4 Reasons Pinterest is Perfect for Inbound Marketing
Posted by Pat Owings on Fri, Jun 08, 2012 @ 09:05 AM
Is a Photo Sharing site for me?
By now you’ve probably heard of Pinterest.
It’s one of th
e fastest growing websites ever, and it’s the newest shiny object taking the attention of marketers everywhere. It’s also a great place to get lost for a few hours. But is it really worth it? Do we really need another website to share pictures of cats and food? Don’t we have enough social networks to manage and keep track of?
As with any lead generating tools, Pinterest is another place to grow an audience. Depending on what you bring to the board (that’s how you organize pins on Pinterest that are similar), it could be the perfect place for inbound marketing. Pinterest generates traffic and leads, 2 of the 4 pillars of inbound marketing.
Here’s a look at 4 reasons Pinterest is perfect for inbound marketing.
- Natural link building. One of the keys to inbound marketing is link building. The more inbound links pointing to your website, the more traffic gets generated. The more people share your content, the more views you get and hopefully the more leads you can convert. Because each pin is a link, you naturally get more links as your content is shared. Plus each account is linked to Twitter and Facebook, offering up an even bigger audience.
- Visual stimulation - Pinterest is just plain pretty, and we’re visual creatures. We love TV, movies, magazines and photos. Pinterest is a great way to capture attention with photos of delicious looking food, cool home designs and other visually appealing subject matter. Because it’s pretty, it will likely get re-pinned more.
- Out of our comfort zone. As marketers, we often think in terms of our own products and services. But with a platform like Pinterest, we’re really forced to think beyond our comfort zones. For instance, I’m the inbound marketing specialist for a mortgage lender. In my usual content, I focus on solving problems for home buyers and homeowners. this plays out in articles about mortgage pre-approval, interest rates and other financing subjects. None of that really transfer over to a visual medium like Pinterest. Instead, I’ve left that comfort zone in favor of reaching people with dream home designs, how-to tips for the home and other ideas like that. The payoff? I get to be creative in a new manner and people get to see and share cool ideas for the home generated by a mortgage lender.
- Cutting edge of life. As a new technology on the cutting edge, Pinterest is the perfect place for early adopters. Because AmeriFirst Home Mortgage figured out what homeowners and buyers wanted to see and share, we were able to capture an audience and we’ve been able to build on that. As a marketer, reaching a new audience - or the same audience in a new way - I get excited about a new way to engage.
Of course as a marketer you want to know the hard numbers of lead conversion, website views and ROI. Here’s a look at some of our numbers:
- In the first month on Pinterest we saw a lead conversion rate of 20%
- Overall the Pinterest view/lead conversion rate is 5% - better than almost any other social media platform
- Pinterest was the leading “social” referrer above Facebook and Twitter combined
- Our Pinterest audience is growing at a rate of about 15% per month - the same as our overall website view increases
- Because a Pinterest account is free and sharing there takes almost no time, the investment in resources is small. Creating articles specifically for your Pinterest boards will take a bit more time, but that’s why you’re a content marketing specialist. So go create.
Pinterest is one tool in a collection of marketing opportunities. If you only have time for one social network, it may not be the place for you. Decide where to spend your time and efforts based on testing. But if you’re looking for a place to spread your message in a new way to a powerful demographic (Pinterest users are typically women in the 18-45 age bracket) then Pinterest could be a perfect place for your inbound marketing attention.
Inbound marketing agents provide small and mid-sized companies with a fully customizable and integrated plan to attract visitors, create interest, convert, and measure every step along the way to ensure that each month is more effective than the last. Get your free marketing and website assessment at the button below.
Dan Moyle is a Certified Inbound Marketing Specialist who spends his time creating content for AmeriFirst Home Mortgage. Writing, producing videos and managing the AmeriFirst brand fall under his daily duties. He’s also a Twitter addict who loves dark beer and motorcycles.
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