Pinterest, the world’s virtual pin board, became popular in 2012 as it grew exponentially to become everyone’s favorite new social network. The idea is simple – if you see a picture of something you like, pin it! You can organize different boards, follow other like-minded users and spend your time joyfully pinning, re-pinning, viewing and commenting on pictures of the things you’re most interested in. Here is a quick guide to Pinterest covering 5 important points on creating a “Pintastic” campaign.

1- Set up: First things first, you need to set up your profile on Pinterest. Make sure to include a short and sweet one liner description of your company, brand or product and don’t forget to include a link to your website. Create a few different boards with various themes to give users visiting your page a good idea of the kind of content that they can expect from you.

2- Pin up: Now you can start pinning. There are different ways to do this; you can install the “Pin it” button on your toolbar and pin any image from any website. So for instance, if you come across a great image on your favorite blog, you can pin it at the click of a button. Equally, you can pin images from your own website, this also allows you to link back to certain pages on your site. Another way to pin is to use pins that have already been pinned by other Pinterest users, in other words – repin. Not only is this a great way to connect with other users but it means that you can utilize the search on Pinterest and find inspiring content. Of course, don’t forget that you can also create and upload your own images and add your very own creative content to the mix.

3- Giddy-up: It’s time to get creative! Pinterest is all about visual content. The rule of thumb here is to update regularly with quality and relevant content. So, as much as you want to push your new product, restrain yourself and think about creating a space where you can engage with potential customers around inspiring images that are directly (or even indirectly) related to what your brand, company or product does. People need to feel that you have an identity beyond just selling them a product and if you want them to interact with your brand then you need to create a space where they feel comfortable. The power of content here is absolutely crucial. This doesn’t mean that you can’t include promotional content. It just means that you need to strike the right balance. Our advice: 7 out of 10 posts should be non-promotional, leaving you with 3 promotional posts to play around with.

4- Meet up: As we’ve established, Pinterest is very popular. This means that loads of people are using it. However, some users will have a wider Pinterest network, which gives them more influence, these users are often referred to as “Pinfluencers”. Find the right “Pinfluencers” for you, the ones that might be interested in your subject matter and have the potential to reach a wide audience for you. Friend them, re-pin their pins, comment on their pins and create a relationship with them. Remember, Pinterest is not just a virtual pin board, it’s a social network! You can use tools like PinReach and PinPuff to identify top pinners in various subjects.

5- Step it up: You’ve set up your profile, you’re posting amazing content and you’re working the network. It’s time to take it one step further and really benefit more from all this work you’re putting in! Maximize your reach by promoting your Pinterest page on other social platforms and embedding Pinterest widgets on your company website. Even more importantly, use analytics to see what works best. There are various analytics solutions out there such as Repinly that you can use. Recently, Pinterest updated to a new look and user interface, which also includes an analytics solution. To use the Pinterest analytics solution, you will need to go through a simple verification process. It’s important to remember that these things have the power to make your campaign go from ten to a hundred – so it’s definitely worth it!

There you have it. What you need to know about Pinterest to really get going! We’re here to help you out with your social marketing strategy anytime.

Thanks and see you next time!