Pinterest.com is a social media website where users can upload and share (“pin”) photos, cartoons and text to what are called “pinboards”. A virtual pinboard acts like a real pin board by displaying pinned pictures one below the other, together with a caption.

What is Pinterest?

Each user can have one or more pinboards, and can subscribe to other users’ pinboards to see all the new items they add to them. If a user likes something on another pinboard, he or she can “like” it, comment on it, and/or add it to their own board – “re-pin” it. When an item is pinned, the user can, optionally, notify their Facebook and Twitter followers of the new pin. Pinboards are usually organised by themes, so a user might have a board for humorous signs, another for home-making tips, and another for scenic views of holiday resorts.

Pinterest has about 70 million active users, at the last count (in October 2013). There were about 2.5 billion page views and 5 million new articles loaded to Pinterest in September 2013. So it is a very active site.  The website is nicely laid out and easy to use. There are also Apple and Android Pinterest apps which are also attractive and easy to use. A user can photograph something with their smartphone and pin it immediately.

Using Pinterest for website promotion

One of the features of a pinned picture is that the “pinning” user can choose to make it a link to the website where the picture originated. The user is taken to that website when he or she clicks on the pinned photo.

Pinterest is not limited to hosting pinboards for individuals. Pinterest allows businesses to create their own pinboards to promote their businesses online. Such pages can serve as a virtual shop window.  So a fashion business might have separate pinboards for shoes, dresses, outerwear, and accessories. An outdoor accessories business might have a pinboard for camping knives and other useful tools for “expeditions”.   Items pinned by a business can include product prices, movie ratings, or recipe ingredients. If used effectively, a photo of an item can take the user straight to the business website where the item is on sale to encourage the user to buy it.

One fashion website discovered that users coming to their site from Pinterest spent over twice as much compared to users visiting their site from Facebook. The Pinterest users spent less time on the company’s website, as they preferred to browse the company’s pinboard.

A business might want to check on the popularity of a pinboard and particular photos. It is possible to see which boards an image is pinned on, who has pinned the image, where the original pin came from, and who has liked, commented, or re-pinned the item.

One thing to remember about pinning a picture is that Pinterest stores a copy of the picture, not just a thumbnail or a link to the original picture. There might be some issues with copyright to consider when pinning some photos or artwork because the photo takes on a life of its own in Pinterest. You need to ensure that the originator of the picture gives approval for it to be added to Pinterest.

So, while there are a large number of social media websites, it is very wise to consider Pinterest as another way of promoting a business, especially one that sells physical goods. Pinterest is an excellent way to display photographs of your items and to encourage shoppers to buy them.