(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
While Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram continue to hog the social media limelight, Pinterest is quickly becoming one of the more active social networks and is considered to be the top image-oriented social network behind Instagram. As successful marketers like to say, you need to go where your audience is, so it makes sense to start building a following on Pinterest if you haven’t already.
However, Pinterest is a different beast from Facebook and Twitter. Even if you’re coming from Instagram, you might find the Pinterest concept to be an alien one. Still, it’s a quick one to pick up, but in case you need some help, here are some great tips to help build your Pinterest following so you can reach out to even more people.
Add a Pinterest Tab to Your Facebook Page
If you’ve already built a sizable following on Facebook, why not leverage them and get existing Pinterest users to follow you there as well? Social Media Examiner recommends:
The easiest thing to do is just go to Woobox and create a Pinterest tab for your Facebook fan page. The Pinterest tab allows fans to view all of your boards and even your pins while staying on the Facebook platform. They will not be transferred over to Pinterest until they try to repin or comment on one of your pins.
Share Pinterest Links on All Your Social Media Channels
If you have a presence on other social media channels, why not leverage them too? According to Social Media Examiner:
One way to build your follower base is to share the direct link to your Pinterest page as a status update and tell your fans WHY they should follow you on Pinterest.
Of course, you’ll have to give them a reason to follow you both on Pinterest and wherever else they already follow you. Make sure that you can give them value on Pinterest that can’t be found on your other social media accounts. But that doesn’t mean you should withhold value on other channels. Rather, if there’s something Pinterest-exclusive you can share every now and then, do it.
Focus on Lifestyles, Not Products
Pinterest is a marketer’s dream. Where can you better showcase your products, but on an image-oriented social network? However, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is treating Pinterest as a glorified product showcase. According to Blue Fountain Media:
Establish boards that focus on lifestyles, not products. Dig deep and decide what the real ethos of your company is, and then create a board that projects your given character trait. Whole Foods gets to the heart of their consumers’ eco-friendly attitudes with a ‘We’re Used to Reusing!’ board while the Travel Channel appeals to followers’ sense of adventure with ‘Daily Escapes.’ Centering boards around a specific feeling or style (which may or may not happen to include your company’s products) will be far more effective than attempting to make one more sales pitch.
Pay Attention to Trending Topics
If you’re stuck on ideas or just need a quick idea that will get you more followers on Pinterest, try to pin images or create boards of anything that’s trending at the moment. According to Search Engine People:
Tapping into trending news and events has become a sound marketing practice. It works for traditional marketing tools, blogs, and even visual destinations the likes of Pinterest. Whether it’s a recipe that received exposure on a talk show or the latest fashion trends, users often take to the site’s search box to seek out the content everyone is talking about. If you pin this type of content to your boards, you can captivate that trend-seeking crowd enough to where they want to follow you.
You can look for whatever’s trending with the help of Google, Facebook or Twitter, for example. Twitter in particular has Trending Topics right at the home page, so it shouldn’t be hard at all to find out what’s trending at the moment. You can also go to the Popular feed on Pinterest to find out what the most popular Pins are so you can pin images within the same theme or subject.
Don’t Forget About SEO
Whenever you pin something on Pinterest, you also link back to the source of the content. That makes Pinterest a massive opportunity to improve your SEO. Entrepreneur says:
Paying attention to SEO is a significant part of pinning. The more on target you are with the keywords you use in your boards and pin descriptions, the more likely you are to draw followers searching for and interested in those topics.
Time Your Pins
Just as with blogging and posting to various social media channels, there is a right time for pinning. However, knowing when to pin can vary according to niche. Glimmer Twin Fan on Hubpages says:
This is a tough one, it’s different for various topics, and it’s certainly not an exact science. After a lot of trial and error, I have found that for the majority of topics that I write about, recipes and crafts, the best time for me to pin is between 8pm and 10pm east coast time on Tuesdays through Thursdays. Pinned to the right group board, I’ve had some pins get a couple hundred repins. Not too shabby. I’ve read that Saturdays are good times to pin, but I’ve never had much luck with that. Play around with your pins and eventually you’ll start to see a trend. Of course, pinning at the right time of the year helps too. Seasonal topics are just that, seasonal. If you go on Pinterest right now not only will you see lots of Valentine’s day pins, you’ll see more and more Easter pins creeping in.
Caption Wisely
Finally, a good piece of advice is to put a lot of thought into the captions for your pins. After all, these images will be displayed with little to no context unless you properly describe it with a caption. Some captions will even beef up the image itself. According to Blue Fountain Media:
While you don’t need to provide a web address (it automatically appears under the photo when pinned), include a dollar amount in the caption and Pinterest will add a price tag to the image.
