pinterest to grow your brand.

If you have any examples of brands that are doing a great job promoting themselves on Pinterest, please share with us by leaving a comment. If you have any questions about how you can use Pinterest as part of your existing advertising and social media mix, get in touch and we will help you establish a sound plan.

Until next time,
Ryan Cormier
Interactive Specialist
@ryanjcormier
cormier@ratiodigital.com