An Introduction to Pinterest for Business

Social media platforms have proven to be effective business tools for inviting customer engagement. Each platform has its own set of quirks, requiring unique approaches to make the most of them. Modern business owners realize the importance of social media accounts on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Most business owners don’t think about using Pinterest for business purposes, but Pinterest is a powerful customer engagement tool that can provide impressive returns on advertising spend.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest calls itself a “visual discovery engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more.” Pinterest is similar to Instagram in that it places a massive emphasis on images. Despite this similarity, Instagram and Pinterest differ greatly in their intended purpose and the motivation behind the user’s visits to their platform. Although Pinterest originally launched more like a social network, the platform functions more like a search engine today. 

Reposting Instagram materials to Pinterest won’t work.

Pinterest is centered around the pursuit of discovery as opposed to Instagram’s emphasis on sharing. Pinterest users, called “Pinners”, have massively different preferences compared to their Instagram counterparts. Pinners are more interested in posts that deliver actionable information like recipes or DIY guides.

Pinners are also more likely to share posts that don’t include human faces compared to Instagram’s tendency to do the opposite. This really underpins the fact that Pinterest users are looking for a different experience than the one offered by Instagram despite them both being visual platforms.

With over 200 million monthly users, Pinterest is home to a wide variety of users—55% of which use Pinterest for shopping purposes. Eighty percent of Pinterest users engage with the app on their mobile devices which means content created for Pinterest is best designed with mobile in mind.

Put Pinterest to Work for You

Making the most of Pinterest for business will require applying a unique approach different from those used on other social media platforms. Curating your content specifically for the Pinterest audience will ensure you find increased ROI on marketing efforts made on the platform. If your business isn’t already on Pinterest, you’re leaving money on the table.

Ready to get started taking advantage of this powerful social media platform? Check out Pinterest’s guide for setting up a Pinterest account for businesses. Then learn more about putting Pinterest to work by checking out our Pinterest for Business guide.

Contact the experts at MSC to learn more about how we can help you make the most of your marketing efforts.