Pinterest

Think of Pinterest as a visual catalog of likes and interested in social network. With a currently heavy female demographic who according to reports control a majority of the consumer product purse strings,  share cooking, food, fashion home goods and how tos via pinning, clipping images that link to the source of origin ( websites) via a browser tool as well as re-pinning shares from their followers Pinterest may be a worthwhile network to participate in.

Should your business be on Pinterest?

Getting started using Pinterest

We know with all the emerging social networks learning how to set up and get started may seem to be a daunting task let alone their network “lingo and functions ” such as “Pins, Repins, likes and comments”

So we have assembled a few how to resources for you.

Here is a basic how to tutorial we made for one of our clients that is a quick overview of using Pinterest. While we do set up and organize our clients social networks, our clients also learn how to fish (as they say) for themselves as well that way we cast a wider net together.

If you are having difficulty getting your pin button into your browser tool bar here is Pinterest’s video channel describing how to for each browser type.
Also our friends at For Bloggers By Bloggers  did a nice job of writing out beginning Pinterest set up and how to tips

With Pinterest you can:

• Pin your product images, supporting sales and blog post graphics from the page which they reside on your website via your Pin It Browser Tool plug in. (in bound link goes to your website)
• Mirror your “boards” to follow your sites product categories  basically creating a online catalog or story that flows with how consumers interact within your website. Also pin complementary information and pins from other sources as well.
• Include a price and a link to your product in the pin description by simply typing a “$” and price which will place a price banner across the image and follow through pin, like and re-pin cycle. Reports are showing that pins without pricing vs. simple product pictures with pricing tend to get shared more frequently as they appear to be more “community oriented”  vs. a sales pitch.
• Utilize tool provided by  to add sharing off your website. You can build specific pin buttons that allow for  a specific product  or page where you can include a description or a follow type button for following your social profile.
• With rapid growth compared to the likes of Facebook, you have a opportunity to be a early adopter in a emerging network. Early bird catches the worm!
• Market research. Pinterest is also a great research tool, as you can see trending in by category, whats shared and commented on via their top level category searches as well.  This can help you to gain incite to what is liked and shared within your market place and the customers who you serve.
• Pinterest also can connect with your twitter and facebook  to share your pins and finds with your audience .

Examples of retail, brands and services using Pinterest as a way to tell their stories and engage with their audience.:

1. Examine how these brands set up their boards ( or categories)
2. Notice that one is running a promotional contest with in their first pin board category does it give you any ideas?
3. See how a brand connects and builds community around their product use’s vs. straight up retail catalog?

We hope this helps you begin to think about getting started using Pinterest and share your brand, services to reach and connect to a broader audience as well as gets the idea juice flowing.

Note:  You should always take care to only upload images you have the rights and permissions too. Secondly, if you pin from another site other than your own make sure to leave the credit in place and as good practice cite the url from where it came and do not copy and paste their content verbatim in the description nor download images to your own drives and upload them to your Pinterest account.

Because it is a good indication that the community your seeking to engage with are “drinking at the same watering hole” .  In this case Google + current demographic is males from the US that fall into the 25-34 years old with the predominate income range of $30k to $99k range.

So ask yourself
Is this the primary community that engages in conversation and/or fits into your consumer of your goods and or services profile?

Flowtown – Social Media Marketing Application

Basically the mobile hub method would work as depicted

1. Your main  site the center of your online universe.

2. Segment or  microsites that are independent entities that refer/link back to their relative category on the main mobile site or exist purely for a specific purpose.

3. Focused Mobile Landing Pages the breadcrumb trail that leads to your Mobile microsite that feeds to the main website.

Lets first discuss what a microsite is:

For this method of using mobile microsites which will typically include up to 3 pages a home (where all the info is), and contact revolves around either

a. a specific segment, or category, or product

b. a focused idea, topic

c. language will be hyper focused on the particular topic, aiding in search but also delivering on the sought for information in a uncluttered way but also creating a clear path to call to action.

Benefits of creating  microsites

1 Fast detail: given the screen space and mobile user time on site the faster you get to the point the better. Segmenting to focused microsites helps you make your point quickly and easily.

2. Less distraction: Ie given the focus, microsites provide less opportunity of distraction to your mobile customers enabling you to lead site visitors down a focused conversion path or action.

3. Segmentation to a specific demographic or customer profile.

4. Launch, Test and adapt on the fly: Microsites given their smaller focus are easier to adapt and change to meet your user needs, launch deals and promotions and most importantly to test or evaluate segment performance.. ie get to the stats fast.

5 Creates a broad search footprint: creating a interlinking cloud of other microsites, your  footprint will be increased. Much like traditional search marketing where inbound links, quality content with relativity signals as well as social signals help to propel sites thereby helping to build a solid foundation to your organic search marketing efforts.

Nutshell in effect your not only offering your users a better, quicker faster experience but your also creating your own, owned asset network hub of relative information that all points back to your main mobile site

Landing pages

While microsites and landing pages are sometimes interchanged for this example technique idea a landing page is a singular page that is the narrowest focus on a singular product, service or promotion with the goal of creating a

A Hyper optimized for search – think helps you to deliver on exact phrase matches or specific geo location

B. The narrowest focus on topic or task – a particular single task such as lead generation, special offers, or sales.

C. Branding to user segment or personality: One size does not necessary fit all: branded and focused around particular social network users like linkedin company pages, Facebook, even a businesses customer support area.

D. Used for advertising and can be a gateway page to your  microsite or  website super easy to measure, track and analyze

E. Gateway to higher converting microsites:

Why this method works

1 Provides a narrower focus path to conversion or interaction which is effective for  users because they are hyper focused on who, what and why they are searching.

2. Far easier to track and measure focused initiatives, user segments, or product categories vs the all in one.

3. Adaptability – segmenting out to microsites, landing pages for both traditional websites and mobile specific users are easier to tweak and alter for better results based off of tracking and measuring results to provide a better user experience but also to meet company goals.

4. Mobile microsites and mobile landing pages help to accomplish two things in one: a better user experience but also mobile seo and sem functionality

As the web expands, tablets and mobile smartphone users grow , so does the number of touchpoints and channels your company can use to interact with your consumer base. You want to be where they are when they are looking!

Case studies:

Microsites higher conversions:

http://multichannelmerchant.com/ecommerce/news/0726-headsets-com-officerunner-com-microsite-conversion-rates/

http://www.edreamz.com/blog/post.cfm/microsite-case-study