I joined Pinterest probably over a year ago to collect my favorite images from home decor and art blogs. I pinned a few images and then didn’t touch it for a while. But I noticed that I get new followers every day, and that they’re repinning things (read: they’re very active), so I decided to check it out again.
The truth is, Pinterest has grown 4,000% in the past 6 months. This is insane. It’s questionable how many people will stay active on it, but definitely there are people worth staying in touch with who are active on Pinterest.
It’s obvious that Pinterest is perfect for people who sell art, jewelry, clothing, home decor stuff, or foodie content, but what about the rest of us? The question is, is this a site that’s worth it for businesses and nonprofits? Hubspot reports that some businesses are seeing higher referral traffic from Pinterest than they are from Google+ and Youtube. Here are ____ steps to take in order to use Pinterest to promote your cause, whether you get your money from donors, businesses or consumers.
1. Get some visuals!
What’s visual about what you do?
-If you sell information, get a graphic designer to put some stats into an infographic.
-Every organization has people working on, participating in and/or buying something. Get a photo of it and pin it.
-Anything downloadable on your site? Pick out a good graphic from it and pin it. In the description write that the full download is available on your site, and post the link. (See #4 for more on this…)
-Take a screenshot of a video of yours and link to to the full video in the description.

2. Follow people you know:
-your friends
-your customers
-your Facebook fans
-your Twitter followers
-your LinkedIn contacts
We can assume that many people adopt a follow-back policy, so this can be a good way to build a following. BUT! Keep in mind that on Pinterest you can either follow a user, or a specific board by a user. Keep track of which photos and boards get the most repins and followers – this of course will give you a clue as to what kinds of content to feature in future pins.
3. Start a group board.
Invite people to join your group with an appropriate theme and let them post their photos. One of our clients is an Israeli touring company. They can follow clients, invite them to join their “My trip to Israel” group, and ask them to post photos from their trip.
4. Encourage traffic by linking to your site in your pin.
As Talib Kweli says in his Manifesto, “keep the subject matter relevant.” Another client of ours is a fashion company in New York. If they pin a picture of one of their dresses, they can link to that product page on their site in the pin. The key here is to lead the seeking mind along a logical path. The more someone has engaged in your content, the more they are invested in you, and the deeper the emotional impression you have made on them. People buy and give according to their emotions.
Of course, you’ll need a nice call to action to get people to click on the link. See my article on How to Write Blog Post Titles That Get Clicked for tips on that.
5. Promote your account on other channels.
This may sound familiar: let people know about it! Once my awesome assistant gets back from Paris, you should see a Follow me on Pinterest button on this blog. In the meantime, here I am:
http://pinterest.com/margelit/
Got any Pinterest tips? Share your knowledge in the comments below.































