7 Effective Tips For Increasing Sales With Pinterest Marketing

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing phenomena in Social Media, and is currently believed to be receiving even more unique visitors than established social networking platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as vastly out performing the surprisingly under adopted Google+. Its functionality is along the lines of a microblogging site like Tumblr, however it is more geared toward highlighting and sharing things the user has found and organizing them than to generating new content. It has rich commenting and reposing (or repinning) functionality to allow for plenty of interactivity, and as such, is full of marketing potential. Here are some tips for incorporating Pinterest into your social media promotion and sales strategies.

1. Become really familiar with Pinterest and its features, and immerse yourself in the Pintrest user experience.

While it can seem like yet another thing to update if you already use all of the other big platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn for promotion, to really get the most out of Pinterest you have to get into its internal culture, much like you have to do with Twitter. Make pinning things as much a part of your usual online habits as tweeting, and you’ll be going in the right direction. Put as much effort into making sure people see your pins as you do into getting likes for your Facebook page. Basically, learn Pintrest and adopt it as just as big a part of your strategy as the stuff you are already habitually utilizing.

2. Integrate it with your blog in every way possible.

For many businesses, especially those selling online such as ebook businesses and affiliate marketing plans, the blog is the central funnel driving potential customers into the ultimate sales process. For this reason, everything you do in social media should drive your users to your blog, and this is no different with Pintrest. Pin anything new from your blog, and use tools that allow you to do things like share Pintrest comments live on your blog too. Naturally you should also make it easy for visitors to pin your blog posts, videos and images too with a button.

3. Encourage social shares of your pins on other networks.

People browsing your pins can share them on other social networks very easily thanks to Pintrests ability to work with these platforms, so make sure you encourage your friends and fans to post your pins on Facebook, Twitter and their own blogs and Tumblrs.

4. Pin all kinds of content to establish yourself as an authority in your niche.

Don’t make your pinboards all about promoting your business or any given products – it needs to offer other useful stuff too. As such, pin all kinds of things you find interesting, especially those relevant to your industry or sales niche. This will help visitors understand what you are about and view you as a subject matter authority.

5. Tie your Pintrest account to your Twitter account.

Linking up your social media accounts is what really enhances the power of all of your efforts, but Pintrest doesn’t let you link to a Facebook business “fan page”, only to a personal account. For business, you probably won’t want this, so you want to choose the option that lets you connect the new Pintrest account to your company Twitter instead.

6. Use a guest pin board to make your Pintrest more interactive for visitors.

Create a guest pin board and allow (and encourage) people to pin their own relevant things there. If people are slow on the uptake and you aren’t getting many pins from third parties, ask for them in a more interesting way, or run a competition for best pin of the week and promote it using your Twitter and Facebook accounts too. This is a clever way to do things as it makes your visitors feel more a part of what you are doing, and also leaves a lasting display for other visitors that shows you are not just there to push products.

7. Create a question board.

Use a Pintrest board to allow people to ask you and your business about a certain topic. Offering free advice or answers can be a great way to engage with customers and potentials, and being seen as knowledgeable and helpful is always going to warm people towards you as a business.