Drawing the attention of millions, virtual pinboard-styled social photo sharing website Pinterest is all the rage these days. From the comfort of your own home you’re able to pin awesome internet finds and share them with your friends. The site receives a whopping 11-16 million unique visitors a month, who are primarily women (80%) and users are between the ages of 25 and 54 (80%) according to Google Ad Planner.
As internet marketers we seize the moment when new trends and sites emerge. We flock to where people are and in this case it’s a site that caters to the purse strings of American households. A recent Infographic by GPlus.com shows on average 83 to 87 percent of consumer purchases are decided on by women and women generate 58 percent of e-commerce dollars.
So how can you seize the moment with Pinterest? Find inspiration with the below Pinterest marketing ideas for 24 industries and professions! (Still want more ideas? Sign up for our FREE webinar “Marketing Your Brand on Pinterest” Thursday May 10th (11AM PST/2PM EST)).
Wedding Venue
What
are brides looking to establish when planning a wedding? What their
wedding style will be and how their special day will look. The details
are extremely important when it comes to planning a wedding. If you are
in the event planning business and are trying to market your wedding
venue try putting together wedding board “themes”. Help that bride
envision her special day at your location by showing her examples in the
form of photos on Pinterest. That newly engaged bride is sure to do her
research prior to the big day. Give her photos and information on
Pinterest to aid in making the right decision. The 4th Floor Blues Club
has the right idea with their wedding venue pin here, although the resolution and lighting leave a bit to be desired – you get the basic premise here.
Book Promotion
Creating an inspiration board to help you in your quest to write a book is something many authors do. Now with Pinterest you can create a board around the inspirations that led you to write your book – the people, places, things that were your muses. Thanks to Crystal for this idea. She even suggests using your board in the pitching process, “see what inspired XX author to write her breakthrough novel”. As a marketer in the publishing field you can create an entirely new experience by paring the book with social media.
Personal Shopper or Fashion Blogger
Figuring out your personal style and finding ways to develop your style overtime can be a full time job, and actually is for some lucky gals. Being a personal shopper or full time fashion blogger, when it pays the bills, can be incredibly rewarding. Use Pinterest to highlight your style or as a personal shopper put together inspiration boards for that boho-chic client and another board for the soccer mom next door. Showing your creativity and diversity in looks can help you land a wide array of clients. Have prospective clients check out your inspiration boards to see your eclectic abilities, or put your logo or web address on photo looks you put together yourself (and that you own the photo rights to of course).
Hairstylist or Salon
Staying on the cutting edge of styles and trends is at the top of the job requirements for a hair stylist or salon owner. Marketing for a business in the beauty industry seems like a great fit for Pinterest. Create boards of similar hair styles. When your customer sits down in your chair and can’t figure out what style they want – hand them an iPad and let them peruse your boards and pins. Or a hairstylist or salon might put together before and after photos or how-to photos. These seem to resonate well with the Pinterest crowd, as seen here with My Yellow Sandbox. The site’s tutorial photos of hairstyles and beauty are perfect for a board on Pinterest – this blog has over 2600 followers on Pinterest already so something must be working.
Interior Designer
Another great idea for Pinterest is if you’re in the interior design world. From boards about design inspirations to boards of before and after photos you’ve done yourself, there are many design related ideas you can share. Blanca Feldman, an interior designer in Nashville, has quite a successful Pinterest account with over 1600 followers. Check out her design inspiration board, boards for each room of the house, motivation boards and more for some inspiration of your own.
Health Expert or Blogger
I’m a huge fan of Dr. Oz and his no-nonsense way of being able to tell you in layman’s terms what the heck is going on with your body or give you advice that actually makes sense. Dr. Oz’s official Pinterest accountis a great example of how to use Pinterest as a health expert or blogger. His team pins healthy recipes, Dr. Oz approved deserts, fitness information and more. As a health blogger or expert, develop pins that are consistent with a healthy lifestyle. Pin your own photos and pin others too.
TV Channel
In recent years, news stations and radio stations have had to join the digital world as their listening audience has migrated to the online space. It’s not uncommon to see references to Facebook and Twitter during the 5 o’clock news. Pinterest very well could be the next social media site to enter mainstream newscasts. TV Channels or radio stations can start putting breaking news photos up on Pinterest and encourage citizen journalists to take their own photos which can be repined. Thanks to Elana at Media Bistro, who suggested giving viewers a sneak peak of an upcoming interview or tomorrow’s front page news by adding pins to your news boards.
Magazine
Looking
to increase subscribers to your magazine or promote an online
publication? Showcase graphics and editorials on dedicated Pinterest
boards for the beats or items you cover in your publication. Check out Martha Stewart Living’s Pinterest profile with
boards like “Baking and Desserts”, “Easter”, “Appetizers and Hors
d’Oeuvres”, “Drinks” and “Sewing”. Holiday themed boards are perfect if
you’re looking to highlight the holiday issue of your magazine. Two to
three months ahead of time start putting together your boards and keep
up the pinning momentum throughout the holiday.
Funeral Homes
Am I morbid in thinking there is a Pinterest use for funeral homes? Let me explain before you get all judgey on me… Creating a memory board of the people we love is something that can now be done digitally through the use of Pinterest. Funeral Homes can organize boards for the recently deceased, allowing their tech savvy relatives to view pinned photos of them for an uncluttered digital memory board preserving them in time. The deceased’s Facebook page can be cluttered, but with Pinterest photos and memories are displayed easily. A funeral home could take this concept to the next level by having a tablet or computer screen at the viewing for mourners to enjoy the pinned photos.
Chef, Baker or Catering Company
Feature your culinary delights on Pinterest to bring traffic and new business your way. Thematically tie pins together on a board by sticking with a holiday or event theme – Valentine’s Day treats, 4th of July dishes, one-pot buffet dishes, etc. Get started today promoting a board on summer parties or 4th of July barbecues to pique a prospective clients interest, and you may just hook a client for this summer.
eCommerce Website
Women be shoppin, women be shoppin! If you’re an eCommerce website why not put together a gift board. You can create a board of gift ideas for men, gift ideas for women or even get super specific – gift ideas for eye rolling preteen girls or gift ideas for the Midwest mom. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t be completely self serving on your board, pin items from other stores that fit into your overall theme too.
Professional on a Job Search
Landing
a job today takes a lot of creativity. Make yourself stand out by
creating a visual CV of all the projects you’ve worked on. This is
especially true for graphic or web designers looking to move up in their
careers, or freelancers looking for additional jobs. Check out these 7 cool resumes found on Pinterest, from BusinessInsider.com to get some inspiration.
Dog Shelter or Non-Profit
Raising awareness about your non-profit can be hard. Not only are funds tight it can also be difficult shining the spotlight when so many other good causes exist too. Using Pinterest to start boards about your cause can be a good start. Animal shelters such as the Humane Society of New York use Pinterest to share photos of cats and dogs up for adoption as well as the animals that have gone to a good home and a wish list of the supplies they are in need of. Think about the opportunities here when natural disasters hit, a new animal goes on the endangered species list or checking in a few years after a devastating accident to see how the area is rebuilding (or what still needs to be done).
National Center for Missing Persons or America’s Most Wanted
Help spread the word about a missing person or a wanted person by creating boards. I’ve seen these movements go over well on Twitter, of crowd sourced find the missing person projects. Just this past January several UK celebrities retweeted pleas from one family trying to find their missing son, who was found a mere few hours later in safe condition.
Craft Supply or Wedding Supply Website
If you sell products that are part of a large project, such as an online retailer of craft supplies – why not start a board that shows the “after” result of a project. What does a craft project look like after they’ve purchased your items? Create your own instruction graphics to inspire prospective customers. Get customers to send in their photos so you can share on Pinterest and inspire others to purchase products.
Home Improvement Stores
Everyone loves a great photo of a demolition job for a home improvement project. Before and after pictures too! For any home improvement store such as Home Depot, Lowes or even Ace Hardware, Pinterest seems like an easy enough fit for marketing. Put up photos of renovations and home projects. Sponsor a contest, asking fans to submit their home improvement photos. This user generated content can be then repurposed throughout your social media profiles, including Pinterest. Take a look at Home Depot’s Pinterest account for some more inspiration.
Before and After Photos
The theme of using before and after photos can transcend many industries. From contractors, home builders and architects to even a plastic surgeon. If your industry heavily relies on images, then use before and after to showcase the staunch differences before and after your services. A clean and professional looking before and after cosmetic surgery photo, a before/during/after construction job photo or a time lapse photo of a building being erected, all can be used effectively to illustrate before and after.
Travel Agent or Concierge
Are you a travel agent or travel concierge service? Create boards for travel inspiration. Try a bucket list travel themed board with photos of the Seven Wonders of the World and other places someone might have on their bucket list. Create an entire experience for a trip to Africa or even Disneyland. Cater your boards to the experiences your customers want to have on vacation and let Pinterest users know you’re available to help them plan their next vacation too.
School
Take Duke University for example, they’ve built out boards revolving around their sportsmanship, student life, traditions and even around their Arts & Humanities department. If you’re in the education space try out degree program boards full of photos and information that would interest a student in that field of study. Someone who is a fashion student would be interested in a fashion related board, develop boards that highlight a specific degree program and appeal to a specific type of student. Create your own images that cater to that fashion student and promote them on Pinterest. Start thinking about ways to integrate Pinterest style into all your image assets!
Hotel
Creating boards centered on your hotel or lodging facility is a great use of Pinterest. Things to do in the city where your hotel is or places to see in the city your hotel is located are two boards you can (and should!) put up right this minute. Local eateries, transportation, travel resources or even area emergency clinics or facilities could all have their own board. Additionally, you can create boards dedicated to your event facilities showing past weddings or events held at your hotel. While not many hotels are currently utilizing Pinterest, there are a few you can look to for examples: Crowne Plaza NYC, Hotel Berlin andForest House Lodge.
Extermination or Mold Remediation
This Pinterest marketing strategy is enough to make you batty – well maybe not literally but you get the idea. Pin photos of the types of the insects and bugs found around your area. Share before and after photos of infestation or mold remediation projects. Create boards focused around poisonous insects to help educate. There are many ways an extermination company or mold remediation company can use Pinterest.
Gift Registry
Who wants to get all their gifts from one store? With links to each of the images in the board, guests can see a bride’s Pinterest account and choose the gifts they want to give from all across the web – not just one store! The same can be done for a baby registry too. Pin photos onto your own gift registry from Etsy too, what other time would you be able to add those types of items to a wedding registry?
Blogger
Market your blog posts on Pinterest. One example of a great Top “10″ type post doing well on Pinterest is“17 Tips to Make Your Life Easier”. They’ve simply pinned one of the images in the top 10 style post and added a brief description about the post. This is a relatively simple concept, but one that could be done by any blogger out there. Try giving some new life to an old blog post by pinning one of the images and adding to Pinterest.
Early Childhood Education
One brand I’ve started following on Pinterest is PediaStaff, a pediatric/school based therapy staffing and placement firm. They have a mission to serve the special needs community through great resources, so they’ve started using Pinterest to help share. Anyone who first visits their page is guided along their mission, with the first board dedicated to introducing their brand. They’ve built out many of their boards to encompass topics important to parents of special needs children: sensory activities, fine motor crafts, rhyming games, social skills and pragmatics, visual supports, and more! They have over 17,000 followers and a very engaged community
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