Executive Summary
Perhaps you heard the buzz about Pinterest, the newest social media site to take off. Or perhaps you chose to put your head in the sand, too exhausted to learn what “pinning” was and if it is any good for your premium content or membership site. Well, have no fear, this how-to will give you what you need to know to determine if your brand needs a Pinterest pinboard (as well as explain what that is exactly).
This article will:
- Give you a quick video tour of Pinterest;
- Explain how Pinterest can drive site traffic, increase your search rankings, and help you reach your target market;
- Tell you what 3 things you MUST do NOW even if you’re not sure you should be marketing on Pinterest;
- Give you examples of how other premium content and memberships sites, such as the Wall Street Journal, Angie’s List, Consumer Reports, and Demand Metric, are using Pinterest;
- Outline the five action steps you need to take to optimize your brand for Pinterest.
What Is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a social networking site that is most aptly described as a public scrapbooking site that lets users post, or “pin,” images and videos — either their own or others available on the Web.
Pinterest users can either upload images from their computer or pin things they find on the web using the Pinterest bookmarklet, Pin It button, or just a URL. They then pin these images (or videos) to a pinboard, basically an online corkboard full of images and videos that contain a link. Pinterest users can then click on an image to see it full-size, read the caption and comments, and/or click on a link that takes the user back to the image’s original source.
For those of you unfamiliar with Pinterest, we’ve created a quick 5-minute video tour of the site.