Remember when you would cut out pictures of places and products in magazines and glue them in your notebook or on your pin board and show it off to your friends and family? Now you can do that without the mess! Presenting Pinterest, a virtual pin board and photo sharing website where millions of users go to share ideas and products. But wait…imagine a pin board with all the things you have ever created available for millions of people to see and buy! If you’re a business owner, then Pinterest could be your marketing miracle: the site is free, advertising is limitless, and your products can go viral.
Pinterest Business Account
Business owners can create a Pinterest business account. This allows them to upload photos of their products, with a link to the homepage underneath where users can then go to buy the products shown. The best part is that the users advertise the products by sharing the photos, and if a photo gets popular it can be re-pinned an infinite number of times. This means that thousands, if not more, people could then see your products. The potential clientele base on Pinterest is unlimited.
Place Pins
Businesses that are destination-oriented like bakeries, bars or bed and breakfasts can benefit greatly from Pinterest’s new “Place Pins”. This tool shows a map of the world on which users can Pin their favorite spots around town, or destinations that they dream of going to. According to Pinterest, “Every day people Pin about 1.5 million places, and now there are more than 750 million Pins of these destinations on Pinterest”. Each destination Pin has a link to its home page where users can go to get more details and/or book reservations. Place Pins provides great exposure for businesses both large and small.
Example of Place Pin Board
Travel Channel recently created a board called “East Coast Beach Crawl” that featured their top picks of beaches to visit on the East Coast. Each Pin gives an address to the selected beach and a link where you can learn more about the destination. This board is just one of millions that people can go to for travel inspiration in planning their next vacation. It’s possible that your business could already be Pinned to one (if not hundreds!) of boards.
Happy Pinning!
Promote your business by creating a mapboard that is specific to your needs. For example, if you own a coffee shop then you could create a board titled “the Best Coffee in [your area]” and put your coffee shop at the top. Include some mutual referrals to your own favorite java spots.
Go explore and have fun. Who knows, you might find yourself planning a vacation!