by Francois Muscat | Jul 8, 2014 | Pinterest, Social Media Marketing
Not only is Pinterest a cost-effective marketing channel, it’s also highly effective. New research shows that 69% of online users who visit Pinterest have a clear intention of purchasing products. This is very different from other types of content production (seeing as many people surf the web for information, not to be sold to).
One of the biggest differences between Pinterest and other social media networks like Twitter and Facebook, is how people connect. With Twitter and Facebook, people are more likely to follow / befriend people they know (this is especially true with Facebook). On Twitter, people extend their following to news sites and people who publish information they are interested in. Pinterest, however, connects people based on their common passion. This is a powerful connection that can be made – and if a purchase is likely to be made downstream, you need to start reaching out to the communities that are passionate about whatever you’re selling.
Many times, people think their businesses aren’t visual enough. Whether you’re selling financial products or cement mix, you can turn your Pinterest account into something that people would want to look at. If you’re selling investment packages, create pin boards of ‘the dream life’. If you’re selling cement mix, pin pictures of architectural marvels. Think out of the box to reach out to the core needs of your target audience with pictures.
Your next step is getting access to high quality pictures. While it’s great to share and re-pin pictures from other users, your best bet is to share your own images or buy high quality images online. Remember that Pinterest users are primarily female, so keep this in mind when you start strategising and choosing images.
Need help with your Pinterest marketing strategy? Contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Jun 5, 2013 | Pinterest, Social Media Marketing
Pinterest, although a relative newcomer to the social media scene, has become increasingly important to social media marketing strategies as it rose to the position of third-largest social network. This pin board-style image-sharing network with around 30 million unique monthly visitors is a very different concept to social networks like Facebook or Google Plus, which means that brands have to develop unique strategies in order to make a success of their Pinterest presence.
Here are 5 tips for doing just that:
- Name your images for search engines.
Every image that you pin is discoverable by Google and other search engines, so having an image name that agrees with search engine best practises will increase its rankings and make it more discoverable. This means that before you pin, some SEO work and collaboration with the rest of your content marketing team is necessary.
- Put a lot of effort into your image description.
With this social network, descriptions matter a lot. Make sure that your descriptions contain popular keywords and your brand name so that they are as discoverable as possible. Don’t go overboard though – keep your description concise and to the point. The tone of this social network is very casual so also keep that in mind when crafting your description. At the moment you can even use Twitter hashtags in your descriptions that will make your posts easier to discover, although there are rumours that this may be stopped sometime in the future.
- Pin for longevity.
Pinterest is very different from other social networks in that the content is far less time-sensitive. Content can be re-pinned over a significant amount of time, so you want to make sure that your content has that sort of longevity. Seasonal relevance or event relevance is great and shouldn’t be ignored, but it should be balanced with content that can last for years.
- Quality images are essential – conversation is not.
While Facebook and Twitter users engage in conversation over time-sensitive content, Pinterest users tend to surf rapidly through content and pin images that immediately catch their eye for consumption at a later stage. Rather than trying to engage with people through conversation hooks, you need to concentrate on that first moment when you can visually catch their attention – making interesting, quality imagery essential.
- Drive traffic between social media platforms.
The best way to promote your Pinterest presence is to promote it on your website, through your blog and on established accounts on other social networks. You can introduce your new account to your current followers and even offer an incentive for them to share and link with you on Pinterest.
WSI is an Internet marketing company that specialises in social media marketing. To find out more, contact us today.
by Francois Muscat | Dec 27, 2012 | Pinterest, Social Media Marketing
Pinterest is a fantastic social networking site, especially over the holidays when many people are spending time online to shop or catch up on their social media. Many companies choose to schedule social media posts such as tweets over the holidays to get maximum exposure when they are out of the office. Until recently it has not been possible to do this with Pinterest.
Schedule your pins with PinGraphy
Pingraphy is a tool that allows you to schedule pins in bulk with automated scheduling and manual scheduling. To get started on Pingraphy you need to log on to www.pingraphy.com and install a widget on your browser. To schedule pins from a site you simply click on the pin button and you can easily select the images you want to pin.
Metrics and feedback
PinGraphy allows you to see what your top performing boards are and gives you feedback on your pins. You can get statistics on your pins as well as follower statistics to help you improve your Pinterest strategy.
Functionality that we would like to see in Pingraphy is multiple account support as you can only sign into one account at a time. A smoother interface will also improve user experience. This aside, PinGraphy is a very useful tool and if you would like the option of scheduling your pins it is a must.
We are always looking for new and exciting social media tools so if you know of any other Pinterest scheduling tools let us know in the comments. For all your social media needs, contact WSI OMS today!
