Why Your Business Should be Using Pinterest

interest is the hottest thing happening in social media, which is why you should be using Pinterest to market your business.

The “virtual pinboard” social media site has actually been around since 2008, but just between November and December of 2011, the site’s unique visitor count increased a staggering 55%!  Then in January of 2012, it crossed the 10 million mark, which was faster than any standalone site in history!

If you don’t know what Pinterest is already, imagine a large cork board on your kitchen wall where you’ve pinned photos, ideas, notes, thoughts, etc.  Now imagine that you have a large cork board for each of your interests and you have the ability to share those images and collaborate with as many people as you want, anywhere in the world.  That’s the power of Pinterest.

According to Pinterest: “Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.”

So now that you know what Pinterest is, let’s talk about who’s using the site.  Right now, 80% of users are women who use the site to share and collaborate anything from shoes, to recipes, to home decor.  But we think that’s going to shift as more and more men start to share their interests on Pinterest.

But how can you use Pinterest to market your business?

1. Ask someone you know who has a Pinterest (it’s faster that way) to send you an invitation, or head on over and request an invitation.
2. Poke around the site and keep an open mind.  At first glance, it may seem like you’re browsing someone’s recipe book or wedding album, but Pinterest has a lot more to offer– you just have to dig for it.
3. Make a couple boards, pin some images and explore the categories just to get your feet wet.
4. Connect to Facebook within Pinterest and follow your friends; following others will gain you followers back.
5. Think of ways you can use images to market your business, because remember– Pinterest is nearly entirely visual with the exception of comments.
6. Check out ways other businesses are using Pinterest to market their company to get ideas for your own business.
7. Add pins everyday, add new categories regularly and follow others and their pins.

Some points to know that will keep you ahead of the game:

• Pinterest already sends more referrals to retail sites than Google Plus, Reddit and YouTube combined.  Just think of how your business could leverage that power!
• Pinterest allows affiliate ID embed on pins– another way you could leverage Pinterest to build your business!

What do you think about Pinterest?  Is your business already leveraging its power?