6 Pinterest Strategies for Small or Unconventional Businesses

For travel agents, artists and fashion brands Pinterest seems like an easy fit. What better way to show off exotic locals, new works of art and the latest trends and beauty secrets. But for many other businesses, out-of-the-box-pinning can be the pathway to new success.

The following strategy points are designed to help any business build and develop a strong Pinterest profile and develop boards that will make them shine.

#1 Create boards with your products. Create individual boards based on brand, type, function, theme or whatever makes the most sense for your business. You don’t need to feature every item, pick out your top sellers or highest profit-margin merchandise and feature. Make sure every pin links back to your website. You do have the option of adding a price so that it will appear as a tag on the actual image. To a price tag to your pin add a “$” sign followed by one or more numbers in the description field of your pin. However, before you place price tags on all your pins, experiment to see how pinners respond. If the pins without tags receive overwhelmingly more re-pins than those with price tags, consider not implementing the practice.

#2 Build boards with the Lifestyle of your consumers in mind. Your Pinterest profile should be more than products. It should be a reflection of the culture and values of you and your consumers. And it should be a profile people want to visit to find new ideas. So show off your creativity and have fun creating boards that you and your clients will enjoy. A great way to do this is with boards for inspiring quotes, your favorite books, humor and art. It can even be specific to your geographic region such as favorite local monuments, destinations or festivals.

#3 Create Themes around special events and holidays. People love themes especially when the themes reflect an upcoming event or holiday. Again, this is an opportunity to show off your creativity so go beyond product shots. You can show your product in use in original ways and mixed with pins that are complimentary that you find from other pinners and then mix that with your favorite recipes for the holiday.

#4 Engage. Social Media is not like traditional media where you talk at your audience (think radio and TV, your audience sees and/or hears you, but you can’t hear them). Social Media means you have an open forum for everyone to weigh in and share ideas and opinions. So go ahead and follow others, re-pin, comment, and ‘like’ other pins. Then monitor the comments, respond, and thank your followers for their engagement. It will build positive sentiment and give your business a more personable feel.

#5 Show Support for your fellow local business and create a board to feature them. Engaging with your fellow business community strengthens all of you. You might even want to consider a shared board as an opportunity to show how you complement each other.

For more ideas, I recommend you visit the following Pinterest profiles for inspiration.
Bevmo
Home Depot
HGTV
iEnhance
Bath & Body Works
California Riverside Ballet

If you need to know the basics on Pinterest account set-up and FAQ’s, please visit Pinning 101 or contact adgrlSu.