As simple as Pinterest’s interface seems, whether it is a business or personal account, not everyone has quite grasped what they should be pinning, how exactly they should organize their pins and boards, and what it is that drives traffic to their Pinterest profile. If you have never used Pinterest before, it is a social network that is filled with endless categories to sift through for the ideas that most “interest” you so that you can “put a pin in it”, essentially saving the idea to come back to when you are ready to start that project, buy a product, or return to a recipe. Once people have, for example, completed a project or made a recipe, they will usually return to comment on their experience and reveal whether or not they would recommend it to others. This is one reason (of many) that Pinterest is an important tool for many businesses. That is, if you make an idea appealing enough for people to want to try it and the idea consistently generates the expected result then the resultant word of mouth will drive more business toward you.
Anyway, we want to make sure that you are at the top of your game. Since pinning=winning, here are 10 Pinterest tips to bring you from beginner to pro:
#1: Check out the category “popular” for trending pins. The search results will be a compilation of all the pins that currently boast the most likes, repins, and/or comments. Thus, when you also like, repin, or comment on some of these popular pins, it gives your profile more visibility. However, avoid posting generic comments like “That’s cool” or “Great idea” because it may give the impression that you are not attempting genuine engagement. Something important to remember is to not post more than 2-3 comments in a single day or Pinterest may suspend your account for “spamming”, even if that’s not your intention.
#2: Pin and share photos. Just as on other social media networks, colorful photos and attention getting graphics receive the most likes and repins. Subsequently, to make your boards more appealing, they should have attractive cover photos to get more clicks and remember to change out these photos every once in a while.
#3: Detail what your pin is about. Provide rich content descriptions for each pin that tells the viewer exactly what the pin is all about. Remember, the more key words and hashtags that you use, the more easily it will appear in the correct search.
#4: Avoid pinning generic ideas. Generic ideas are boring and unnecessary; you want pins that are innovative and exciting. For example, if you pin a stock photo of a birthday cake to your “Birthday Parties” board, with the description of “make sure to have a birthday party”, it is going to be meaningless to your followers because that is such a regular idea that you don’t need to save it for later to remember. Instead, you want to pin ideas that will not just be useful for every day events but that will actually elevate them. Therefore, for your “Birthday Parties” board it is much more beneficial for both you and your followers too if you were to post an idea regarding how to set up the food table in the best way or pin some unique cake decorating ideas.
#5: Know what you’re pinning. Don’t pin anything that is offensive or conflicts with your brand or statement you want to make. Likewise, don’t pin things that are not interesting to you or your followers or really, what’s the point? So, make sure to click and review all content before repining so that you are aware of what that pin says about you.
#6: Follow people with similar interests. Not only will those with similar interests be more likely to follow you back but by doing this you make yourself available to the great content flowing from their boards and you can be the first to pass it on to your own followers.
#7: Make your boards be specific and the title appropriate. When you name a board something like “Outdoors”, the viewer doesn’t know exactly what to expect if they click on your board. “Outdoors” could be ideas for yard landscaping, activities to try outside, or even camping equipment. So, it is a good idea to make your title specific and to only include pins that are relevant to that title. For example, if you have a board titled “Party Ideas for Little Boys” then do not pin wine party ideas to that board (yes, we are exaggerating here to make a point). Additionally, don’t be afraid to have a little fun with your titles to make them stand out, but refrain from making it so abstract that a new visitor won’t know what they are clicking on (or they won’t click at all).
#8: Multiple boards are preferred. This is the aspect of Pinterest that lets you go be wild and free and make a board for everything that interests you. The more boards you have, the more opportunities for your pin and profile to be brought up by someone’s search. So, the minimalist in you has no need to compact all your ideas into the least amount of boards because more people prefer to have a diverse selection of material to look at. Therefore, if you have a board that is named “Style”, you could separate it into multiple specific boards like makeup, nails, jackets, shirts, shoes, and so on.
#9: Fill your boards up. As previously stated, you are more likely to attract followers if you have a variety of boards to look at but making sure those boards are filled with lots of content that the title promises is just as important. If you were a follower, you wouldn’t waste your time following someone who only had 2 pins located on one single board because you know that you aren’t going to be getting very much content to pass along to your followers from them.
#10: Reorder your boards. The boards that receive the most likes or repins should be organized in the top row of your profile so that they are the first ones viewed upon visiting your page. If you are just beginning, place the boards that are more important to you or that you predict will generate the most interest first. Also, for your boards to appear in someone’s categories search, you need to categorize your boards correctly when you create a new board (i.e., just choose the category most relevant to your board from the drop-down menu and if your category isn’t listen select “other”).
*BONUS TIP: If you have a business account, remember to link and verify your website address when setting up your profile so that people know that it isn’t a fake, which makes you more trustworthy.
We covered some of the most important tips that will get you revamping your profile or starting one off right. Happy pinning!
Did we leave something out that led to your Pinterest success? Share your comments below, we love to hear from you!
Facebook was created to be an outlet for like-minded individuals to come together and share thoughts, ideas, opinions, reviews, etc. without being influenced or pressured by corporations. Yet, many people assume that since Facebook is a social media giant that it is the best place to plaster your sales pitches on every wall possible. We frequently see this mistake being made by new businesses and even well-established ones that are just not using what little time they have effectively.
Should you do it just because everyone else is doing it? Absolutely not. There is a delicate balance required in reaching and engaging with your target audience while showing them what all you offer, instead of selling to them (relentlessly) what you offer. More importantly, rather than dropping ads just anywhere and hoping for a lead, here are 3 simple ways to get better results on Facebook.
#1: Stop Trying to Sell, Sell, Sell
We know that times may be tough and it might be crunch time, but believe us when we say that selling your heart and soul out on Facebook is not going to get you anywhere (it may even negatively impact your business!). Instead, set time aside each day to actively engage your target audience by liking some interesting posts on your feed, replying to comments, asking questions, and possibly even helping people for free if the opportunity presents itself! I know, it sounds crazy because nothing is ever really free….I mean….what’s the catch? The point is that if someone on your newsfeed is requesting a recommendation or needs help in some other way that you can step in and help out, they will remember your company through your good deed. By doing something nice for them without expecting anything in return, you are humanizing your business and leaving a positive impression with a potential future consumer. The point is, you can spend all your time trying to have a million static followers, but it doesn’t do you any good unless you have built genuine relationships with your followers to make them want to care about what you have to offer.
#2: Don’t Let Your Content Get Stale
We sometimes get so wrapped up in professionalism that we forget to have a little fun. You need to share content that is already getting attention and create original content that is interesting enough that people will choose to follow you for more. For example, a big hit right now on social media are motivational/inspirational photos captioned by quotes. Actually, research has shown that pictures in general receive far more attention than text only posts. With that said, sometimes people just need a break from the monotonous business related posts and want to see something like a funny picture or .gif to brighten their day. Likewise, while stock photos are sometimes a necessity, don’t be afraid to snap a photo of someone around your office being goofy. Again, this lends a human element that businesses on Facebook so desperately require in order to not be passed over as just another business fishing for sales.
#3: Start Up Some Competition
There are so many various ways to run a competition on Facebook. Consider the following example, if your company sells t-shirts you can tell your followers that every person that sends in a photo of themselves adorned in your company’s t-shirt will be automatically entered in to win some sort of prize. Even if the prize is simply more merchandise with your company’s logo on it, people love to receive free items and it doesn’t hurt that they are advertising your company in the process!
Now that you have learned these simple ways to engage your audience and build up your business to customer relationships, log on to Facebook and try them out!
Do you have more Facebook tips that have led to better customer relations in your personal experience? Leave us a comment below, we love to hear from you!
In the world of social their is a plethora of content, some good and some bad. Today, we bring to you 3 simple ways to find content for your social platforms online!
With a lot of content being readily available it is very easy to get your hands on content that will be of more harm than good to your brand so be careful. Time is money, and finding good content takes time. So how do you maximize your productivity by finding great content?
Our team at #GIANT Marketing has formulated some information to help you find solid content and get you on the right track to becoming a GIANT on social. Here are three tools that can help kickstart your content curation:
1. #HASHTAGS
Hashtags are one of the most effective ways to find good content online. If you are active online try searching for many of the has tags that are similar to your brand. The more you search, the more chances you will likely have in finding great content. Don’t forget to use the right hashtag that is targeted towards a group of people in which you would like to attract or engage with. Identifying the right #hashtags is critical when it comes to social monitoring and engagement. This allows us to find the conversations where our target audience hangs out. With using a hashtag, you can start to build a relationship that could possibly lead to a solid connection even maybe a future business transaction.
2.GOOGLE ALERTS
Google Alerts is another one of the most effective places to acquire great and relevant content for your social media marketing campaign. Google Alerts notifies you of your important keywords, while allows you manage your social media platform content and blog subscriptions well.
As we stated in our previous blog: Why Google is the future of Social, “we are putting ourselves in the majority with having roughly 65% of all the United States queries.”
You can also get email notifications any time that Google finds new results on a topic you’re interested in. For example, you could get updates about a sports team, products you like, find out when people post content about you on the web, or keep up with news stories. The possibilities are endless with Google.
3. HOOTSUITE
If you’re conducting social media marketing for your brand, having a lot of accounts can be a bit overwhelming. That’s why you’ll need an effective social media management system, and this is where HootSuite comes in. It allows you to manage multiple social media profiles, letting be up-to-date with all your connections without the need to open a lot of platforms/browsers. Hootsuite Pro also provides an auto-schedule feature along with content curation feature which allows you to instantly automate content to upload on any platform of your choice.
If you know where to find great content, it will give you an insight of what matters most to your social media connection. In turn, you will also know which content to share. Social media is one of the channels where content curation is key to staying relevant to your followers and growing your following. Use these three avenues and tools to find great content and become GIANT!
@Giant_Marketing
