Pinterest is a pinboard-styled social photo sharing website. The service allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections. The site’s mission statement is to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.”
These images are grouped together on a user’s page, creating an inspiration board of ideas.In the last few months there users have increased and it has made it into the top 10 Social Media Sites. (according to tracking firm Hitwise)
Here is a cheat sheet for Pinterest terminology:
PIN: Is an image, you can upload an image or share one from a website and comment on it. You can even link to a retail website and let everyone know the price of your product.
REPIN: Is when someone likes your image and shares it with all of their followers. This is how images can spread.
BOARD: That is your virtual bulletin board. You will ant to organize your images by category to make them easy to organize and be found by others.
FOLLOW: Just like twitter, you will want to follow people or companies you like and be followed. You can choose to follow only certain bulletin boards of a user or you can follow everything they post.
I have attached an image of one of Stone Media Consulting’s Clients boards so you can get a feel what the boards look like. I think Pinterest works great for some businesses. The most successful I have seen so far are from Beauty, Fashion and Food Companies. Maybe that is because most of their users twenty- or thirty something women.
Are you on Pinterest yet? What business uses are you finding for it?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Ruby Stone