How to set up your business on Pinterest

Pinterest is a social network that allows you to store, edit and manage photos and other content such as videos and articles

This social network allows you to create pinboards, and then 'pin' items on them. People can follow your account, or boards to find what you've been up to lately.

Why should your business use Pinterest?

With over 70 million users, Pinterest has become an important social network. Based on the simple idea of allowing you to create visual PINs of your interests, businesses now use them to share everything from employee photos to work to art ideas for their products.

As a popular trend, it has become popular in such fields as fashion, food, photography, and design. However, many types of businesses can use content sharing and reach potential customers. For example, you can use it to:

increase awareness of your products;
collect customer feedback and expectations;
interact with influential people in your industry;
show the creative side of your business;
building strong relationships with key customers;
increase the visibility of your business.

Like most social networks, the amount of time and effort you put into Pinterest will determine what results you see.

You can try to use it briefly, with a sharp blast - a few minutes each, maybe three or four times a day. Pinterest works well on mobile devices, allowing you to sign in when you have free time.

How to make your business on Pinterest

Pinterest offers a variety of personal and business use accounts. Before you sign up for your business, it's a good idea to read the business information available on Pinterest.

1. Decide that Pinterest is yours

Although Pinterest is a large social network, it is not widely used as a service such as Twitter and Facebook. So before you commit to it, think about what you want to achieve and investigate whether Pinterest can be used by your target audience. For example:

Do your key competitors use it? If all your competitors are working on Pinterest, there is a good chance you should have it. If they are not, you can come before them - but not without thinking.
Do you sell to consumers? Pinterest is very useful if you are selling directly to consumers. It doesn’t help much to get business leaders to go into business or create business partnerships.
Do your customers use it? Many businesses focus their efforts on social media in places where they can find potential customers. Can you do a survey to find out if your customers use Pinterest?
Do important industry statistics use it? Even if you don’t think your customers are great on Pinterest, you may want to establish a presence if it can help you reach influential people in your industry.
Do you have anything to show off? Any type of business can use Pinterest. But it is well suited for those who have visible products to advertise this way of looking.

If you are looking for some inspiration, Pinterest website has great business lessons.

2. Subscribe to Pinterest

Go to the Pinterest website and join as a business. (Don't worry if you sign up as an individual instead - you can use the Change Now option to switch to a business account.)
You will need to enter your email address, password, business name and select the type of business. Also enter the website address of your primary company.
You will then be asked to select another interest in the list. Choose anything that seems to fit your business. If you are a clothing store, you can choose fashion and wedding ideas.
This step allows Pinterest to find accounts that you think you might want to track. You can change your preferences later.

You may be asked if you want to install the Pinterest browser button. If you add this to your web browser, you'll be able to pin things into Pinterest with one click. It works, but you can add it later if you like.

3. Complete your Pinterest business profile

Once you have subscribed, you will see your profile page, which may appear to be empty. Select Edit Profile to add important details:

Upload an image. You can use your company logo or photo (if you are a private or self-employed company). Profile photos help people easily see your business on Pinterest.

Pinterest should have created a username. You can change this, perhaps on behalf of your company. If you already have other social network profiles, you can use the same username for all of them.

Add some information to the section about yourself. This is an opportunity to tell people about your business. Be short, clear and straightforward - showing a certain personality will encourage people to connect with you.

Add your location. This allows other Pinterest users to indicate that you are in their area - it is very helpful if you are using a store or other place that customers can visit.

Pinterest should provide tips to set up your new account. In particular, it is a good idea to verify your company's website. This shows other Pinterest users that you are a reliable source and allows you to view stats that will help you learn more about your audience on Pinterest.

4. Start pinching other objects

Think about what kind of things people would like to see on your Pinterest account. Your web statistics can give you some idea. You can also ask customers directly (perhaps in a survey) - or get inspiration from some of your social network accounts.

The first thing to do is make a board:
Give it a name and a description, so people can see what your board is all about.
Boards usually follow the theme. For example, a clothing store could create a board called 'retro inspiration'.
You must select a Pinterest section for your board.
If you want to be able to record the locations of the objects you pinch, select the map option.
You can also invite colleagues to be editors, so they can add things to your board.
Once you have at least one board, you can start pinning things.

On the Pinterest website, select your appropriate board, then click the big '+' sign to pin something.

You can upload a PIN (for example, a photo) or a PIN from a website. When navigating to a website, you should paste the URL of the web page or image you want to display on your board.

To pin from other websites without pasting URLs, use the Pinterest browser button.

Add an interesting description to your pins. This helps people search for something specific, and gives you the opportunity to say something about the pin.

You can always edit or remove pins, so don't worry about making a mistake.

As you search for more items, your footing on Pinterest will grow, making it easier for other people to find you.

5. Follow other Pinterest users

If you visit the Pinterest homepage, you'll see the latest links from the users you follow on Pinterest. You can choose to follow all user PINs, or those on only certain boards.

Even if you haven't chosen to follow anyone yet, Pinterest will automatically follow other accounts based on the interests you selected when you signed up. You can stop following these if they do not suit you.

To find other boards and accounts to follow, you can use the search box at the top of the page.

There is an option to find friends that allow you to import contact information from Facebook or your email address book. This is a great way to track down people you know who are already using Pinterest.

Following the relevant boards and users helps build your profile on social networks.

How to use Pinterest for your business

Once you have set up Pinterest and started following other accounts, try using it regularly. It's great if you can sign in every day to browse and comment on pins, follow new people and pin your stuff.

Like many other social networks, you need to use them regularly to find out where they fit into your business. To stay on course, you can follow these tips:

Make sure you connect with other users. You can 'love' pins and leave a comment if you have something interesting to say. Make sure you respond when people leave a comment on your PIN, too. You can also 'resize' items on your boards (this is similar to a retweet on Twitter).

Pin your own stuff - and encourage others to do the same. Don't be ashamed to post items from your website. You can always create a 'our products' board or similar. You can also add 'Pin' buttons to your website. This makes it easier for others to pinch your content.

Use secret boards. If you do not want the board to be public, keep it private. You can use secret boards to collect useful information (for example, inspiration for your new website). Or you can make the secret board public as part of a product launch or PR campaign.

Try rich pegs. Rich pins work like standard pins, but allow you to add more information to the PIN itself. For example, you can include a map, address and phone number to help people find your restaurant, or information on your store prices and prices.

There is a list of apps and tools available that can allow you to use Pinterest very effectively, too.

The official Pinterest app is available on Apple and Android devices.

Once you sign up for a Pinterest business account, you can also view statistics about your profile, audience and more.

If you only do one thing on Pinterest ...

Make sure your profile is easily accessible, and that you have at least two or three bulletin boards.