On January 27, 2012 I wrote on my Facebook wall, “Looked at Pinterest today. Just what I thought. I have no interest in Pinterest.” Within a few minutes several people I respect told me I should look into Pinterest further. They were right.
Then Kelly Kinkaid shared this:
You can find the whole article on Mashable here.
Pinterest is driving buyers to retailers’ websites. It’s a year later and I still don’t use Pinterest much. So when a friend asked me for advice about Pinterest the other day, I decided to do a little research.
Before even revisiting Pinterest my first thoughts were, tell a story with the pictures and videos you share. Follow others. Share. Promote others and find like minded people or people that are your customers.
What’s Popular on Pinterest?
You’re able to find out what is popular on Pinterest very quickly. They have a “popular” link near the top of the home page. I clicked on what’s popular on Pinterest today and saw this:
You don’t have to be a rocket scientest or even see the data to know that the Pinterest world is predominately female. Here are the numbers:
From the Momentum Factor blog
What Businesses are using Pinterest well?
I looked up a few companies using Pinterest. I wanted to see who was doing well. And to my surprise one of the big winners – drumroll please – is Lowe’s. That’s right. Lowe’s.
So why would a hardware store do well on Pinterest?
1 – Lowe’s uses a custom Pinterest tab on it’s Facebook page. You don’t have to leave Facebook to get the benefits of Pinterest. So it cross promotes effectively on both social media platforms. The first 12 days that Lowes used the Pinterest Facebook tab, it had a 32% increase in followers on it’s main Pinterest page.
2 – Lowe’s promotes their Pinterest page on TV ads and more. It shares it’s most popular “pins” on Facebook too. Cross promoting
3 – Lowe’s encourages people to “pin” their own pictures and videos using Lowes products
4 – Lowe’s creates boards on Bathroom Decoration, Style, and entertaining. In essence it’s an online magazine that it’s readers help create.
Read more about Lowes Pinterest strategy here:
- Lowe’s Hopes Pinterest + Facebook = Higher Engagement
- 5 Ways Lowes Integrates Facebook and Pinterest
What You as a Small Business Owner Can Do to Duplicate Lowe’s Success
Add the Facebook Pinterest tab to your company Facebook page. Then cross promote like crazy. You can get the Facebook Pinterest tab here.
Make it easy for people to “pin” items from your company blog or website. Here is a great plugin for WordPress powered websites and blogs called Hover Pin-It
Encourage people to pin and share your products in use.
If you’ve had success with Pinterest, share your stories with us in the comments below. If you have any questions about using Pinterest for your business, let us know.
Sincerely,
Doug Stewart
“Giving You the Power to Fight the Big Boys”
