Pin it to win it: Pinterest offers your reno firm a creative way to get new clients

By Brian Gonzalez

The next big social media platform is an online scrapbooking site that women love. With more than 70 million users, Pinterest has businesses eager to tap into this new form of brand promotion. Large and small businesses alike are logging on to connect with potential customers. From paid advertisements to pin contests, there are plenty of ways to use this booming network for business gain. With a few tips and the right tools, your business can turn its Pinterest page into a compounding advertising source. It’s time to get serious and tap into your creative side. Pinterest pays big dividends to those who engage.

Signing up

Pinterest has a designated section for businesses to sign up. Existing users can also convert their accounts to business pages. On these specialized accounts, businesses can put their entire name rather than first and last names. Pinterest has also added resources within these profiles to teach business how to market themselves. The social media newcomer is still adjusting to the influx of businesses using its network, but it has said it’s working on a whole new set of features geared toward businesses.

A Pinterest profile is made up of things you like or find useful, “Pins,” and Pinboards to categorize those pins. If you’re building your business’ profile, create pinboards that contains links to your products and services, links to relevant information or products in your industry, and links that represent your brand’s personality.

Testing campaigns

Pinterest for business still resembles the Wild West, but large brands are beginning to get creative with how they use this popular platform. Home improvement retailer Lowe’s brings its DIY mentality to Pinterest with 42 boards dedicated to projects around the house. Lowe’s Pinterest page has 3.6 million followers, and it’s popular “Built It!” board inspired millions of users. Lowe’s succeeds on Pinterest because it provides tangible value to its followers, a rare thing in today’s online landscape.

Small business finance firm Intuit has a number of separate Pinterest pages dedicated to various parts of its business. Intuit Careers offers job listings. Intuit Small Business provides resources and inspiration to entrepreneurs. The brand even has a Pinterest page dedicated to all things accounting. Many of the Pins on these pages lead to Intuit.com. If your business has multiple facets, dedicated department pages will enable you to target specific audiences.

Optimizing your website

A Pinterest profile can aid your outreach and marketing efforts, but much of your success on Pinterest will depend on users Pinning links from your website to their boards. To promote this process, optimize your website for Pinterest. A “Pin It” button offers an easy way for users to share links from your website on their Pinterest pages. Mashable.com reports that Pinterest drives more traffic to publishers than Twitter, LinkedIn and Reddit combined. By installing a “Pin It” button on your blog and product pages, you’ll boost that amount of expose to your website. Best of all, it doesn’t cost a dime. Users advertise your business based on merit. Produce things they like, and you’ll reap the benefits. Pinterest has a resource page that instructs developers on how to install the “Pin It” button.

Brian is a retail analyst who is training for his first Ironman.

For more information on Pinterest, please contact oraine@socialmonsters.org