Pinterest

Pinterest is a social networking site that is used by Pinners (users) to share their interests by pinning images, videos and links to their or other user's pinboards.  The pinboards each have a title and they accept multiple images.  It is all the rave at present because it is a unique concept and user's are able to share this image content and build their own interesting boards.  You can take the opportunity to promote your brand, products, goods and information and you can make money through promoting your affiliate links.  You can upload images from your the web using a Pinterest bookmarklet, a PinIt Button or from any URL.

In order to have a Pinterest account, you need to be invited to join, but once the invitation is issued it is pretty simple to get started.  You will receive an email and will need to choose at least one interest.  The system will then follow people that it thinks you might be interested in but it is possible to unfollow if you wish.  It will also choose boards that you may be interested in but it is easy to delete these if you wish.  You can then go in and complete the information for your profile. You can choose a personal or company profile from here.  But, before you start using Pinterest, it's a good idea if you understand some of the terminology and be aware that you can download the PinIt Button from Pinterest or a Wordpress plugin.  Then you can choose what you wish to Pin, within reason, providing you stick to the terms and conditions as determined by Pinterest.  There are many categories including education, science, history, outdoors and photography.  You can use your own images to promote your products or services and this is what makes Pinterest so unique because, while your images have to conform to Pinterest standards, there is no limit to the type of image you can include.

Booklists are popular and you can suggest books to read and link them to your affiliate links at Amazon although you need to be aware that there has been talk that Pinterest is changing people's affiliate links.  Quotes are also very popular and you can promote your business and brand using quotes.  Videos are also very popular and are a great way to promote your brand.

There are different ways that you are able to pin your boards such as pinning direct from a PinIt Button on your website or uploading an image from your computer and you can even upload from your mobile phone.  You will then choose which board to add your image to and this may be one that is already created or a brand new board as determined by you.

It is worth doing some research to see what interests other Pinners and that way you can target your audience.  You can then build your following and you can choose to follow either users or boards and you will be informed when a Pinner pins new content to the boards you are following.

But why would you want to use Pinterest as a marketing tool?  Well, think about it.  You can promote your brand, products and services using this new social networking medium.  You can use Pinterest simply to build and market your brand and you can research to see what your competitors are doing.  What are they promoting and who are they promoting to?  How do they showcase their products and why are their products unique and engaging.  You can promote a board showing your company history and company profile or you can give customers ideas on how to use your products.  Create a board showing customer testimonials or promote a competition or contest.

You can stand out as a sector expert but you have make sure that you engage with your customers and use Pinterest to its fullest extent.  There are so many marketing opportunities available to you as an affiliate marketer but make sure that you update your boards regularly and don't just leave them blank.  Happy Pinning!