How To Use Pinterest To Promote Your Homestay Online

Pinterest for the Internet Marketer

1 Copyright © 2014 J3 HOMESTAY TAWAU

http://homestaytawau.blogspot.com


Using Pinterest.com to More Effectively Expand Your Social Media Marketing Presence

By : J3 Homestay Tawau




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Table of Contents

Introduction .............................................................. pg. 5

What is Pinterest? .................................................... pg. 7

The Pinterest Demographic ..................................... pg. 8

Setting Up an Account ........................................... pg. 10

Sharing, Not Selling ............................................... pg. 11

The Other Way Around........................................... pg. 12




Pinterest Etiquette .................................................. pg. 13

Tips and Tricks ....................................................... pg. 15




Chapter 1: Introduction

As an Internet marketer, you’re acutely aware of the fact that social media

sites are excellent ways to get your brand the exposure it needs. Although

many social media sites will let you purchase advertisements to be shown

to users as soon as they log on, this isn’t the only thing that makes social

media such a marketing godsend. Indeed, the ability to establish a brand

presence in the form of a “page” is an excellent way to drive online

marketing and create a direct channel of communication between your

brand and its customers. From there, your customers become your fans as

they add your brand to their own personal profiles and even recommend

your brand to their own contacts – creating a sort of digital word-of-mouth

phenomenon.

Because you understand the this powerful dynamic, you’ve created a brand

presence for yourself online through your website, your blog, your

Facebook page, your Google+ page, your Twitter account, your

Foursquare location (complete with freebies for “mayors”), your Yelp

profile, and your YouTube channel. Did you miss anything?

What about Pinterest? Pinterest has been growing at an insane rate over

the last couple of years; last July, Pinterest has served content to more

than 23 million unique visitors – up from 20 million unique visitors the

month before that. That unique visitor count is more than one full order of

magnitude higher than the site’s unique visitor count from September 2011:

a year ago, the site saw fewer than two million unique visitors a month.




As of March 2012, Pinterest has accounted for 3.6% of traffic sent from

social media to websites – putting the site neck-and-neck with social media

giant Twitter (with its referral traffic sitting at 3.61%).

Users tend to spend a lot of time browsing Pinterest, too. They spend an

average of six minutes browsing Google+, an average of 17 minutes

browsing LinkedIn, and an average of 36 minutes browsing Twitter. In the

case of Pinterest, users will spend an average of one hour and seventeen

minutes browsing the site!

Despite its lack of media fanfare, Pinterest is fast becoming a social media

powerhouse. In fact, the traffic and usage statistics mentioned above are all

based on Pinterest’s status as an invite-only site. As of August 10, 2012,

Pinterest is now accepting open registration; so expect those statistics to

jump dramatically! Anyone interested in marketing their brand online should

certainly consider Pinterest as a source of referral traffic and potential

revenue. But what exactly is Pinterest? Who uses it? How does one use

Pinterest? What’s the best way to market a brand on Pinterest?

These questions and many more will be answered in the following pages.

We’ll even discuss Pinterest etiquette and good tips to keep in mind as

your build your brand on one of the fastest-growing sites on the web.




Chapter 2: What is Pinterest?

Pinterest describes itself as a “virtual pinboard” where users are able to

collect, categorize, and share the interesting things they find across the

web. Think of it as a bulletin board of sorts, where users can tack up

images they find attractive, inspiring, fun, etc. The site itself is highly visual,

consisting of images arranged across the screen in a pleasant, orderly,

non-claustrophobic manner. These images have all been “pinned” by other

users, and can now be “re-pinned” by other people who also find those

images interesting.

Pinning an item on Pinterest is analogous to “liking” something on

Facebook or clicking the “+1” button on Google+. Re-pinning something is

similar to retweeting a post you find interesting on Twitter. Continuing in the

Twitter parallel, users on Pinterest can even follow other users in order to

track the item they pin.

A collection of pinned items is called a “board.” When you create a

Pinterest account, you’re provided with blank boards (kind of like the blank

Circles Google+ provides by default), and you can create more when you

need them. These boards will categorize your pinned items by providing a

theme for them. For example, if you enjoy collecting and sharing photos of

cats, you can create a board called “Cats.” Now you can pin or re-pin any

cat photos you find to that board. That will make it easier for your followers

to track the pins that interest them the most.




Chapter 3: The Pinterest Demographic

Although more and more men are using Pinterest (especially now that it

uses general registration instead of invite-only registration), the site

remains dominated by women. As you’d expect, that means most of the

content that gets pinned and re-pinned is geared toward the female

demographic.

This reputation has led to a popular YouTube channel making a video

encouraging its viewers to follow it on other social media networks. The

voiceover in the video says, “We're on Pinterest too. And I... I don't know

how this works, but maybe your girlfriend does, so get her to ‘pint’ it.”

Indeed, according to ComScore, fully 80% of Pinterest’s users are female.

30% of its users are between the ages of 25 and 34 years old, and another

25% of users are between the ages of 35 and 44 years old. 35% of

Pinterest users claim a household income of $25,000 - $49,999, and nearly

that many (34%) claim a household income of $50,000 – $74,999. 60% of

its users possess a college degree.

Some companies already taking advantage of this demographic include

Better Homes and Gardens with 180,000 followers. It pins recipes,

decorations, and more in an attractive, eye-catching way. Whole Foods has

65,000 followers and maintains boards that feature diverse content like

recipes, gadgets, eco-friendly living, and more. Michael’s Stores boasts

78,000 followers and predictably, features crafting boards. It also

http://pinterest.com/bhg/

http://pinterest.com/wholefoods/

http://pinterest.com/michaelsstores/




encourages its followers post their own crafts to a board made for that

purpose, and it will pin photos of classes and events that it runs. Birchbox

is a beauty subscription service with 325,000 followers. Its pins include

facial, nail, hair, and eye beauty ideas; male and female fashion ideas;

seasonal boards; and more. Birchbox is a great example of cross-

promotion, direct, and indirect marketing done right.

These companies are excellent role models for anyone looking to market

toward the demographic best served by Pinterest. Check out their boards

and see how they market themselves to the site’s users and you will get a

clear idea of what works.

http://pinterest.com/birchbox/




Chapter 4: Setting Up an Account

Pinterest is no longer invite-only, and that means it’s very easy to set up an

account. When you first arrive at the Pinterest homepage, you will see a

large red button at the top of the page labeled “Join Pinterest.” Click this

button and you will be prompted to join using your Facebook account, your

Twitter account, or your email address. If you choose to join using your

email address, you’ll have to upload a profile photo, create a

username/password, and enter your contact information. If you join using

Facebook or Twitter, you’ll be prompted to log in using those credentials

instead. You’ll need to allow Pinterest to access to some social media

information, and then you’re done.

Once you’ve secured a login, you’ll be presented with an array of images

and you’re asked to “click a few things you like.” This will give Pinterest an

idea of what sort of images to show you in order to get you started. Once

you finish, you’re taken to the Pinterest site proper.

From here, you can search for users, view the users you’re following,

browse items (via category, what’s popular, or everything), or browse gifts

in varying price ranges. You can re-pin, “like,” or comment on the images

you see, and you can add pins and boards to your own account.

http://pinterest.com/




Chapter 5: Sharing, Not Selling

Because Pinterest is funded solely by entrepreneurs and investors at this

point, they don’t offer advertisement opportunities for businesses like

Facebook does. This means that your Pinterest account will be geared

more toward sharing ideas and concepts instead of products or services.

By following other Pinterest users who can draw attention to your brand, re-

pinning items that reinforce your brand’s key concepts, and pinning items

that pique the interest of Pinterest users, you’ll be encouraging people to

learn more about your brand. That means visiting your website, blog, etc.

where you do advertise your products or services directly.

Imagine, for example, you own a fitness center. Hire a professional

photographer to take (flattering!) photos of your clients after obtaining their

permission. Now upload those photos to your website and/or blog, and pin

those photos to your Pinterest account. Encourage your clients to pin

images of themselves from your site, too. Since pinned images

automatically link back to the site they’re pinned from, you will should see

increased traffic coming to your site thanks to the digital word-of-mouth

generated by your clients. This example can be adapted to a wide range of

business plans. If you sell a hot sauce, encourage your buyers to pin

photos of themselves making food with the bottle prominently displayed. If

you own a car dealership, ask new buyers if you can take photos of them in

their newly purchased vehicle, and encourage them to pin the photos you

take. Use your imagination!







Chapter 6: The Other Way Around

Now that you have a good idea of how to leverage Pinterest in order to

encourage users to visit your website, you should consider making your

website Pinterest-friendly.

You may already have buttons on your website that encourage users to

“like” your page on Facebook, “+1” your page on Google+, or “tweet” your

page on Twitter; you should think about adding a “Pin it” or “Follow me on

Pinterest” button to your page as well. This will ensure that Pinterest users

who arrive at your website through other means have the ability to share

your site with their followers on Pinterest, further augmenting the social

media exposure your website gets. Many Pinterest users also use a “Pin it”

button that integrates with their web browser and lets them pin images from

websites onto their boards.

Structure your site to be Pinterest-friendly by using high-quality graphics

that are catchy, colorful, appealing, and useful. Infographics are also

popular on Pinterest. If your brand lends itself to the creation of eye-

catching infographics, by all means, make them and post them on your

blog and you will see them get a lot of buzz on Pinterest.




Chapter 7: Pinterest Etiquette

Pinterest has its own written and unwritten rules of etiquette that govern

what can be pinned and how. You can find the first five rules in the “About”

section on the Pinterest webpage, but they are very important and thus will

be covered in this document.

Be respectful. This is the single, most important rule of Pinterest.

Since this site is community-driven, respectful comments and

conversations are key.

Be authentic. By expressing exactly who you are (and by extension,

who your brand is), you’ll gain the types of followers who are actually

interested in what you have to say.

Credit your sources. Instead of pinning items that you find on a

content aggregator, pin the original source so the author gets the

linkback credit.

No objectionable content. Don’t post anything that contains nudity,

hateful content, or encourages users to hurt themselves. Read the

Pinterest Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy for more

information.

Leave feedback. Contact the Pinterest team with input on what is

working or what is not working.




Those are some great guidelines, but there is more to Pinterest etiquette

than is what “officially” stated. Here are two more very important unwritten

rules of Pinterest:

Promote other users. The worst thing to do on Pinterest is engage in

“all take and no give.” Re-pin items pinned by other users, especially

other users who follow your brand. This will not only make your

boards more diverse and exciting for your visitors, it will also make

your brand appear more community-friendly. Try to make a full 60%

of your Pinterest content consist of re-pins from other users and use

the remaining 40% for your own original content.

Interact with the community. Remember to “like” and comment on

other pins. If you reference a Pinterest user on the site, use an

“@Tag” to refer to them. When users re-pin your content, thank them.

When it comes to Pinterest, community is big. Be interesting, courteous,

and appreciative and you’ll go far.




Chapter 8: Tips and Tricks

Now you should have a much better understanding of Pinterest and how it

can help your brand gain more social media exposure. Here are some final

tips and tricks that will help you get the most out of Pinterest.

Look for your ideal client. Find users on Pinterest who fall neatly into your

target market. Study the sorts of things they typically pin to their boards.

This will give you a good idea of what interests them, what piques their

curiosity, and what sorts of things they like to share with their followers.

Tailor your images and items to that sort of person.

Before you pin an item, be sure you’re pinning it from the original source

and not a content aggregator. This was discussed earlier, but it’s very

important that you help the original author get the credit he or she is due.

You’d want the same to be done for you. On your end, incorporate

watermarks into your images to preserve your website even after an image

is pinned from a content aggregator.

Use multiple boards. Pin items across these boards to encourage a diverse

following. Don’t limit yourself!

Stay in touch with the community. Follow others. Pin your own content, re-

pin other users’ content, comment on their pins, and “like” their pins. Keep

yourself “plugged in” to Pinterest as much as possible.




If you’re going to pin images of your products, incorporate a price banner

into the product image itself. In the image description, add the price and a

link to the product’s page.

Learn from others. Find successful brands (Better Homes and Gardens,

Whole Foods, Michael’s, and Birchbox were mentioned earlier for a

reason!) and understand what they’re doing right. Reverse-engineer their

popularity.

Promote SEO. Fill out your “About” profile with search engine-friendly

keywords and language. Add keywords, categories, captions, and URLs to

your pins and profile.

When you pin something, your item will be placed at the top of its board

category – unless you’ve 1) pinned something in the last hour (Pinterest

does this to cut down on spam) or 2) pinned something from the Imgur

hosting site (in order to encourage users to pin content hosted from original

sources).

Work the timing angle. The hours of 5am – 7am and 5pm – 7pm (eastern

time) are the best times to pin content. People usually check Pinterest

when they wake up and when they get home from work, so shoot for these

hours for your best shot at getting your content noticed.

Use analytic tools to provide insight into Pinterest activity. Check out tools

like Pinfluencer, Curalate, PinReach, Pinerly, Pinpuff, Optipin, and




Pinalyazer. Find out what they can do for you. For example, Pinfluencer

uses metrics including pin rate, re-pins, how many new followers you

acquire each day, page views per pin, and more. It will even show you a list

of your most influential pinners.

But most of all: be creative! Users love discovering and re-pinning clever

and creative items. Creativity will attract more followers, which will drive

traffic to your site -- that means more exposure for your brand and more

revenue for you!