Pinterest adds to digital marketing mix

As you may know, Pinterest is a new photo sharing social network.  It’s pretty interesting, not to mention addicting.

Why is Pinterest so interesting?

It’s a hotbed for discovery – who doesn’t flip through magazines in the doctors office waiting room simply looking for images that catch your attention enough to want to read the article headline?  Pinterest does this by showcasing visual images posted by its users along with image titles and comments from others below those images.  Pinterest offers similar functionality like other social networks where you can “Repin” an image and/or comment on it.  You can follow others’ “Pinboards,” too.

It’s easy to get sucked in when visiting the site because everything is visual and allows you to scan and scroll down the screen quickly stopping only for those images that catch your attention.  It’s kind of like having multiple peoples’ Facebook Wall, with only images posted, and all their comments beneath the images – all across the screen with a continuous scroll, which is similar to Google Images results you may get from an image search.

Pinterest is built for discovery and viral sharing.

So how can savvy creative solopreneurs take advantage of this?  If you’re a creative solopreneur, chances are you make something – art, music, writings…

Create a visual brand litmus test for things you would potentially add to Pinterest.  Ask yourself questions like,

How does the image I’m about to post add value to my target audience’s experience with my brand?

Who am I targeting?  In other words, who is the audience that would truly find value in the images I post…and does that audience align with my brand and the brand message I’m trying to communicate?  Follow other Pinterest users who fit with your brand.

Set some level of visual criteria as to help others identify posts as images most likely to be associated with your brand?  For example, perhaps your organization is a nonprofit tutoring center and you decide that the images you post should always include people interacting with one another and books, books themselves, people learning, writing, reading, people graduating or showing success – fruits of their labor of learning, etc. …Maybe that’s just one Pinboard on your Pinterest account?

I’m still in the process of filling out my Nick Venturella Pinterest account, but I have three boards:

• Various Interests (kind of a catch-all for a variety of things)
• My Clients’ Products/Services (this is where I showcase images that reflect my GrowLoop clients with links back to their sites…just another value-add for my clients)
• Books Worth Reading (this board has the cover images of books I’ve read that I would recommend to others with an Amazon affiliate link to the book if someone would like to purchase it)

Pinterest is still new and I think there are some great digital marketing opportunities to be had with the social network.  Regardless, of it’s potential business application, Pinterest is simply a bunch of visual fun.

Here’s a link to an infographic about Pinterest from Mashable

Posted by: Nick Ventuerlla