Tips, inspiration, and links for how to use Pinterest as a marketing tool for your business.

1. August 5, 2014
Julie Kittredge
Business Services Advisor
Arlington Heights Memorial Library

2. What is Pinterest? ?
 Social Media platform that was started in March 2010
 Serves as a visual bookmarking and link-sharing
platform
 Users “pin” photos from websites which link the viewer
back to the website where the photo was posted
 Users create boards to organize and share images
 Users can also upload images
 80% of users are females between 25-34 years old
 Additional statistics can be found here.

4. Why Pinterest for Business?
 Drive referral traffic to your website or blog
 Share content to attract new customers
 Create a platform for visibility
 Establish your expertise in your industry
 Educate customers regarding your business or industry
 Gain inspiration for your own business
 Keep an eye on or learn from your competitors
 Great for referrals

5. Personal Account vs. Business?
 You can convert an existing personal account to a business
account.
 Benefits of business accounts include insights and analytics
 Number of unique users, repins, likes, views, etc.
 Additional resources such as “Pin it” buttons to install on your
website
 Always include your website and/or facebook page url
 Your profile image should either be your headshot, your
logo, or an item that is representative of your products
Check out “Steve”

6. Inspiration: Content Ideas
 Showcase your company
 Your work or services
 Share links to your products (etsy, e-commerce site)
 Share items that are interesting to your target market
 Curate images that reflect your branding
 Create inspiration relating to your industry
 Create inspiration relating to educating your customer
 Example: Photographer might include a board of what to
wear, or ways to display images
 Create a referral board for local businesses, affiliates,
partners or organizations (networking)

7. Real Life Inspiration
 Photographer – wall displays
 Artist – Katie Daisy
 Landscape design – backyard bliss
 Retail - anthropologie
 Etsy shop owner – Studio Jewel
 Interior designer – color swatch ideas, styling, lighting
 Arlington Heights Library

8. Content “rules”
34%
33%
33%
What to share
1/3 Business
1/3 Industry
1/3 Personal

9. Inspiration: Secret Boards
 Collaborate with Co-workers
 Great for planning a tradeshow, conference, events
 Preparing for a product launch
 Work collaboratively with a client
 Have them pin what they like
 Curate insight into what your customers like
 Great for branding ideas as you develop a new business or a
re-branding
 Secret boards can be converted to a public board, but once
public, it cannot be changed.
 Collect gift ideas for customers (or family!)

10. Increase Your Followers
 Follow others on Pinterest
 Pin regularly = visibility
 Embed the “Pin it” or “Follow Me on Pinterest” button on
your website or blog
 Pin content from your blog to drive traffic back to it
 Pin content from your e-commerce shop
 Share a link to your social media (facebook, youtube)
 Share a link to an individual pinterest pin or board on
social media
 Pinning great content will create a visual personality for
your business

11. Install the button
 Go to the Pinterest “Goodies” Page
 Install the pin-it button to your bookmarks bar
 Allows you to pin from any website
 Simplifies your ability to curate content based on your
surfing habits.
 Can pin for both personal and business (like the artist
example earlier)

12. Image details
 Image size and image quality does matter
 Cheat sheet for images sizing
 Basically, a minimum of 735 pixels in width – height will
be adjusted based on the size of the image
 Beautiful images get repinned
 Pixelated or too small to view = unprofessional
 Example – AHML book pins

13. Additional assistance
 One on one appointments with Business Services
 Tutorials in the AHML Databases

14. Further Resources
 Book: Pinfluence: The Complete Guide to Marketing
Your Business with Pinterest by Beth Hayden
 Best Practices for Brands Using Pinterest
 http://bryannagy.com/2012/05/13/best-practices-for-
brands-using-pinterest/
 Grow your blog with Pinterest
 http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/grow-your-blog-
with-pinterest/
 Pinterest tips for your business
 http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/pinterest-tips-
for-your-business/