Pinterest in the last 6-9 months has become the social media network to watch out for. In a world of social networks dominated by posts and tweets, Pinterest offers a refreshingly, visual medium to connect with users across the globe

What Really is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a virtual ‘Pinboard’ that allows you to bring together and share your finds on the web. People use it for all kind of things from creating a board to plan their wedding to putting one together to organize and share their much-loved recipes.

You can also surf pins created by other people with similar or varied interests. In short, it is a platform for those who liketo be inspired visually and those wanting to share inspiration with people on the web.

How Can You Use Pinterest for Your Small Business?

Here are three simple yet highly effective ways to get started with Pinterest for small business:

1. Share your Products and Interests

If you’re a small business and have a product or s service that you want to sell then a great way to use Pinterest for your business is to pin your own products/services to share with other users. You can create pinboards with product categories, gift ideas, must-haves and much more depending on what your product or service is.

Remember, don’t just try and simply sell your products but create interest in what you do by sharing items based on a broad theme to create a community around your brand.

For instance, if you are in the business of travel gear then you can create boards like Travel and Food,Great Destinations along with travel gear so that you’re not just talking about your products all the time but are adding value to users who are interested in travel.

2. Drive More Traffic to Your Site

When you pin your products or services, you construct quality backlinks whenever you or other users link to your products. Remember to use keywords when you describe your boards to attract target customers and encourage them to visit your site and also, be more searchable. You can share your pins on your other social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, boosting more links to your products and generating more traffic to your website. This will also help to increase your search-engine ranking.

3. Use Engagement to Boost Business

Engagement is the key to success for any business on a social network and Pinterest is no different. Ensure that you ‘like’ and ‘comment’ on other users’ boards which interest you. Follow users in your niche which will encourage them to follow you back. Thank and comment when people re-pin your items.

Pinterest users are on the rise, close to 4,000 percent in the last six to nine months. It has started to figure as a prominent source of traffic for businesses already. It is a great addition to your overall marketing strategy to help your business grow from strength to strength.

Have you used Pinterest for your small business? Share your favourite pins!

Photo Credit: Claudia Liliana