Archive for pinning
Pinterest Adds Products, Recipes and Movies
Now, when looking at a product pin, pinners will see pricing and availability, and where to buy that product. Pinterest is calling these "rich pins" and has already worked with a number of retailers to provide these useful ones.
Category: Content, Marketing, pinning, pinterest, Products, Social Customer, Social Media Marketing, social networks /
Pinterest Marketing: What Marketers Need to Know to Succeed
Are you wondering if Pinterest can help your business?
Do you want to get more traffic from your Pinterest account?
To learn more about the power of Pinterest for marketers, I interview Beth Hayden for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast.
More About This Show
The Social Media Marketing podcast is a show from Social Media Examiner.
It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.
The show format is on-demand talk radio (also known as podcasting).
In this episode, I interview Beth Hayden, author of the new book Pinfluence: The Complete Guide to Marketing Your Business on Pinterest.
Beth shares her insights into how Pinterest can drive more traffic to your website or blog.
You’ll learn tips and techniques on what images work best on Pinterest and why content behind the image matters.
Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below!
Listen Now
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Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show:
Pinterest for Marketers
Beth talks about the demographics of Pinterest users. The latest number of Pinterest users is about 11 million.
Up to 80% of Pinterest users are women between the ages of 25 and 55. Beth says that the demographic is shifting and there are more men joining. Pinterest users are fairly affluent, with a salary of $50,000+.
80% of Pinterest users are currently female, but more men are joining so the demographic could change in the future.
Discover Beth’s theory behind the success of Pinterest and why there’s something addictive about it.
Listen to the show to find out more about Pinterest and how it draws you in.
What Pinterest offers marketers.
Beth shares how Pinterest is a great source of referral traffic for websites and blogs, even when compared to other social media sites. At present, Pinterest is driving more referral traffic than LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube combined. And the only social media site driving more traffic than Pinterest is Facebook.
You’ll learn how Pinterest can drive referral traffic back to your blog or website as Beth goes through all of the steps involved.
You’ll discover what makes Pinterest different from Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The secret is in Pinterest’s simple model of videos and images on boards that are linked back elsewhere.
Listen to the show to understand how this visual billboard platform can work for you.
What social actions happen on Pinterest.
On Pinterest there are three action buttons: Repin, Like and Comment.
Visitors can choose to repin, like and comment on the images shared on Pinterest.
Beth explains the importance of repinning—how every time something is repinned, it’s shared with the person’s followers—and how this becomes exponential. You’ll also discover what works best on Pinterest between liking, repinning and commenting on pins and the reasons why they are different.
Beth shares why she believes that people should take more advantage of commenting on pins. It’s an opportunity for marketers to create more engagement.
Listen to the show to learn how to get more out of your Pinterest marketing.
How pinboards work.
Beth explains how pinboards are collections of images and videos. Beth describes the process as creating a collage out of images that you cut from magazines.
The pinboard is the heart of Pinterest.
Beth suggests making your boards as specific as you can. For example, instead of having a generic recipe board, you need to be more specific and maybe break it out into entrée recipes or dessert recipes. The more specific you are, the easier it is for people to see your interests.
Listen to the show to hear why the pinboard is the heart of Pinterest and what the two key pieces are.
How to build a following.
Beth believes that a following on Pinterest is as important as a following on any other social media site. Building a following on Pinterest can take more time than on other social media sites, even if you are fairly active.
You should consider quality over quantity because you want to have an engaged audience that really likes what you are sharing. The better your content is, the quicker and better you will build your audience. You need to be a content curator on Pinterest.
Listen to the show to find out how to become the “go-to” person on Pinterest.
How to grow your email list.
Beth explains how Pinterest can help build your email list. First you’ll need to make sure the traffic from Pinterest goes back to your website or blog. Then the best way to get them onto your email list is to have a prominent opt-in form on your website or blog.
Place a big opt-in form on your website or blog to make it easy for visitors to get on your email list.
In your Pinterest profile you have an opportunity to put a link to your website. Make sure it goes back to a landing page, where your visitors can get free products in exchange for their email address.
Remember, on Pinterest you can also market your webinars and conduct other list-building activities.
Listen to the show to hear why Pinterest is ideal for service businesses.
What are the best images to share?
You’ll find out what size images or video work best on Pinterest.
The maximum width you can use for images on Pinterest is 554 pixels.
And you’ll also learn why very tall images should be avoided. They tend not to work well, because once someone scrolls all the way to the bottom of the image, they are less likely to scroll all the way back up to repin it. So if you have a long infographic, make sure you have a shorter version that is more pinnable, then link the smaller version to the full infographic on your website.
Use a short screenshot of a long infographic and link back to the full version of the infographic.
Some images are more compelling than others. The type of pictures that get repinned are often gorgeous travel photos, great-looking recipes and practical “how to” content.
You’ll sometimes find that even though the picture isn’t visually pleasing, it’s the content behind that people are really interested in.
One of Beth’s favorite tricks on Pinterest is what she calls “photo badges” where you can take an image and put text on top of the image to describe content behind the link.
A great example of a photo badge that is highly pinnable! This image has driven thousands of visitors to Nester Smith's blog, thenester.com.
Although Pinterest shows you how many times your pin has been pinned or liked, it doesn’t show you which pin is sending traffic to your site. To find this out, you need to track it on your website or use Google Analytics. Google Analytics is great for finding out which individual pin is sending traffic to your website or blog.
Listen to the show to hear Beth share a story about a lady who gets an amazing amount of traffic from “photo badges.”
How to enable a website or blog for Pinterest.
It’s important to have a Pin It button on every page of your website or blog to make it easy for people to share your content on Pinterest. Once your content is on Pinterest, others will be able to repin your images. As these images are shared across Pinterest, you’ll get more links back to your website.
Beth explains the importance of making sure the images on your website are pinnable. Some visuals are not pinnable, such as Flash banners. If you want to be sure your visual images are pinnable, try to pin them to your own Pinterest account.
And if you have a Pinterest account, make sure the Pinterest icon is together with your other social media icons wherever you publish them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRwy0mOAJ7U
Listen to the show to hear more about the Goodies section on the Pinterest About page.
How #hashtags help with visibility in search.
Beth explains how hashtags and Pinterest work the same way—but they don’t work quite as well—as they do on Twitter.
You can enter a hashtag into the Pinterest search box in the top left corner of the site. This pulls up the pins with either the whole #hashtag or the words searched for. At present this seems to only pull in recent pins.
Listen to the show to find out why Pinterest hashtags aren’t great for SEO.
Beth’s Pinterest marketing tip.
You’ll find out how you can search Pinterest to find out what people are already pinning from your website or blog.
Go to the URL field in your browser and put in pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite.com. Pinterest searches of all of its images and pulls up everything from the domain that has been pinned by users. You’ll discover what others are pinning from your website, who’s pinning it and the description on it.
Go to pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite.com to discover what content people are sharing on Pinterest.
Whether you are just starting out or have been on Pinterest for a while, take a look to see what content is taking off with pinners. It’s super-valuable and you will be surprised.
Listen to the show to learn how checking out this tip can help you discover what images are working.
Discovery of the Week
If you have a blog or a website with lots of images that you think people would want to share on Pinterest, then this Pinterest plugin by Phil Derksen is the tool that you’ll want to use.
This WordPress plugin has a free version and a paid version. It allows users to select from your article an entire array of images. All of the images in your blog will show up in a cool interface from which users can then choose and pin on Pinterest. This tool can also show the number of times an images has been pinned.
The Pinterest plugin allows users to share images from your website through their pinboards.
Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how these work for you.
Other Show Mentions
Social Media Marketing World is Social Media Examiner’s latest mega-conference—taking place at the waterfront San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina in San Diego, California on April 7-9, 2013.
As you’d expect, Social Media Examiner recruited the biggest and best names in the world of social media marketing for this conference. Only the best for you! Be sure to check it out.
Key takeaways mentioned in this episode:
- Connect with Beth on her website
- Grab a copy of Beth’s new book, Pinfluence: The Complete Guide to Marketing Your Business on Pinterest
- Read Beth’s articles on Copyblogger
- Try the WordPress plugin Pin It Button by Phil Derksen
- Check out Art Camp for Women on Pinterest
- Use Google Analytics to track which pins are sending traffic to your site
- Check out Pinterest’s Goodies section
- Click on http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/love/ to tweet about this podcast
- Learn more about Social Media Marketing World
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What do you think? What are your thoughts on Pinterest as a marketing tool? Please leave your comments below.
3 Facebook Timeline Marketing Tips for Success
Are you wondering how to best use the Facebook Timeline features?
The right steps can capture the attention of your fans and potential customers.
What I am referring to is pinning, highlighting and milestones—three Timeline features that can dramatically change the number of people who interact with your content.
Think of these features as digital megaphones, broadcasting your content just a little louder to ensure you are seen and heard by those who really matter to your business.
To supercharge your content on Facebook, consider implementing these three new Facebook Timeline features for your page.
#1: Pin a Post
What’s a Pinned Post?
A pinned post is a status update that you manually select to stay at the top of your Timeline, meaning it will not slip down the Timeline as you continue to add other posts to your page.
What You Need to Know
- A pinned post is located at the top of your Timeline in the left column.
- You can only pin one post at a time.
- A pinned post will stay at the top of your Timeline for 7 days, unless you unpin it before the 7 days is up.
- To pin a post, click on the edit pencil icon in the upper-right corner of a status update. A drop-down menu will appear, choose “Pin To Top.”
- To unpin a post, click on the edit pencil icon in the upper-right corner of the pinned post and you will see the option to unpin the post in the drop-down menu.
Smart Pinning Strategies
Here are a few simple ideas to help you decide on the best pinning strategies for your business.
You can use a pinned post to build your fan base and/or your email list. Offer something of value in exchange for the Like or a fan’s name and email.
On Facebook, the company Scribbler promises “50 Calligraphy Tips” in exchange for a Like. To encourage people to check out their offer, they created a pinned post, as seen in the example below.
Think in terms of a call to action with a pinned post. What action do you want your fans to take when they see your post?
You can also pin something on your page that you want first-time visitors to see first. Because the default landing tab is no longer an option, a pinned post can act as a welcome mat for first-time visitors.
Consider creating a welcome video and then posting it on your page as a status update, with a message such as, “Welcome! If you’re new to our page, take a minute to watch this short video.” Once you post it on your page, pin it so it stands out to all first-time visitors.
If you don’t have a welcome video, keep it simple with a welcome image, as seen in the example below. Here Donna of Socially Sorted used a pinned post.
Use pinned posts to get visitors to become fans.
Images stand out on Facebook more than any other media, so consider adding an image to your pinned post. The ideal size for pinned images is 404 x 404 pixels.
The next time you are promoting a webinar, teleclass or any online or offline event, use an image as your promotional banner and pin it to your page.
For my most recent free training, I created images to encourage my fans to sign up for the webinar. For weeks leading up to the webinar, I pinned different posts to remind fans to sign up for it.
#2: Highlight a Post
What’s a Highlighted Post?
A highlighted post is a status update that you have selected to expand across your Timeline, taking up the space of both columns. Highlighting a post will help you draw more attention to the most important content on your page.
What You Need to Know
- Pinned posts will likely get more visibility vs. highlighted posts because pinned posts are at the top of the page. (But that does not mean highlighted posts are not valuable!)
- Unlike pinned posts, there are no time limitations for a highlighted post.
- You cannot pin and highlight a post at the same time. It’s one or the other.
- To highlight a post, put your cursor over the upper-right corner of a post. A star icon will appear. Click the star to highlight a post and unclick the star to unhighlight the post.
- Unlike pinned posts, highlighted posts do not stay at the top of your Timeline. Instead, they remain in chronological order and are pushed down the Timeline with every new status update created.
Smart Highlighting Strategies
Here are a few smart strategies to help you make the most of your highlighted posts.
Highlight your customer testimonials. Each time you have a customer who raves about you, either turn that post into an image (as mentioned above) or include the testimonial and an image of your customer in a status update and then highlight it to make it stand out even more.
Since you can have more than one highlighted post on your page, consider a strategy with your highlighted posts. Perhaps you want to make it a rule that you always highlight Facebook posts that promote your blog posts.
Or if you create videos, you might want to make it a rule that all video posts are highlighted. When you create a strategy like this, you are more likely to use these features more consistently.
Use highlighted posts to explain a new service or program to your fans and create multiple images to roll out over a designated period of time to grab your fans’ attention. That is exactly what the Australia-based business Find a Midwife did for their new program, Circle of Care.
The post with the red box is the highlighted post. Notice how it stands out more because it takes up both Timeline columns, as opposed to the posts above and below it in the blue boxes.
#3: Create Milestones
What Are Milestones?
Milestones are a great way to tell the story of your business through words and images. They can appear anywhere on your Timeline, depending on the date you designate.
What You Need to Know
- To create a milestone, click on the “Event, Milestones +” option in the status update bar.
- Milestones are automatically highlighted, meaning they will stretch across the entire width of your Timeline.
- You can create multiple milestones on your Timeline.
- You can create a milestone for the current date or go back as far as needed in history to create milestones of experiences and events that happened before today.
Smart Milestone Strategies
Many businesses add milestones to their page, but fail to look at milestones as marketing channels. The more strategic you get with your milestones, the more traction you see. Here are a couple of examples to make the most out of your milestones.
Always include an engaging image in your milestone. This will ensure your milestone will stand out and capture attention.
Also make sure to include a call to action with a link to more information in your milestone. You don’t just want to tell people about your milestone—you want them to take action and learn more.
By adding a link in your milestone, and encouraging your fans to find out more, you can build a stronger relationship with your fans and potentially sell more programs, products and services. That’s just what I did in my milestone below.
By adding an image and a call to action with a link to more information, you can turn a static milestone into an actionable one.
Can’t think of milestones for your business? Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
If you are a brick-and-mortar, create a milestone for the first day you opened your doors. Include a fun picture from that time. That’s exactly what Ben & Jerry‘s did with a milestone on their Timeline.
People love nostalgic photos. Take your fans back in time to tell the story of how you began.
You can also use milestones to highlight team members’ accomplishments. What great things have your team members contributed over the span of your business? Recognize their accomplishments in milestones.
Did you recently launch a new product, service or event? Create a milestone around your launch date and encourage your fans to click on a link to learn more about your new promotion. You can do this for new experiences and old ones too, as seen in the Macy‘s example below.
Macy's used a milestone to show the kickoff of their annual 4th of July fireworks extravaganza in 1976. They now do the show every year. Also notice how the timeline on a page expands when milestones from the past are added to a page.
As you can see, there are many possibilities with pinning, highlighting and milestones. These features are great ways to call attention to your most important content.
Now it’s your turn! Have you used any of these features to gain exposure for your content? Tell us about it! Leave your questions and comments in the box below.
