In case you’ve been living under a rock, Pinterest has been gaining momentum in a huge way. According to Compete, unique visitors to pinterest.com increased by 155% just in one month, from December 2011 to January 2012. It’s a fairly new social networking site that allows users to create ‘Pinboards’. A pinboard is basically a theme-based image collection of, well, whatever you want and you can share them with other users.
Behind all the fun, Pinterest can be a great marketing tool for brands and businesses…like yours.
Greetings from your Nova Scotia virtual tour provider and social media director for RTV Inc. Let’s take a quick look at specific Pinterest tactics you can use to your own marketing advantage.
1. Feature your virtual tour business name on your profile for greater exposure. Use your virtual tour business name as your username when signing up, or you can also change your user name to your business name after your profile is set up.
2. Be sure to fill out the “About” section on your Pinterest profile. It will show up right beside your photo, and will be one way that users can find out more about you, so tell them who you are and what you do.
3. Link your other social media accounts and decide how you want Pinterest to interact with these accounts. Having seamless social networking connections means more followers. It will also put the Twitter and Facebook icons on your profile.
4. Don’t leave out your virtual tour business URL- this also will appear!
5. Pin content frequently and steadily, not in bursts. This will maximize exposure.
6. Your board names are very important. Get creative but try not to make it too long. Every time you share something your board name will be seen so make an impression. You’ve got a 180 character limit.
7. Tagging users in Pins is a feature that is not yet widely used but it’s a great way to get your name out there. Pin other professionals in your field and engage with customers. Do so by using ‘@username’ in your description.
8. Comment frequently on other people’s pins. Just like with tagging use it to engage with other professionals in your industry and to interact with customers/fans. Obviously, use the same social media etiquette that you would use on Facebook and Twitter.
9. “Like” other people’s pins to let them know you think that their content is great and to let them know your paying attention.
10. Variety is the spice of life and Pinterest is no exception. Pin from lots of different sources.
11. It’s OK to pin your own blog posts, but don’t over-promote. Follow the usual rules of any other social media site.
12. Be smart about your image descriptions and always include them — a good description will stay with an image as it gets repinned all over the Pinterest world. Use your virtual tour business name in the description if the image is from your own site.
Pinterest is quickly surpassing current marketing favorites like LinkedIn and YouTube so it would be a great idea to hop on the Pinterest train if you haven’t already.
Make sure register for tomorrow’s Social Realty show if you have not already. Register Here:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/341188914
We’ll see you there RTV!
Nancy Bain
RTV Social Media Director
https://www.realtourvision.com
Virtual Tour Software & Social Media Training