Pinterest has quickly become the third most-visited social site on the web, and its growth shows no sign of slowing. Unlike Facebook, which has implemented business pages specifically for professionals, Pinterest is still a relative question mark in the minds of businesspersons everywhere.
So, how do you know if your business is a great fit for Pinterest or if the photo-sharing site is just a waste of time? Here are four ways to tell:
4. Does your business have products, services, or events that make for good photographs?
Pinterest is, at its core, a photo-sharing website. The only way you’ll ever catch any traction on Pinterest as a business is if you have drool-worthy photos to promote. Not only does your business have to work with aesthetically pleasing scenes or products, you have to have someone on staff who can take photos, as well as a good camera and staging spot if necessary.
3. Can someone commit to updating your Pinterest page?
Social media is completely and utterly useless if you’re not consistent. Pinterest is no different, and for it to work in your favor, you have to assign someone to monitor your account, add new photos, create boards, and even engage with other Pinterest users. Without posting regularly, at least once or twice a week, you’ll quickly get lost in the shuffle. It’s also important that someone monitor your results: Pinterest followers, “likes,” and incoming leads. Most importantly, you need to have a terrific, converting website. If people click through your Pinterest photos only to land on a website that doesn’t drive sales, what’s the point?
(Flickr / mkhmarketing)
2. Is your business constantly changing, improvising, and/or creating new things?
Pinterest can get stale really quickly if you don’t have anything new to post and people can sense when you’re just phoning it in. A clothing store, for example, would be a great fit for Pinterest because of its ever-changing inventory, whereas a software development company won’t have much interesting content to post. Keep in mind who your clients are and what they’d like to see on a photo-sharing website. It really is that simple.
1. Are your customers on Pinterest?
So many businesses make the mistake of spreading themselves too thin because they think they have to be everywhere, all the time. If your target market isn’t actively, regularly using Pinterest, particularly as a pre-purchasing research tool, then you may be spinning your wheels. In general, Pinterest skews heavily female less than 30 years old, and more rural dwellers use it than urbanites. Keep these stats in mind when determining who you really want to spend your time trying to influence.
Pinterest isn’t right for every business, but it certainly has a place in social media marketing. If you can make it work for your business, Pinterest is an excellent tool for bringing in new customers, as well as establishing a brand, but you need to have a plan. Social media is like anything else in business: time, effort, and hard data will pay off in the long run.
Ryan Currie is a Product Manager at Spokeo, a leader in people search and reverse phone lookup services. In addition to working on Spokeo, he also enjoys history, pop culture, and following the latest new in the movie industry.
