5 Tips To Grow Your Business With Pinterest

I have had many a conversation with companies – mostly service-related and business-to-business – who balk at the notion that Pinterest is a viable marketing tool for them.

Most of them are only just entering the world of social media and, rather than seeing it as a magnificently inexpensive marketing tool, they view it as a necessary evil in today’s marketing world.

I have seen companies come around to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn; however, many are still averse to Pinterest. I suspect it is because many companies still view Pinterest as an online scrapbook and recipe holder. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially with Pinterest’s staggering and phenomenal growth in the last year. Think about these facts:

· Revenue per click from Pinterest beats Facebook and Twitter

· In terms of “first touch” revenue per click basis, Pinterest beats Twitter by more than 400% and Facebook by 27%

· According to a Bizrate report, 69% of online consumers who visit Pinterest have found the product or service they have purchased/wanted to purchase as compared to only 40% of consumers who visit Facebook

· Sony reported an 800% increase in traffic from the Sony Pinterest page to Sony’s website

Face it, Pinterest is the future of e-commerce and has become too large for smart companies to ignore. The question is, how do you effectively market your company’s products and/or services on Pinterest? Think in terms of original content. Remember, the key is to grab the consumer’s attention and compel that consumer to click on your pin, which takes that consumer back to your website, thus creating a relationship with that consumer and resulting in increased revenue for your business.

So, how do you create compelling pins that stand out from the sea of pins? Here are five tips for creating powerful pins on Pinterest:

1. Infographics rock pinners’ worlds – any type of graphic you create that provides value to the general public will generate interest, establish your company’s credibility, and build relationships with your Pinterest community. For easy-to-create infographics, check out infogr.am.
2. Checklists are a busy consumer’s best friend – and the more you can help people organize their daily lives, the more they will look to you when they are in need of a product, service, or solution. 
3. Tutorials are advantageous for product- and service-based businesses – like checklists, tutorials provide useful information to consumers and, on average, tutorial pins see a 42% higher CTR, meaning people go to your website.
4. Pins with text on the images are compelling – Images are a must on Pinterest. More enticing, though, is an image that has text with a call to action on it. An image with a call to action is 80% more likely to see an increase in engagement. For a quick and easy way to add text, utilize the free website picmonkey. You don’t necessarily have to pin the image from your website; once you have added text, simply use the Add+ tab at the top of the Pinterest page to upload your new image with text.
5. YouTube videos are popular, yet highly underutilized on Pinterest - for example, the movie giant Lion’s Gate saw an increase of 200,000 views to their YouTube videos in just five days after pinning to Pinterest.

Pinterest is a hybrid of Google and Facebook. It is a search engine while also being a social site where people share their favorite ideas, likes, tips, and trends. Pinterest is so advantageous for businesses that the creators of Pinterest have set up a new “Pinterest for Business” site. Simply log on to business.pinterest.com to get started or to convert your current page to a business page. If you still think Pinterest is not for your company, just remember, your competitors are on Pinterest.