Internet marketers everywhere are all talking about Pinterest these days. For those that don’t know about Pinterest, it’s a social networking site where you “pin” images and videos on web pages and they are saved to virtual pin boards that others can see and comment and re-pin themselves.
Although Pinterest has been a huge hit among women sharing recipes and craft ideas, it has developed into a marketing powerhouse for online retailers who have seen significant increases in sales of products pinned. Studies have shown that Pinterest is driving more traffic that Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined.
But what about your business? Do you have a business that serves a local market? Can Pinterest work for you? That depends on your market, and how much you are prepared to devote to building a community on Pinterest.
- Here are some questions to ask yourself before diving into Pinterest for marketing your business online:
- Is your target market already on Pinterest? If not, could you build a community yourself?
- If they are, can you devote the time to engage with them socially on Pinterest? As with any social network, you can’t just go share your stuff and expect to be successful. You have to share other things that your audience would like. You have to comment on their pins. Don’t be selfish. Be social.
- Can you create content that is visually stimulating and would attract attention on Pinterest?
Additionally, here are some tips that might help you in successfully marketing your local business on Pinterest:
- Search for other users in your area and follow them. Comment on their pins and re-pin their pins. Get involved.
- Include your location in your boards and pins including address and phone number. These could help your Google+ Local page rank better, and may even rank well in the search results themselves.
- Get people to pin on your boards. Open them up to contributors. Get them to post pictures of themselves at your store or using your products.
For many, Pinterest will not seem like a good fit for local online marketing, but for some, I think it could work if done properly.
Leave a comment below if you have any other tips on how to market a local business on Pinterest.