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How to Get More Pins on Pinterest

May 22nd, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

It’s hard not to be intrigued by the creative hub of cultural and artistic curators that is Pinterest. Users are leveraging the site in imaginative ways, from cultivating boards for recipes they’d like to try to reinventing themselves with a collection of fashion trends.

But despite the wonders of pinning, marketers need to get real about what Pinterest can do for their brands. Sure, it’s a magical place, but what about the science behind promotion on Pinterest?

Leave it to Dan Zarella, the social media scientist, to study and produce concrete data to get Pinterest marketing results. In this article, I will share some of his useful discoveries and practical tips for getting more pins on Pinterest.

How long should descriptions be?

Descriptions help Pinners find your content and can give context to images you have pinned or repinned. Using keywords in your descriptions will make your content even more searchable. According to Zarella’s research, Pinterest descriptions that are the most repinnable tend to be around 200 characters long.

What types of images are the most pinnable?

Pinterest is basically an eye candy store, filled with inspiration for fashion, home decorating, art, and plenty of other creative pursuits. So, it’s no surprise that images having to do with design are the most pinnable.

Businesses in the wedding industry, or those offering interesting products, should have no trouble finding pinnable images. But those in other industries will need to get creative. If you are a financial services company, why not create boards of the things people can buy with their well-planned finances?

What types of pins are the most repinnable?

Even with plenty of pictures of cute animals, gorgeous dresses, and serene vacation destinations, images of food top them all as the most pinnable. People enjoy sharing and trying out new recipes, and anyone planning an event can appreciate a little bit of culinary inspiration.

Again, some creativity will be required from businesses whose connection to food is not as obvious, as say, a restaurant or gourmet cooking store. Insurance companies could create boards of healthy food, from heart-healthy recipes to diabetic-friendly fare.

What kind of content will be repinned?

When your images are repinned on Pinterest, suddenly a whole new audience opens up to enjoy your content. To get more repins, focus on content that attracts Likes rather than comments. Zarella found that “likeable” content gets more repins than “commentable” content, so simply aim to please rather than to get people talking. Pinterest is a visually-driven network, so save the chattiness for other social media.

How can I format my images to be more repinnable?

Believe it or not, size matters on Pinterest. When it comes to creating repinnable images, bigger is better. In fact, Zarella found taller images to be the most repinnable. A quick scan of your homepage on Pinterest provides the proof-the taller images stand out, drawing the viewer’s attention. In his research, Zarella found that the greater the pixels (upwards of 800), the greater the repins.

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Are you already a pinning pro? What have you found to be useful in attracting more pins and repins on Pinterest? Share your tips in the comments section below.

Image courtesy of tidymom.net

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Tags: Dan Zarrella, Marketing, Pinterest, repinning images, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

What the Thought Leaders Have to Say About Pinterest

May 18th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

Pinterest continues to get plenty of buzz as marketers learn how to leverage the trendy social network to generate business. But what do the thought leaders of our industry think about the Pinterest potential?

After watching a video featuring some of the best marketers out there, I came up with six ways Pinterest is proving it is a game-changing social network with staying power.

1. Accessible Content Sharing

According to Social Media Club Chairman and Founder Chris Heuer, Pinterest will stick around because it isn’t as geeky as previous social bookmarking sites. The Pinterest community is large and varied because the site makes collecting and sharing content more accessible to audiences. All users have to do is find an interest, and dive in. Finding new content and sharing with others is instantaneous, and Pinners can accumulate both pins and followers very quickly.

2. A Lasting Impression

Ogilvy’s SVP of Global Strategy and Planning Rohit Bhargava believes the instant in which we can absorb information from an image makes all the difference. Because we are inundated with so much information, and we have immediate access to just about everything, visual content makes a more lasting impression on us. Images convey messages quickly and make concepts easy to understand.

3. Targeted Audience

The CEO and Founder/President of Content Launch, Jon Wuebben, thinks Pinterest is so successful because it understands its biggest target audience: women. Pinterest gives women everything they want in a social network because it is so friendly to join and creating a niche community on the site is easy. As Pinterest has grown to appeal to other audiences, this growth has been organic. But it’s hard to deny that Pinterest started as a major hub for the ladies.

4. Merchant-Friendly

NetBase’s CMO Lisa Joy Rosner notes the trend of merchants moving their products from Facebook over to Pinterest. Not only is Pinterest an ideal network to showcase products, but it helps merchants understand what customers like. Successful product development and merchandising require an understanding of what will become popular next, and Pinterest is chock-full of new trends and hot items.

5. Emphasis on Visual

Radian 6 Social Strategist Jeff Cohen stresses Pinterest’s emphasis on the visual. It’s not enough to produce great written content anymore – now companies must also produce interesting visual content if they want to be part of the social conversation. For many companies, this new direction will mean re-evaluating existing marketing strategies and re-assembling a team that can handle visual content production, too.

6. The New Interest Graph

Finally, Likeable Media CEO Dave Kerpen believes Pinterest is changing not only social media, but also commerce as a whole. While Facebook introduced us to the value of the social graph, Pinterest is now demonstrating the value of interest graph. Kerpen believes this idea is even more relevant for businesses driving commerce. After all, a social graph will only take you so far, but interests run across multiple categories, and present numerous opportunities to connect and share with friends and strangers.

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What’s your take on Pinterest? Is it a social media game changer, or just another social flash in the pan?

Image courtesy of Mashable

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Tags: ecommerce, Marketing, Pinterest, social media, Thought Leadership
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

12 Pinterest Tools You’ll Want to Use

May 11th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

Pinterest is growing like crazy, so I thought I’d write a series on everything Pinterest. This four-part series can help marketers determine whether Pinterest should be added to their social media lineup, as well as help existing Pinners hone their skills.

With every popular social network comes a wave of tools designed to help maximize your user experience. Here is a list of 12 tools that can help streamline your Pinterest workflow and enhance your pinning efforts.

1. Pin a Quote turns a text quote into something you can pin. Great quotes are very share-worthy, so think of how your business might use this tool to engage other Pinners.

2. SpinPicks finds content across the web that you may want to pin. If you’re just getting started on Pinterest, you may want to use this tool until you get a feel for your own curating style.

3. Pinterest Pro has a hover and zoom feature, as well as a function that lets you “right click to pin” for quick pinning. You can even view trending pins with a drop-down view from the toolbar.

4. ShotPin is a screen capture tool that lets you crop images, too. So you can put even more of your personal flair on each image you grab with a little editing.

5. Snapito! is another screen capture tool, but this one adds the ability to automatically include the full-source URL into the description of every pin. Responsible pinning is easier with tools that help you attribute as you pin.

6. Curalate provides a monitoring, analytics, and brand intelligence platform so companies can curate community along with great content. This company realizes the marketing potential of visual curation and can help you get a grip on your overall Pinterest strategy.

7. Percolate is another curation tool that serves up new content in an organized way. Then, its dashboard shows you what types of content resonate the most with your audience.

8. PinReach can help you monitor trends and measure your success with Pinterest. It includes a “trending pins” section to keep you abreast of the newest and best pins.

9. PinPuff is another analytics service that lets you know how much your Pinterest account is worth and gives you scores for reach, activity and virility. The platform includes the PinPerks program, which lets you earn free stuff for your activities on Pinterest.

10. Pinitics is in closed beta, but it promises a multiple account dashboard, similar to how Hootsuite lets you monitor different accounts using a single dashboard. Its metrics include sales data, which could be really helpful for businesses using Pinterest to advertise their products.

11. Google Analytics may not come to mind when you think of Pinterest tools, but a recent article on Mashable could change that. From custom reports to multi-channel funnels, Google Analytics can be leveraged to provide some valuable Pinterest data.

12. The Official “Pin It” Pinterest Bookmarklet is a simple, readily available tool that many Pinners aren’t putting to use yet. Now you have no excuse for forgetting to pin something fabulous you’ve come across on the web. Just click “Pin It,” and you’re done. The bookmarklet will even grab the source link so you can give proper credit.

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Have I missed any Pinterest tools that make your Pinterest marketing strategy easier and more effective? Share your own favorite Pinterest tools in the comments section below.

And be sure to check back for the rest of my four-part series on Pinterest. I’ll show you how to get more pins, how to create shareable photos, and let you know what thought the marketing thought leaders have to say about Pinterest.

Image courtesy of thecultureist.com

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Tags: Marketing, Pinterest, Pinterest tools, social media
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 4 Comments »

5 Must-Have Social Plug-Ins for Your Blog

April 30th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

I love tools that make my busy blogging schedule easier, don’t you? If you are looking for simple plug-ins that encourage readers to share your blog content, look no further. These five social plug-ins will make your blog more share-worthy in no time.

1. and 2. Google-pleasing plug-ins

Pleasing Google should be at the top of every blogger’s to-do list because if you don’t appear in Google search results, new readers will have a harder time finding you.

The All in One SEO Pack lets you create your own custom title, description and keywords for each of your blog posts. Entering this information into the plug-in, which is located in your WordPress dashboard at the bottom of each post, helps search engines to index your content.

Inbound Writer is another useful plug-in that recommends keywords for you to focus on in your blog posts. The app analyzes your copy against websites you’ve pre-selected to determine which keywords are most relevant and will make your content more pleasing to Google. Inbound Writer even provides real-time analysis, showing you suggestions and an SEO score as you write.

2. Make Friends With Facebook

With 500 million users worldwide, it’s wise to make your blog as Facebook-friendly as possible. Since Facebook changes constantly, I recommend using Facebook’s own plug-ins to integrate with the social giant.

Try Facebook Social Plug-ins to allow your blog readers to Like and comment on your posts. These plug-ins require HTML to use, but Facebook provides step-by-step instructions for the less technical among us.

3. Be Pinterest-ing

Since Pinterest has become huge over the past year, it’s important to make your blog as visually appealing as possible, especially if you feature products in your posts. PhotoDropper lets you find creative commons images without the hassle of searching Flickr or Google Images.

PhotoDropper aggregates images and delivers them directly into your WordPress dashboard. Best of all, there’s no need to worry about licensing and attribution because the app makes sure you use and credit images correctly.

4. The Best All Around

If you want a plug-in that wrangles all your social sharing buttons into a tidy package, then you’ll want to try Digg Digg. You can decide which buttons to display as well as whether you want a top sidebar or a floating one. Digg Digg will display your buttons on each of your posts for easy sharing, along with the share count for each.

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What other social plug-ins help make your blog more share-worthy? Why not share them with us, in the comments section below?

Image courtesy of clker.com

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Tags: All in One SEO Pack, blogging, Digg Digg, Facebook, Facebook Social Plug-Ins, Google, Inbound Writer, Marketing, PhotoDropper, Pinterest, social plug-ins, wordpress
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

Who Were the Major Social Media Players of 2011?

January 26th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

From social media IPO activity to the entrance of several upstarts, the U.S. social networking market is strong – and exciting. comScore recently released its report, “It’s a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed,” an in-depth look at the global social networking market. Here are some highlights from the U.S. market:

Facebook on top

It’s no surprise that Facebook is still the top U.S. social networking site, boasting 166 million unique visitors in November. And, how much time are we really spending on Facebook? The average user spent 6.6 hours in November, up 37 percent in the past year.

We’re number two!

LinkedIn and Twitter have been vying for the number two spot in audience size for a while now. Twitter took second place in November with 35.4 million unique visitors, only slightly ahead of LinkedIn with 35 million unique visitors.

MySpace still alive and kicking

Even though we don’t hear much about MySpace these days, the network is still holding its own. MySpace is currently in fourth place with 25 million unique visitors; however, its audience has declined steadily over the past two years.

Upstarts worth mentioning

Three newish social networks are gaining prominence – and audience members – while introducing fresh engagement tactics. Tumblr has increased its U.S. visits by 131 percent since November 2010, to 15.9 million. Tumblr is also winning points for engagement and is second only to Facebook, as its average user spends 2.4 hours on the site each month.

Google+ has gotten plenty of attention this year, and it got plenty of traffic, too. In November, the site received 15.2 million unique visits, just behind Tumblr. What’s really exciting about Google+ is its future: its integration with other Google products make it an important one to watch in 2012.

Finally, Pinterest, which I recently wrote about, deserves kudos for its quick rise in the social networking ranks. Since May 2011, Pinterest has soared from 418,000 unique visitors to nearly 4.9 million in November. Its engagement rates are impressive, too, with the average visitor spending nearly an hour and a half on the site each month. Add to that the fact that users spend more than 15 minutes on Pinterest per visit, making the site third in consumer engagement.

Even though Facebook currently remains the clear leader in the U.S. social networking market, there is plenty of room for other players to shake up the industry with new innovations. 2012 looks to be equally exciting on the social media front, so be sure to watch for emerging trends.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

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Tags: comScore, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Marketing, MySpace, Pinterest, social media, Tumblr, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »

How to Use Pinterest for Marketing

January 12th, 2012 :: Monika Jansen

You may have heard of Pinterest, a social bookmarking site where you “pin” and share interesting images on the Web – but what does it have to do with marketing?

While Pinterest has mostly been the domain of brides-to-be, crafters and fashionistas, smart marketers are harnessing this fun social network to generate buzz for their products.

If you’re not yet convinced that Pinterest has marketing value, let me make my case:

A Hub of Influencers

Pinterest users pin images they love, browse what other users have deemed pin-worthy, and follow those with a knack for finding the coolest (or hottest) items. Basically, the network is a community of curators, and those curators with the greatest influence, or following, are exactly the people marketers want to connect with.

Staying on Top of Trends

Once you’ve spent some time on Pinterest, you’ll begin to notice which products and styles are trending in real-time. Better yet, you’ll be able to take cues from the big influencers to find out what will be trending next.

SEO Strategies

There are two benefits that Pinterest can bring to your SEO campaign. The first is local link building–you can embed a link to your store’s location in your Pinterest descriptions and comments. Secondly, Pinterest automatically links to an image’s originating site, so you can quickly amass a collection of visual links.

Marketing on Pinterest

Getting started on Pinterest is pretty straightforward, but you’ll need an invite to join. You can easily request one on the site, and then you’re ready to begin:

1. Check to see if any of your products have already been pinned

This simple first step will give you a baseline for your future Pinterest marketing efforts, as well as help you start making connections on the site.

2. Start pinning things you like, but be sure not to strictly self promote

In other words, pin other people’s products as well as your own. The idea is to build credibility and join the existing community. It’s also a good idea to think strategically when creating boards (collections of images you pin). For example, a sports company could create boards relating to sports as well as the location of their store.

3. Use the search function to dig deeper into the site

At first glance, Pinterest may seem overwhelmed by home decorating and art-related images. However, searching for specific areas of interest to you will reveal other niches within the site. You can also use the search function to identify opportunities for your own category creation–what is missing that you could provide?

4. Pin and be pinned

You will have to invest time into pinning things in order to get the most out of the site. You can add the Pinterest bookmarklet to your browser to quickly add things you find on the web. You may also want to add the Pin this button to your website, which functions similarly to a Facebook Like button, to encourage pinning.

5. Grow your following

Invite people from Facebook and your email list, especially your customers, to Pinterest. You can also grow your following the old-fashioned way by participating and pinning so others can see what you’re all about.

6. Focus on engagement

After all, Pinterest is a social network, so you want to apply the same engagement principles you use with other forms of social media. Make comments on other people’s pinned objects, reply to people’s comments on your pins, and otherwise be social on this fun and addictive site.

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Have you used Pinterest for marketing yet? What strategies do you find most effective for promoting products and generating buzz on Pinterest?

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

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Tags: engagement, followers, influencers, Marketing, online marketing, Pinterest, product marketing, seo, social media, trends
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 7 Comments »

13 Niche Social Media Networks You Need to Know About

December 1st, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

You have a Facebook page, Twitter account, and LinkedIn profile and company page – and you actively use all of them. But have you considered expanding to niche social media networks to really micro-target your audience?

Here are 13 of the most popular niche social media hangouts, which probably includes some you may not have heard of yet:

Reddit is a social news site where users submit content and vote for the best–and worst–submissions.

Tumblr is a microblogging platform that allows users to post and share text, images, videos, links and more.

Keek is a social network that allows users to share status updates by posting videos, rather than simply using text.

Freezecrowd is a social platform for sharing photos, allowing users to comment and tag to encourage conversation.

HelpAroundTown is a localized job board where the community can find and post all sorts of jobs.

Food Genius is a hub where users rate dishes at restaurants and recommend favorite fare to others in the community.

TaskRabbit is a location-based network for finding people to help you with routine tasks, as well as a space to advertise your services to others.

Foodily is a space for foodies to share favorite recipes and discover new ones.

Pinterest allows users to create a pinboard for their favorite things they find online.

Snapette is a social networking community for fashionistas to share photos of the latest shoes and handbags.

Jig allows its community to ask and answer questions about various topics.

Miso is a network for users to socialize around their favorite TV shows.

Care2 focuses on green living and is a great network for reaching this audience.

What social networks would you add to this list? Share your favorite networks by leaving a comment below.

Image courtesy of creative design agency Arrae

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Tags: Care2, Facebook, Food Genius, Foodily, Freezecrowd, HelpAroundTown, Jig, Keek, LinkedIn, Marketing, Miso, niche social media sites, Pinterest, Reddit Tumblr, Snapette, social media, TaskRabbit, Twitter
Posted in Marketing, Social Media | 12 Comments »

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Posts Tagged ‘Pinterest’