Pin It

Pinterest is the fastest-growing social media out there.  I love it.  It's eye candy.  I've noticed that it's overwhelmingly women that use it, and I have a theory about that. 

Let's think for a minute about the way women shop.  Women, from the dawn of time, are the gatherers of the species.  They browse, they pick through things, they put things in their cart that they like, and finally take home what they think is worth having.  Men?  When men shop they want to know exactly what they're after, they want to hunt it down, conquer it in the least amount of time possible, sling it over their shoulder and take home their trophy. 

Pinterest is for gatherers.  I am not really that big on shopping, but I do love to browse the Internet.  From the beginning of my Internet access many moons ago I enjoyed saving graphics to use as desktops, bookmarking websites, that sort of thing.  Pinterest caters to that, and women love it.  Women also love pretty things, eye candy, daydreaming about the perfect house, the perfect romance, the perfect meal.  (I'm generalizing, and certainly there are lots of women who won't fall into this category, and despite being the least girly-girl I know, I fit this stereotype).  They also love cataloging tips and ideas about how to make life, dressing, raising kids, cooking meals, and being busy easier. 

Pinterest is PERFECT for this.  I love stashing pins for recipe ideas later, especially.  Craft ideas.  Stuff to DO... heck, I may never get around to doing it, but I have it there handy when I want it, and it's way easier to browse than my stupid over-long, poorly titled browser bookmark list.

Okay, so... let's say you've got something to market and you want to try out Pinterest (I recommend that you do) as a marketing tool.  Here are my tips.

First:  Follow this person.  Marketing on Pinterest with Jason Miles  Great tips to be had there.

A few of my own, now.

1.  Don't spam your product.  If someone posts 50 pictures in a day of just their own product and nothing else, I'm not likely to keep following.  It's the equivalent of jumping up and down in someone's face saying "LOOK AT ME!  LOOK AT ME!  I SELL THIS!  BUY IT!"   Unless there is more content than that, followers will not stay.
2.  Get followers.  It's social media, so be social.  Follow your Facebook friends list, then look at random stuff in categories that you might be interested in, follow them, and repin stuff.  BUT!  And here's the biggie if you're an eye candy addict like me:  Control it!  Devote a specific amount of time each day to Pinterest, following new people (who will often follow you back), liking and repinning things.  It can definitely get out of control if you let it, and then you've got nothing to pin because you're spending all your time online.
3.  Know your market.  You can't market to everyone.  Who's your niche?  You make geeky things?  Pin geeky things.  You make pretty, feminine things?  Pin things that will appeal to people who like pretty, feminine things.  Make sure there's content.  Tips and tricks are HOT, and so are ideas, recipes... but so is eye candy. 
4.  Put the "Pin It" thingy on your toolbar.  You're browsing the Internet for stuff anyway, right?  You can pin the pretty things while you're doing that, and share useful tips and tricks.  Anything you think is cool may well appeal to people who will think your product is cool.
5.  Plug people who do something similar to what you do.  If you follow those people and say "Hey, my friend makes this really cool ___, check it out," they're very likely to do the same for you, and word of mouth is the best marketing tool there is.  Pinterest just makes it really easy to spread word of mouth marketing.
6.  And finally, pin your stuff.  If you're pinning regularly, pin one or two of your own products on a daily basis.  I'd say a ratio of 10 other things to 1 of your own things is reasonable, but this may be largely personal preference.  MAKE SURE the link when the picture is clicked goes to wherever they can buy said product. 
7.  Blog.  I suggest that you post pretty pics on your blog and Pin your blog articles.  That way, there's eye candy and useful info in one place.  I sell Jamberry Nails and I discovered that I can pin the pictures from my Jamberry site, but... honestly I don't think those pics are the greatest and I prefer pics of the product on real live people.  SO... I started a blog with Jamberry pictures and I pin to that blog, with tips on using the product and nail care, and then have a link on where to buy in the blog post.  More possibilities for Google hits that way, too, but that's another article.

Here's another site that I haven't explored completely but looks very interesting:  7 Useful Pinterest Tools

I hope you found something useful here.  While you're at it, feel free to follow me on Pinterest.  Expect me to post lots of art, jewelry, recipes, pets, and homemaker tips.  Maybe some more how to market stuff, too.  See you there :)