Integrating Pinterest into your Social Media Strategy

Pinterest is one of the most underestimated social platforms today, with competitors like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter often taking the limelight when it comes to consumer engagement. While it has many big competitors, Pinterest still stands as an extremely large platform with over 150 million active users as of June 2016. This alone proves the value of being on Pinterest.

As a leader in thought generation as well as virtual interaction, this social platform has all the perks of the other front runners of social with half the work. We’ve come up with some tips on how you can integrate Pinterest into your social media strategy.

Why Pinterest:

As a modern-day platform built for consumers with like-minded visions and businesses that can help generate those visions, Pinterest is perfectly designed for driving traffic. Whether you’re coming to see the latest fads or find out where you can get rave-worthy products or services, making information available to friends and followers alike has never been easier.

The content derived from pins, shares, and likes are all easily sharable as well as recyclable which makes posting for a business even more beneficial. Each piece of content you put out caters to your target market since they are shown your Call-To-Action (CTA) the moment they click on a pin of interest.

There’s no lag time between a consumer seeing your pin and recognizing exactly what they’re seeing and where they can get it. This idea of instant CTA sharing creates an image of transparency for consumers that are in search of something that they want instantaneously.

Other platforms that ask you to upload content, followed by imagery are behind the trend that Pinterest has conceived because it allows you to share content directly from your website. This takes away a great deal of time and energy that would otherwise go into copying a link, uploading an image, and creating content to match.

Instead, you’re able to post a link through a small icon in the upper right which then provides a number of images to choose from that will serve as your pin’s corresponding picture. Now all that’s left is a short description of your product or service followed by an indication of which board you feel best relates to this specific pin.

Big Impact, Low Investment; Pinterest Contests

In a recent conference that took place in Chicago for Social Media Week, we explored how companies have been using Pinterest contests to generate excitement for consumers. The companies that pursued various contests on Pinterest had grown in their following and revenue.

Taking part in these Pinterest contests allows you to create a campaign specific to your target market where followers can use their imagination to create boards that relate to your company’s brand. This in turn provides you with fresh content that your very own consumers feel would reflect your brand while also generating free promotion from numerous boards.

How do you get people to participate?

The best way to get people to participate in a Pinterest contest, or any contest for that matter, is by keeping it simple and fun. You can do this by having short, easy to interpret rules, and clear guidelines so that your contest doesn’t get overly complicated. It’s also important to make it fun!
Make people want to participate in your contest by having a unique incentive that is memorable and valuable. Another key point is to make sure to include a “pin it” button on all your images. That way if people like an image they see on your website they can quickly and easily pin it. Finally, share about your contest on all your marketing platforms to let your fans know about this exciting opportunity.

Challenge: How do you get people to keep a board after a contest and not delete it?

Solution: Continue to be creative, have fun, and pin unique content. Have a contest where users must create a board that they will want to keep because their pins are so valuable.​

Let’s Get Started

Here’s a quick rundown of how to get started:

Plan out your contest

How to play
Incentives for those taking part
End goal

Promote through an Email Campaign
Promote through a Blog
Promote through Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and any other social media platforms you have.

Pinterest is a valuable marketing tool that shouldn’t be overlooked. By integrating Pinterest into your social media plan, you will be able to grow another audience which in turn will help your business grow. If you’re still not sure how to get started, let us help you! Contact us today for more information on the opportunities that lie within your social platforms.