Practicing Caution With Pinterest

Few social media networks are as visually stimulating and appealing as Pinterest, which is why it's one of the fastest growing social platforms around with over 70 million users. There's photos of delicious "healthy" recipes for us to try at home, panoramas of backyard oases for us to long for, and workout tips and tricks to help tone and trim our body. But are they always accurate?

Word of advice, don't trust everything you read on Pinterest.

Pinterest, while popular, can also be dangerous. Have you ever tried a recipe and the results weren't what you expected? You're not alone. Just like common advertisements, Pinterest items can be optimized to sell products and for clickthroughs, all without the backdrop of a realistic expectation.

There are harmful fitness routines, dangerous diets, and even falsely attributed quotes that circulate Pinterest very regularly. For example, here's a Hitler quote that was attributed to Taylor Swift, and 20 other Pinterest tips that, well, are lies.

So be cautious when diving into Pintest content, it isn't always as it appears.

Why PIN-teresting Content is Important in Social Media

Doesn’t it seem like a new social media platform launches daily? Although that isn’t far from the truth, you can find stability in some mainstay social networks that are as solid as they come.

We’ve talked before on why you should be on social media in order to best reach your prospective customers – but another thing worth considering - is focusing on the right social media for your business.


Still Fast Growing
One of the fastest growing social platforms these days is Pinterest, a virtual “pinboard” of images and information that allows users to find information on the internet and save it to the appropriate online board.

Who Uses Pinterest
Depending upon your business, Pinterest might be the great arena for your online business presence. Around 95% of Pinterest users are women – which means that might be a strategic place for you to reach out to those you’re selling to if women include your market target.

What To Pin
Post images of your products, and inspirational messages to connect with your users and establish yourself as an online friend.

Remember - social media needs to stay SOCIAL - or it won't make the right connection with users. Your long-term goal with ANY social media platform is to make friends, and then turn those folks into brand advocates for your company or business. Get OTHERS talking about you and your business to really generate a great community of prospects.

Considering our clients are mostly small-medium size businesses with more modest marketing budgets, we try to do the things every website owner should be doing - and that's having a presence across multiple platforms - and optimizing that exposure for branding.  If time and budget allow - certainly you can run some VERY grand and successful social media campaigns. However, in so many cases, a tight ship must be run - and it has to be made easy enough to do on a smaller budget or, even better - in house.
 
With social media - stick to the famous saying, “Keep it simple, stupid!" (KISS) Don’t beat yourself up about having to learn multiple platforms – find the one you need to focus on most.

Pinterest's New Terms Of Service

If you haven't seen Pinterest's new terms of service - and you're trying to use Pinterest business - click here to read the latest changes to the terms, privacy and use.

If you are still unclear on what it all means, there's really nowhere to click, just yet.

Why? Because it's a gray area at best, when copyright is considered - since Pinterest is really not meant to be used to 'sell' images, or even process orders for sales in a commerce situation at all - but more use pinned and posted images as inspiration and shared interests. I think it was always intended to be a 'virtual vision board' if you will. And of course - in that concept, it's taken off in a grand way, and is all the buzz.

However, image use and sharing on the internet has been a muddy situation for a long time. And I think that's what the issues really boils down to - but there's a plethora of other issues that live under this surface.

One COULD be in violation of copyright laws for posting pics they don't own the rights to. But, most businesses and individuals would typically agree - that viral sharing on Pinterest (as long as there is not an attempt to make money off of the sharing) is mostly harmless, considering Pinterest's main audience and use, and a great way to gain exposure.

But there are brand standards to be protected, corporate identities and marketing efforts and messages to be maintained - so while sharing and exposure is win-win (both for the images being shared and those gaining inspiration from them) the lines of marketing and branding that companies put so much money into could easily be blurred. Blurred - because posters on Pinterest have the ability to add their own comments and copy to pins. Whether it be positive or negative, and whether it be good or bad, it could definitely differ from the source's main intent of the image or message. And we don't want to mix blurry branding with viral exposure.

For example, photographers own the rights to their images. They also want exposure. This is why they watermark their images then push out across the social media horizon. This gains them visibility for both their work and their brand (if watermarked with logo, or company name). Since they own the rights, they are allowed to push out wherever they want.

If an image is not watermarked, and it gets pinned by someone else claiming it's their work, then that's a violation of copyright - and nobody would know the difference except the photographer who was violated.

It'll be interesting to watch, the evolution of this new thing called Pinterest. Especially for businesses. I know this blog post is all over the map - sort of like my brain is now, after these new rules have been applied. What's even more interesting, is that Pinterest promises to develop an API, and new features - which allude to commercial or at least mass-data use of it's service. I think it's safe to say that my crazy disorganized blog post, and general confusion on the subject - is not all alone with me.

For now, I would say keep using it for business if you are a relevant business such as beauty, fashion, crafting, artist or designer, e-commerce to the audience - refer to my prior article here - because as long as it's inspirational, social, not for profit or commercial use, for now - I think we'll all be safe pinning.

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Pinterest Holding Interest

It's the newest hottest thing on the internet - it's Pinterest. An online 'pin board' or, as I like to call it - a 'vision board' - where you can identify pictures, and in some cases, 'do' - things, visually - as well as share and interact with others.

Who uses it? It appears that women, in their 30's-50's - in general, are highly addicted to Pinterest. And - with good reason. It's a gold mine for interior design ideas, recipes (here's where the DO comes into play), crafting, hobbies, hairstyles, beauty and fashion and more.

What's great about Pinterest, is that it's not so much 'personal' - i.e. - pictures of the family dog and family outings - but things you can share freely and comment on without worry that you've barged in on someone's privacy. If it's on Pinterest, it's free for the pinning.

Any business value? For most businesses - I think that trying to incorporate Pinterest into your social media strategy would depend 100% on what you do. Also - it MUST be kept friendly, light, family-friendly and social. Certain businesses just do not fall into this category, and are not a good fit for Pinterest. For example - here are some industries/businesses that would do well to consider utilizing Pinterest as a vehicle for viral exposure:

1/ Hair salons/independent stylists: Showcase your work! Get permission from your clients to present your newest creations on Pinterest. Much inspiration for that next great hair-do comes from here.

2/ Interior Designers/Artists/Designers: Here's where you show off your brands, design ideas, colors, palettes, layouts and also offer great ideas to those who are crafty like to do-it-yourself. Even though they do-it-themselves - they remember where they got help and support - and if/when the time comes, maybe your name will pop back into mind. "How-tos" for art/craft projects and interior decor are a hugely searched - so participate with helpful content and gain some (real) fans.

3/ Chefs, Restaurants, Cooks: Share recipes on Pinterest - it's a great source of people who cook EVERY SINGLE DAY - and like above, they'll remember where they got the recipe. What's great about Pinterest - is the viral shareability of this content. Your recipe has the potential to get shared to hundreds of people, within minutes. Talk about free exposure!

4/ Photographers/Scrapbookers: Pinterest is a place for the crafty!! You can not only showcase your work, but also provide those handy-well searched-how-to's to get even more exposure. Play up the holidays and special occasions - Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Weddings - as people are continually searching for ideas and maybe - vendors - for these special occasions.

5/ E-Commerce: If you're selling something in the world of beauty, fashion or style via an online store (of course you know we specialize in e-commerce website design - close shameless plug) - then Pinterest will allow you to 'pin' individual items. Do this when you get something particularly relevant to these industries, or new items - or even if you have something on sale.

6/ Food, Fashion Writers/Mom Bloggers - ladies, unite. 'Nuff said.

And that's not to say men aren't using Pinterest. They are. Just not like the ladies. Plus, for the most part, I know better how ladies think than I do men; and I know this is a smorgasboard of home, beauty and family inspiration. It is what it is, and right now, it's more about the women on Pinterest.

Tips for using Pinterest: Pin Often, pin relevant, take special care to categorize and beef up your specific boards - and add your own description to reach image. Then, share it on Facebook and Twitter, Linked In and anywhere else you can.

There's not a lot of SEO value for Pinterest pins, because each pic pinned has an id number, and nt a real 'title' per-se - which makes sense, because there's just so much content. It's the loyal followers, share-ability and genuine inspiration that exists on Pinterest that make it so valuable.

If you know your market, and pin for them, (and yourself) it'll be a fun and interesting way to increase exposure for your business or your name.