pinterest for PR and marketing

Pinterest offers valuable benefits to both PR and brand marketing. Photo credit: StartBloggingOnline.com

As one of the most popular social media networks, Pinterest offers opportunity to both PR and marketing.

If your brand is on Facebook it should also be active on Pinterest. Pinterest ranked second among social networks in traffic referrals in the last quarter of 2014, behind Facebook but well ahead of Twitter.

Although Pinterest lacks Facebook’s huge user base, it may provide more referrals. Pinterest acts more like a learning and shopping hub than a friendship network. Visitors use Pinterest to search and view pins for ideas about products — everything from fancy dinners to home renovations. In a sense, it’s a visual version of Google that provides search without typing – which is ideal for smartphones.  

Another advantage of Pinterest is that its content has longer shelf life. Half the visits from pin referrals occur after three months. Half of the orders it produces take place after two months.

As with any social media channel, consider its demographics before diving in. The photo-based network had 79.3 million unique visitors in February, up 47 percent from the previous year. Women make up the vast majority of users, but the number of male users is expanding robustly. The number of mobile users and overseas “pinners” has also increased.

Key Pinterest Tips for PR

PR and marketing experts recommend these tips for most effective use of Pinterest.

∙ Develop a strategy. Determine your goals before launching a campaign.

∙ Think visually. It’s an image based site. While anything can be pinned, the platform is best if your brand is visually oriented and you can find attractive images.

∙ Tell stories. Follow good story telling practices but tell your story with pictures. For example, the Chicago Bears tell their history with photos in addition to selling merchandise.

∙ Pin customer stories on your Pinterest boards. Encourage customers to share photos to improve your brand’s appeal.

∙ Pin videos. Videos are an underappreciated Pinterest tool. Use videos to educate users about company history, products and services, or industry issues.

∙ Share your travels. Pin photos and videos of conferences and trade shows you attend. Many users learn about events through Pinterest.

∙ Contribute. Contribute to other boards. Like and share other users’ boards and items with similar interests.

∙ What else to pin. Pin favorable media articles and blog posts about your brand.

∙ Optimize it. Follow SEO best practices. Write captions with relevant keywords and label and tag photos.

∙ Measure it. Track and measure the website traffic from Pinterest to quantify your efforts. Take advantage of Pinterest’s analytics tool.

Bottom Line: As a major social media platform, Pinterest offers important advantages to brands. Depending on the brand’s target audience, the photo-based network can offer valuable benefits to both PR and brand marketing. Following these recommended best practices produces the most favorable results.

Resources

How to Use Pinterest for Public Relations
Sedio

Sixteen Ways to Use Pinterest for PR
Spin Sucks

7 Things about Pinterest Every PR Pro Needs to Know
CommPR.biz