Time to Take Interest in Pinterest

Pinterest has taken the social media world by storm. It started out as a community called “pinners” bookmarking their favorite recipes, clothes, workouts, and party planning ideas by “pinning” them. Pinterest has now evolved into a social media channel that can expand thought leadership, increase brand recognition and authority, and expand overall reach. It’s being used by individuals, businesses and schools across the country.
If Pinterest isn’t part of your social media strategy it should be. There are over 48.7 million users active on Pinterest, many of which include education leaders and administration pinning over 500k education related pins a day. Pinterest allows users to find quality ideas, real world examples of concepts for the classroom, and a one stop shop for all things edu. From innovative social studies ideas to engaging higher ed students, educators are using this media channel to find tips, tricks, lesson plans, and creative ways to engage students. If you’re not contributing to the resources available you’re missing out on important opportunities to make connections and drive traffic back to your site.
Here’s five tips to get started on a successful Pinterest account for your organization:
 

• Set-up a Business Page. Pinterest for Business offers users free analytics that will measure the number of pins, repins, impressions, and clicks your boards attract. All you have to do is verify your website and start pinning your favorite resources. Have employees that would like to easily contribute to your boards? You can invite employees or other thought leaders and business partners to contribute to your boards, making curating pins easy and collaborative.

• Use Rich Pins. A fairly new tool allows pins that include extra information within the pin. Whether you’re helping pinners create a reading list or invite them to an upcoming event, rich pins help get more information packed into each pin, making them more useful to your followers.

• Use Captivating Descriptions and Hashtags. As Pinterest users are scrolling through their feed, they’ll decide to pin or share your content based on the photo you choose and your description, so be captivating! Make your followers want to learn more or take action and use hashtags within your description. Hashtags make your pins more easily searchable to all of Pinterest’s users.

• Add a Pin It Button to Your Website. Adding this small button to your website and mobile app will help readers easily share your blogs, resources and other content.

• Diversify Your Boards. Your followers don’t want to see a constant stream of brand specific or sales driven pins. Make sure you’re diversifying your pinterest board by including pins from a variety of resources.

 
Need some extra advice on how to get started on Pinterest? Getting Smart helps edupreneurs and education leaders amplify their impact with biz dev, marketing, and strategic communication services. We provide a range of services from building and implementing strategy to public relations implementation. Interested in learning more? Visit our services page and shoot us an email.