is that unfortunately, very few of them actually
understand how to use – and monetize –
Pinterest effectively!
You
probably know that when Pinterest started, it was primarily used by
individuals,
and its
terms even stated that its purpose wasn't to sell directly – it was to connect
individual people. That said, even from those early days, many businesses took
to Pinterest to connect
with
their customers. From my perspective, it brought about some truly innovative
marketing.
By
having to market to their customers without actually trying explicitly to sell
to them,
companies
had to find alternate messages to communicate other than "Buy
Me."
And the
most popular messages that emerged from Pinterest boards
created by companies were
boards that said, "This is who we are."
A new
kind of marketing emerged from this – marketing based on the value of
authenticity.
Companies
who did well on Pinterest (Whole Foods, ModCloth, Etsy and others) were the
ones
who
created boards that allowed their audience to know that their values and
actions
were
lined up together. They were being authentic.
The
great success stories of Pinterest marketing showed that authenticity paid off
big time.
The
customers who perceived their favorite brands were being authentic (as a result
of the pins
on the
companies' boards) tended to click over to those companies' websites,
more so
than from many other forms of social media.
With the
shift to business accounts, Pinterest is clearly going to remain a power player
for
businesses to use in social media marketing.
So how do you learn (finally) how to monetize your Pinterest
presence?
1.
Know who your customer is and know what their biggest challenges in
their lives
or businesses are.
This is
huge. As specifically as possible, you need to know who your customer is, what
he or she
is
interested in, and what problems he or she has. Knowing who your ideal customer
is
with as
much detail as possible allows you to target your marketing precisely to those
who are
going to be most interested in your products or service
2.
Create boards that revolve around the problems you solve – not
necessarily
about your product and its features.
People
like to think they're rational. And many people are. But many, many people,
even those
who
think they're operating only on logic, make decisions that have deep roots in
their emotions.
And it's the "negative emotions" that often have the
strongest impact. Fear. Anger. Shame.
If your
customers have problems that trigger one of these buttons, and you have a fix
for that
problem, that's what they want to know.
Does
your coaching service release people from the fear of not being as successful
as they'd like? Create boards centered on motivation, travel, and beautiful
homes –
all symbols of living a
financially successful life.
Do you
offer holistic health information products that free people from the shame
of having
been known as "the fat kid" all their life? Your pin boards might
include pictures of families engaged in fun activities together, demonstrating
the emotions of joy and freedom found
from
living a healthy active lifestyle.
3. Make sure to connect your
Pinterest business profile to your business website.
It still
surprises me to see people doing this, but it still happens. If you're using
Pinterest,
you need
to complete your profile thoroughly and don't leave things like your picture
or your
business website blank. It's not just missed opportunity – it also communicates
that
you're not serious about the details of your business.
You
might notice that I didn't include information about how to turn your Pinterest
boards
into
virtual catalogs by including a $ or a price on your pinned images (it's super
easy to do –
just include a $ and the price in the description of the pin, and
the price will display on the image).
There's
a reason I didn't include it as a strategy – because while it's easy enough to
do,
it's not
one of the strongest ways to market your business from your Pinterest business
account.
One of
the things I mention all of the time is how important it is to use Pinterest to
build relationships
with your ideal customer. And I don't know about you,
but when I go shopping,
I don't
exactly feel connected to sales people who want to club me over the head with
products
and prices right off the bat! <grin> I want to be greeted
by a sales person who takes the time
to get
to know me, to know what I'm looking for, and who seeks to bring value to my
shopping experience. And I'm here to tell you, your customers want the same
thing!
The best
ways to monetize your Pinterest account are to use Pinterest to find and
continue
to
connect with your ideal customers, offering solutions that benefit them, ease
their burdens,
and
provide value to them in their business or everyday life.
http://kimgarst.com/how-finally-monetize-pinterest
Perhaps you’d like to
check out my sister blogs:
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com gives
many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
www.turbochargedreading.blogspot.com describes the steps to
reading in the way your mind prefers
www.happyartaccidents.blogspot.com just for fun
To quote the Dr Seuss
himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn;
the more places you'll go.”
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