Right now, Pinterest is hot real estate. It’s the Social Media Du Jour. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s the only social media site you should be looking at. But, you certainly shouldn’t ignore it.
Visitor eyeballs from Pinterest have value. If you are sharing something that people want to see, you can garner a great source of traffic from a motivated and interested group. That’s HUGE when it comes to marketing your website. Its a way to introduce the right people who really want something, to the right products and services. This is a win-win scenario. When done correctly, everyone gets what they want.
Don’t forget the Golden Rule of Marketing
“I can introduce you to people, but I can’t make them like you!”
If your product or service sucks, and your customer service for it is in shambles, there’s really nothing you can do to increase sales that legitimate. If, on the other hand, you are a snappy dresser and dance well, people can overlook the receding hairline and and big feet (hint: always clip your fingernails for luck).
To give you an example. I just started a another hobby site and this one has lots of good photos for use in Pinterest. It’s G3Jeeps.com and, as suspected, I have lots of pictures of Jeeps on the site. This is good news for Pinterest. I created a G3Jeeps Pinterest Board and started pinning all of my Jeep photos from all over the web and every now and then (every 10th to 15th image) I would slip in an image from G3Jeeps. It’s important that I don’t spam out only my own site, because if the only topic of conversation you have is yourself only, then everyone now sees you for the self-absorbed bastard that you really are.
Here’s a big tip for those who want to learn how to carry on an interesting conversation in any crowd:
“LISTEN to what’s being said”.
If the crowd is interested in basket-weaving, and you don’t know anything about it, then ask questions, let other people talk. learn what you can and then add to the conversation when you have something valuable to add, not before.
Here’s an important caveat for Pinterest success. Post frequently.
Pinterest is all about, “what are you giving me today”. Don’t think this is true? Well here’s my totally unscientific proof. I started posting images of Jeeps and parts and really good Jeep imagery. Within 1 month, I had jumped up to over 200 followers and rising by 10-20 people per day. It was growing very quickly and exponentially. I would post 2-3 pictures per day at random time intervals, so there really wasn’t even a strategy involved, just activity.
Then I went on vacation for 2 weeks. Unplugged, hiking in Colorado with no Pinterest pins at all (mountain regions aren’t known for their connectivity).
When I got back into town, I was in shock over what had happened. I was now sitting at a total of 80 followers with no new followers at all.
That’s an awesome revelation, because my goal with all of these hobby sites is to experiment with different techniques and types of marketing to see what works, what doesn’t and what the potholes are in the road. This has been great information and can help prevent you from making the same mistake. That’s what we do here at Open Source Marketer. We take the hits for you and give you the info you need to be successful. So take this to heart and use Pinterest for your own success, knowing that the crowd at Pinterest is all about today and how often you pin items.
It’s not about volume here, it’s about quality and consistency.
Good Luck, and Good Marketing!!!
