Social Media Marketing: Using Pinterest to Attract Targeted Traffic and Attention to Your Website
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As the fastest growing social media platform online right now, Pinterest.com is also Drives more traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined according to a
February 2012 Shareaholic study. Does this convince you that it's time to check it out? In the U.S. the majority of Pinterest's users have been women, but the population of male users is growing quickly. Basically you are missing out on a steady stream of targeted traffic if you continue ignore Pinterest's potential to give you greater exposure for your brand.
Here are some tips that you might try when you are looking to use Pinterest.com to attract targeted traffic to your website:
First create your profile and set up some boards that represent your passions, interests and professional pursuits. If you love to travel, set up boards for your favorite destinations. If you love books, set up boards with cover images of your favorite titles. Create some interesting, fascinating boards on a variety of topics that you are interested in. Make them worth sharing and following.
Take some of the images that you use on your website and add a watermark with your site's URL, or if you've got a recognizable brand logo you can use that. The purpose behind this is when images get re-pinned repeatedly on Pinterest, if users do not pin from the source, the original site hosting the image can get lost, and then you don't benefit from all of that traffic and attention. Create or have your graphics person create some new images related to your brand, your website and your topic. You'll want to keep an eye on what is being shared already from your site. Type this URL into your browser: http://pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite.com (replace 'yourwebsite' with the URL to your site.) You'll be able to see which images your visitors have pinned (if any) from your site so far.
Add the 'Pin This' bookmarklet or widget to your website or blog to make if effortless for your visitors to pin your stuff. Add the Pinterest browser extension to your toolbar. Now when you are browsing or shopping online and you come across compelling images that would fit one of your existing boards, or is worthy of creating a new board, you can quickly pin it and keep moving.
Another way to attract traffic and interested readers to your blog is to join a content sharing syndicate or tribe. This is a group of users who agree to share and comment on each others' content. A prime example of a Pinterest marketing tribe can be found on Ken Pickard's Pinterest Blog roll: pinterest.com/kenpickard/blogs-i-follow-and-you-should-to/. He wrote a blog post with instructions on how to join, but there's no reason why you can't duplicate his system and create a Pinterest blog roll within your network, or niche. empowernetwork.com/kenpickard/blog/pinterest-blog-roll
Everyone loves contests and free stuff, right? So, why not create a contest on Pinterest. I keep seeing these contests, and the catch phrase, "Pin it to win it" seems to be catching on quickly. Marketing Pilgrim posted an article about a Pinterest contest to inspire their readers to, "Get Pin-spired," and use it to come up with ideas for their own contests to attract visitors, traffic and attention to their websites: marketingpilgrim.com/2012/04/inspiration-alley-mccormick-pin-spiration.html
Another post about social media contests contains a ton of valuable tips: marketingonpinterest.com/2012/04/18/pinterest-contests-that-change-your-business-forever-part-one/
Social media marketing is an effective way to attract targeted traffic to your website. Visit http://mcreasite.com/blog today to discover how you can grow your online business using Internet marketing strategies.
February 2012 Shareaholic study. Does this convince you that it's time to check it out? In the U.S. the majority of Pinterest's users have been women, but the population of male users is growing quickly. Basically you are missing out on a steady stream of targeted traffic if you continue ignore Pinterest's potential to give you greater exposure for your brand.
Here are some tips that you might try when you are looking to use Pinterest.com to attract targeted traffic to your website:
First create your profile and set up some boards that represent your passions, interests and professional pursuits. If you love to travel, set up boards for your favorite destinations. If you love books, set up boards with cover images of your favorite titles. Create some interesting, fascinating boards on a variety of topics that you are interested in. Make them worth sharing and following.
Take some of the images that you use on your website and add a watermark with your site's URL, or if you've got a recognizable brand logo you can use that. The purpose behind this is when images get re-pinned repeatedly on Pinterest, if users do not pin from the source, the original site hosting the image can get lost, and then you don't benefit from all of that traffic and attention. Create or have your graphics person create some new images related to your brand, your website and your topic. You'll want to keep an eye on what is being shared already from your site. Type this URL into your browser: http://pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite.com (replace 'yourwebsite' with the URL to your site.) You'll be able to see which images your visitors have pinned (if any) from your site so far.
Add the 'Pin This' bookmarklet or widget to your website or blog to make if effortless for your visitors to pin your stuff. Add the Pinterest browser extension to your toolbar. Now when you are browsing or shopping online and you come across compelling images that would fit one of your existing boards, or is worthy of creating a new board, you can quickly pin it and keep moving.
Another way to attract traffic and interested readers to your blog is to join a content sharing syndicate or tribe. This is a group of users who agree to share and comment on each others' content. A prime example of a Pinterest marketing tribe can be found on Ken Pickard's Pinterest Blog roll: pinterest.com/kenpickard/blogs-i-follow-and-you-should-to/. He wrote a blog post with instructions on how to join, but there's no reason why you can't duplicate his system and create a Pinterest blog roll within your network, or niche. empowernetwork.com/kenpickard/blog/pinterest-blog-roll
Everyone loves contests and free stuff, right? So, why not create a contest on Pinterest. I keep seeing these contests, and the catch phrase, "Pin it to win it" seems to be catching on quickly. Marketing Pilgrim posted an article about a Pinterest contest to inspire their readers to, "Get Pin-spired," and use it to come up with ideas for their own contests to attract visitors, traffic and attention to their websites: marketingpilgrim.com/2012/04/inspiration-alley-mccormick-pin-spiration.html
Another post about social media contests contains a ton of valuable tips: marketingonpinterest.com/2012/04/18/pinterest-contests-that-change-your-business-forever-part-one/
Social media marketing is an effective way to attract targeted traffic to your website. Visit http://mcreasite.com/blog today to discover how you can grow your online business using Internet marketing strategies.