Wednesday, July 30, 2014

First steps in Pinterest by China Rodriguez

This month has been all about Pinterest for me. I tested (and showed you) how to plan a party with Pinterest´s help, and I actually made something I had liked and pinned! To contribute to your inspiration I pinned something I made too.


Knowing I still have a way to go in the learning curve I contacted social media expert China Rodriguez for some tips on how to use Pinterest in an effective way.

She has such a clear way to guide you through the steps! Read on. She´ll show you the way.
Imagen: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/271975264971543749/
Pinterest has captivated our attention.

This social network was born back in 2010 so the users could upload, organize and share images and videos, known as "pins" to collections called "boards". Each user can follow other users boards or just one of them, depending on their interest and share or repin the pins he/she likes the most.

As you know, when a social network gets some thousands of users ( Pinterest has over 70 million users, about 130 thousand from Argentina), big brands ask themselves what to do to get the attention of all those people who spend hours looking at images.

The entrepreneurs ask themselves the same! Let´s start by knowing some things that it will make it easier to use Pinterest.

1- 
The essential is invisible to the eyes: The most popular themes in Pinterest are food, drinks, DIY and fashion. Many designers, photographers and illustrators use this social network to share their work. If images are an important communication tool for you, Pinterest can be your ally.

2- The female audience: Did you know that over 80% of Pinterest users are women? Also, 81% of users are between 25 and 54 years old and 50% have kids. If your business targets the female audience, you will find a great amount of those women that might like what you have to sell on Pinterest.

3- I plan, therefore I exist: Before we launch ourselves to add another tool to our already busy life, let´s think what we will use it for. A good use for it is to show our brand´s personality through the boards. We can´t just show our products, we need to show something more. The boards are ideal to show our essence, what we like, what represents us. And that generates empathy with our potential customers.

If Pinterest is right for you and your brand we can go into some technical detail:

1- Create a business profile: just like Facebook, Pinterest makes a difference between personal and business profiles. In some countries you have the chance to promote pins, include prices and locations and other specific features. Those aren´t available worldwide yet.
2- Complete the information: These are the points you need to check in your Pinterest profile:

a. Profile picture: as always, it is the way our followers identify us in a quick way. It is ideal to use the same picture on all our social media profiles. you can use your company´s logo too. Pinterest recommends a 660x600 pixels size for the picture.

b. Username: this is going to be our url on Pinterest. It is best if you use the same username on all your social media profiles as well. Keep your brand image consistent.

c. About you: this is your business description. No links are allowed here at the moment. Use this field for your business keywords.
3- Build your first board: I´m sure that while you were planning what to use Pinterest for, you were already thinking about what to share. That is the content of your boards. Each board has a description and in there we can use keywords and hashtags. With those our followers may choose in a quick way what they want to follow. Another key element is the board title image. A visual tool to communicate what is inside each board.

If you click on a board you can move it around to organize them the way you like them. Choose your products board to be in the first place to gain more visibility.

4- Pin from your web and complete the description: Pinterest allows us to upload pins from the web or our computer. Upload your pins from your own website. Why? Because each pin is a link back! That way each pin is a potential visit to our website. In the description of your pin, include keywords and hashtags to be found by the users who are searching for those.

5- Be consistent: Some weeks you may sit on a Sunday, pin a hundred things and then go MIA the rest of the week. That is a mistake. Pin at a regular rythm to be more effective. It is valid to pin a lot at once when you are telling a special story or are showing a special theme. Even then a regular schedule works best. If you want to upload a lot at a time, you may do so to a secret board and then make pins visible in a regular manner. 

Now you are ready to go pin! 

Thanks for all the advice China!Isn´t she lovely? If you want to see more of her work (in Spanish) this is where you can find China on the web:

Website: La nube de tips
Facebook page: China Rodriguez
Twitter (in Spanish): China Rodriguez
Pinterest: China Rodriguez

Do you have a Pinterest account? Did you give it some thought as a tool? Have you planned your boards?


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23 comments:

Dawn said...

Great post and great tips. Pinterest has become a huge part of social media and social media based advertising. It's a great too, but it can be a little daunting at times.

Unknown said...

These were amazing tips, it's made me understand how to use Pinterest a lot better.

Jessica Peeling said...

I didn't realize how many of Pinterest's users were female! I try to use Pinterest to help with my blog, but I feel like I am not using it as effectively as I could be. Thanks for the tips!

Unknown said...

I can't believe Pinterest has only been around since 2010! I would have guessed much earlier.

Mary Ann said...

Thanks for elaborating on Pinterest for us. I really need to expand mine and these pointers help.

Unknown said...

Nice tips.. i was a big pinterest user, then i stopped cause the results were not what i was looking for.

Bonnie G said...

I love Pinterest. Thanks for these tips, it will help me a lot.

Unknown said...

Those are some great tips. i love pinterest and am pretty addicted!

Michele F.

Danielle said...

Thank you for sharing this. Pinterest is an excellent platform and can help alot of business reach new customers.

Unknown said...

I LOVE PInterest, thanks for the tips!

Tiffany said...

Great tips! I am pinning this to my secret social media training board. :)

Chasity said...

Thanks for all the tips. I love Pinterest and it has been great for my blog.

Lena Ski said...

I adore pinterest - not just from a marketing experience as a Marketing Coach - but there are just so many gems on there. Best social media platform in my books. Then facebook.
Then Soundcloud.

Unknown said...

I'm learning more and more about Pinterest lately. Great tips

Rebecca Swenor said...

Great information about Pinterest. I didn't know about it til the beginning of this year. Thanks for sharing.

Sweepster said...

I still don't understand pinterest. I don't think I ever will, but I use it!

Unknown said...

Great post on Pinterest. They are my top referrer, so I really need to find ways to use it better. I appreciate all the information you posted here. Thank you!

Ann B said...

I had no idea that women comprised 80% of Pinterest users. I knew it was high but not that high! Thanks for sharing.

mail4rosey said...

I did not know the Pinterest audience was 80% female. I am not surprised by the statistic though. ;) My DIL talked my son into making one, he did it for her and used it once, lolol

Michael said...

Just heard about the loan default in Argentina,I hope this won't cause any harsh changes for you and your family

Kath Rivera said...

I need to be active in my Pinterest account now that I can see a lot of my readers love to pin images. Thanks for the tips.

MaryJane Tauyan said...

i love pinterest! just recenttly verified my blog to my pinterst account

Unknown said...

Pinterest is a fantastic site. I have recently started using and already enjoying although, I am not getting any traffic to my site, but still I think it is a great resource for some awesome stuff.

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