Did I convince you to take a serious look at Pinterest earlier this year when I told you about the benefits for small business owners? Fabulous. Are you ready to get started, but still feel a bit overwhelmed? Relax, this post is for you.

Word to the wise: Pinterest isn’t for everyone

Pinterest is great for some brands, but not all brands. While we help many different types of companies with social media, only a few of our clients really benefit from having a Pinterest account. Our food and home flooring clients thrive on the social media site. Their products naturally appeal to the average Pinterest user. They also benefit from other resources Pinterest offers like increasing visibility on the Internet. Oh yes, a Pinterest account can greatly increase the number of people who see you on the web.

Pinterest is a great way to get the word out about products, but it also demonstrates to followers (and potential customers) how they can use or style your product in the real world. Sure, they can see pictures of your product on your website, but Pinterest shows people the different ways they can use it. For example, if your business sells jars of  beans, your Pinterest boards provide recipes to followers that show them all of the different meals you can create with beans. Now your followers aren’t just seeing your product, they’re seeing what they can do with it.

A good chunk of your referral traffic can come from Pinterest. Are your blog posts full of rich photos that show off your product? Make sure you get those pinned to your Pinterest boards. It’s easy to get swept up in pinning content from other sources, so don’t forget about your own. Pinning your own content allows your followers to navigate back to your website which is exactly what you want.

Pin more than just your product

You should definitely have Pinterest boards which directly pertain to your product, but you shouldn’t stop there. It’s about the total package. You need to have boards about related products and services too. I’ll use a home flooring business as an example. Show your customers and followers how they can use your product to style their whole house. The whole point of Pinterest is to provide inspiration.

Start with boards about your products like carpet or hardwood flooring, but appeal to the wider interests of your followers by adding some home decor boards about throw rugs, paint color or decorative counter tops and cabinetry too. Make your Pinterest page an all inclusive destination for your followers.

A word of caution, don’t go too broad when creating your boards. Be sure there is some connection back to your products. You don’t want to confuse followers by having a slew of boards that serve no purpose to your product or business.

Link, link, link!

Don’t forget to link your pins back to your website! This is the easiest way to get your followers to your site. One of the biggest complaints from Pinterest users is that when they click on a pin to go to the website, it goes nowhere. It’s safe to say 9 times out of 10 the user is going to want to know the original source of the product if they are really interested in it. Don’t waste an opportunity to get people to your site by failing to link your original images.

Pinterest can really drive traffic to your website if you use it properly. Not sure where to start or if it’s right for your business? Explore the site. Search for your competitors. Are they there? You should be too. Make sure you are pinning and linking your products to the site, but not just your products. Be a one stop shop for your followers. You want your Pinterest page to be the total package for potential customers.

Want to learn more about using social media to grow the visibility of your business? Come join us on June 5th for a seminar on social media basics.