Falling in Love with Pinterest

Started by a Yale University graduate, Pinterest is a web-based pinboard where individuals can create, save, and share virtual inspiration boards. It is the ultimate culmination of social sharing – and I’ll admit, I’m falling in love. Pinterest has been attracting a large following, especially among women, with images of captivating dream homes, beautiful wedding designs, and mouth-watering recipes… Pinterest pinboards allow members to “pin” images from anywhere on the web, attached via links to the source website. And while links to recipes, weddings, and home decor currently dominate the site, funny quotes, comics, and tech gadgets are also popular topics gaining a lot of momentum.

Basic Piniquette

1. Find the original source.
2. Use the specific URL when pinning.
3. Avoid pinning anything from sites that make finding the original source difficult.

What this Means for Businesses

According to CNN and Mashable, unique visitors to Pinterest.com grew 400% from September 2011 to December 2011. A recent study has also shown that Pinterest drives more visitors to third-party websites than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn COMBINED. Pinterest is inherently sharable, making it an ideal platform for natural link building and SEO. Businesses can start capturing the attention of their audience by luring them to click and share great photos of their products that link to an online store. Pinterest is also an ideal internet marketing tactic for building referrals. If one happy customer likes your product and “pins” an image and link of that product on their pinboard, that pin is then shared with their social network not just on Pinterest but also to their Facebook and/or Twitter communities – providing an enormously influential social reach. Companies like Whole Foods and Wedding Republic have already jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon and created branded pinboards showcasing their products in a fun and sharable way. Though Facebook and Twitter remain the top influencers, the growing interest in Pinterest should be embraced as part of a business’s social media agenda in the near future. And yes, TheeDesign is on there too!

Tags: Our Favorites • Social Media Marketing Tips