Visual Contenting March 2016 | Page 21

SOCIAL MEDIA Meighan works with and trains creative individuals, brands, and companies through social media, content creation, and overall strategy to help define, and build their voice and community online. Join her at meighanotoole.com By Meighan O’Toole from Creative Live Blog HOW TO DOUBLE YOUR PINTEREST FOLLOWING Pinterest now has over 72 million users with more than 50 billion pins and over 1 billion boards. Can you believe those numbers? But wait there’s more! 63 percent of pinners now use Pinterest to trend spot, shop, get inspired, and dream, instead of magazines and catalogs. Over 73 percent on pinners have bought something that they saw on Pinterest. The good news for you: two thirds of all pinned content comes from business websites. Clearly, there’s some value in learning how to use Pinterest for your business. If you’re new to Pinterest or just getting started, it can feel overwhelming. Visual Contenting Diving into such a colorful, never ending stream of visuals can feel daunting and confusing as to how to begin. Especially when adding an entire new platform to your marketing strategy. To help you get started down the right path, we created this handy infographic on How to Double Your Pinterest Following, because building an engaged audience for your pins is step number one. Design a Profile that Engages Your profile should spell out who you are as a brand both verbally and visually. When people stumble upon your account they should be able to see immediately what type of pinner you are through your bio, your boards, and your pins. The very first thing to do when opening a Pinterest account is to register as a business and verify your website. If you are already on Pinterest but want to change your account to a business account, no worries you can easily convert your existing account. You will not lose any of your pins or data. Yay! Verifying your website may take a little bit of coding, so ask a developer or a friend to help that knows their way around small bits of code and your website. Next, make sure your bio is clear and concise about who you are and what you offer. Even get so granular as to spell out what you pin — this gives prospective followers a quick idea of why they should follow you.