What is Pinterest?
Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.
Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite.
Although the photo-sharing site launched two years ago, it’s only now spinning into a frenzy, emerging as a game-changer in the world of social media.
The site, now the fifth-largest social network, is a destination for people to post their favorite online photos — anything ranging from shots of fishnet stockings to photos of cinnamon sugar-topped focaccia — and sort them into different categories called “pinboards” (essentially, online bulletin boards). Clicking on the photos redirects to the Web site where the shot was found.
If you haven’t had a chance to check out Pinterest yet, now is the time. Use these ideas to set up and draw attention to your photography.
- Integrate with Facebook and Twitter
Although registration for Pinterest will mandatorily require you to register though your Facebook or Twitter account, you must make sure that you leverage web traffic through your already existing presence on other social media platforms. The important point is to keep interacting with your existing follower base on these platforms to inform them what you’re upto on Pinterest, photo slideshows and visual based updates being the best way. Simply linking back won’t suffice.
- Use smartly worded descriptions
Since Pinterest is mainly about images, the search option is bound to be super sensitive to keywords. Descriptions look like titles for each pin – almost as if it is a product description. And that’s why making the description catchy is crucial. Also, the images that you pin to your profile from any webpage will automatically include an embedded link to go back to that page, but not a caption. You can smartly use this space to place updates about your business in addition to why you’ve pinned that image. Make sure you use specific keywords related to your pins. For instance, searching ‘red pen’ will display results of individual pins containing that search term, not your Pinterest profile page.
- Spend the time
Pinterest is just like the other social sites in use today – you get out of it what you put into it. Find the movers and shakers of Pinterest and build relationships with those who are known for quality “pins”. Once they recognize you, they are more likely to post about your photography.
- Keep it simple
The reason Pinterest is moving up the charts is it is easy to use. Everyone has a board where they pin images in the same sizes. A clean uncluttered look is best. Each pinned photo includes one link back to your site, which can help boost the page views back to your site once you are recognized.
- Think of more than yourself
If you’ve found success on places like Facebook and Twitter, you understand its not all about you. You can’t post your information over and over again and get results from followers. They are looking for tips, news tidbits, resources from other companies – and occasionally your own stuff. Pinterest is no different. The companies that have had the biggest success focus in on what people want within their niche, then provide it over and over again.
- Use it to communicate with clients
Having a bride “pin” her favorite shots or a family “pinning” some shots they would love to have for their album can be an important tool in communicating expectations for the shoot. Many times I have had brides email me with pictures that were “must haves” for their albums. Also, you can follow the bride or mom-to-be on Pinterest and get a good feel for what they like just from their pins.
- Engage with users
To promote your brand on Pinterest, you will actively need to build direct relationships with users by linking, re-pinning, tagging by using @username, commenting on other users’ pins, exploring your followers’ boards to know why they are interested in your brand and so on. You can also find content people have pinned directly from your website by adding, “/source/” and your website address to the Pinterest homepage URL.
Are you already on Pinterest ?
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