Keeping current on the new social media platforms isn’t just about communicating with your friends and family, but staying connected with your customers. Pinterest is one of these new developments you may have heard of in social media.
Pinterest is an online social network that allows to users create and organize virtual pin boards. These boards are categorized by specific themes where users “pin” or save images to their boards, which can then be made public to other Pinterest users.
Content on Pinterest is not only created and shared throughout the network. It is also brought in from outside websites by using a bookmark bar in users’ browsers. With women making up around 87 percent of all users, common themes often lean towards fashion, photography, art, design, food, and living.
Pinterest is currently the 24th most popular site in the U.S. with more than 17 million visitors. With 3.6 percent of the total referral traffic in 2012, this puts the social network in the realms of Twitter and Google. Despite the popular use, Pinterest is still behind Facebook, which accounts for 26.4 percent of the total referrals.
The benefits for your company can be seen in major areas such as ROI, market share, and relationship building. With a limited budgets or human resources, you must pick and choose carefully how you will network.
Defining your purpose behind online social networking must always be key. Your purpose should not be focused on the platform, but instead in your relationships and the building of your identity or brand.
Return on Investment
Images are used and recycled through users’ boards more often it seems than new content is made. This is beneficial for your business because it allows you to stand out when you post new content and then have it circulate widely. The simplicity of the network also lends it to be more timesaving than other social media that are textual rather than image based.
Market Share
Have you expanded your audience? Yes, people may have already pinned something of yours without you even being on Pinterest. Once you have started into the process you will begin to see how users expand their boards using your images that you have uploaded now with links back to your website. You may also find that in making your own board you have built new connections by using other’s images.
Building Relationships
By using your business’s images you will give others a glimpse into what your brand is about. For example posting images of the process of your production is an easy way for people to see how you work. This is important because it builds relationships that you otherwise could not have. Showing that you or your companies are made up of real people, honest and skilled at what you do.
The goal should always be to remember where your audience is, finding what network is right for you. Because let’s face it not all our businesses are pretty, pictures are not a good method to connect for everyone. If you have a business that is image orientated do some research and seize your chance at an easy way to show yourself off. The benefits of socialization may be hard to measure monetarily at first but the audience and relationships you build will prove their worth.
