What is Pinterest and can it help me?

Pinterest is one of the hottest social media sites, currently with more than 16 million users worldwide. It’s an image-based virtual bulletin board that incorporates social networking. Users — called Pinners — create “boards” and then virtually pin images of their choosing. These images are commonly connected to articles, videos and other online content.

People love visuals, and Pinterest provides a creative outlet to share, recommend and engage with people — and brands. According to Mashable.com, the average Pinner is a 25-44-year-old woman with a household income of $100,000 or more. The most popular pins on Pinterest are related to fashion and food.

For businesses, and especially consumer-based businesses, Pinterest offers an opportunity for promotion in a visually stimulating environment. If your business or products can be creatively displayed and can convey the personality of your brand, then Pinterest could be a good outlet for you.

The best way to get started is to develop an account. Once you’ve done that, follow these guidelines:

• Define your boards: Organize your pin boards in products and categories that define the products and services you offer. Your boards do not have to promote a specific product, they can also teach consumers about your brand.

• Pin photos from your website. Ensure you source the original link. This is one of the cardinal rules of Pinterest: If you are using images from your site, or from another site, include a link to the original source. For example, if you found an image on Google images and pinned it to one of your boards, do not link to the image on Google images, link to the website where the image was originally posted.

• Write a caption for every image you post. The most frequently repinned photos have approximately 20-word captions. This provides you editorial space to promote your product or service.

• Interact and engage. Pinterest is a social networking site, so you need to “like” “repin” or “mention” others. This is a great way to broaden your reach and engage.

As with any social medium, once you have become familiar with Pinterest, I recommend developing a strategy and outreach plan so you can engage, pin and monitor with a purpose.

Julie Arnold is PR/social media director at LOOK Marketing in Melbourne, a full-service marketing communications, event marketing and merchandising design agency. Find more at www.facebook.com/LOOKMarketing.