Oh no! Not another new social media platform!

Yes, and this is one you’re going to want to use. Using Pinterest for business seems counterintuitive to most business folk. But we are here to tell you that Pinterest for business is a fantastic idea, not just a good one. Why?

Reasons to use Pinterest for business.

1. Pinterest is a visual medium, and we are visual creatures.

Human beings have a far, far larger visual cortex than an audio or olfactory one. Pinterest is a visual medium – way more than Facebook. In fact, Pinterest doesn’t really use text much, except for naming Boards.

Now I know what you’re saying – there’s nothing in my business to share that’s visual. Oh come now, tap into that creativity you call the spark of business why don’t you — after all, this is BUSiness.

2. Pinterest is super shareable.

Shares on Pinterest – or “repins” as they are called – are much likelier to be shared than anything on Facebook. The higher the chance of your material being shared, the better your ideas spread around to potential customers.

3. Build your personal (and/or business) brand.

You can carry personal brand with you – whatever you do in life. Building your personal brand is it darn great idea. But, you can build beyond your personal, and straight into your company’s brand. Building brand strength usually relies upon visual triggers, so, once again, Pinterest is useful, here.

4. Pinterest is just plain fun.

And that means you and your customers are going to use it more often. If you have a product site, Pinterest is perfect for talking about and showcasing new products. If you are a service, the same thing applies – you just have to find visuals for your services and voilà – it works again.

5. It can market your website.

Since you can pin products and services to your boards, and those link back to your website, Pinterest can drive referral traffic – straight to the relevant page. Visuals drive engagement, and that means the potential customers is already engaged before landing.

Well, Greg, how do I use Pinterest for business?

So, what is the Pinterest business model? Is Pinterest your next business social network? Well, that’s going to have to be a conversation for another day, or another article.

However, we are having a Pinterest for Business presentation at the OMG (The Online Marketing Group) Meetup group I run. The presentation will be given by Bill & Erik at Talking Finger social media marketing. If you’re on the East Coast, sign up here, and join us for a wonderful presentation. Best of all, it’s FREE!