If you read Marketing Director Vanessa’s blog “3 Ways to Expand Your B2C Inbound Marketing Reach with Pinterest,” you already know creating a Pinterest account can increase the number of potential customers your brand reaches. Now that Pinterest has introduced its business accounts, more and more B2B companies are joining the Pinterest party, and for them, it’s important to not only join, but to set their brands apart.
If you’re a B2B social media marketer who has joined Pinterest, but isn’t getting the followers (or consequential site traffic) you were hoping for, you could be making one or more of the following mistakes:
You don’t have a “Pin It” button on your site
Not having this button, especially in your content section, is like saying “No thanks” to free advertising. Pinterest is extremely popular, so it is safe to assume those people reading your business blog and liking it on Facebook would pin it to their Pinterest if you gave them the opportunity. This would show up in their followers’ feeds, who would click it and end up back at your site.
You’re pinning too much third-party content
So, you don’t want to be overly self-promoting? Good, we stand behind that! But there is a thin line between having a healthy mix of your content and the content of others and losing focus completely. People follow you because they have an interest in what your company does, so don’t forget to highlight your content.
You’re pinning one thing to multiple boards
Maybe what you have just pinned could fit into the category of two of your boards, go ahead and pin it on both. What you should not be doing is pinning it onto every board it could conceivably fit onto. This annoys Pinterest users, so give some thought to where you’re putting content.
You’re flooding feeds
This is a common no-no in social media and should go without saying, but do not post a million things at once. Plan out when and what you will be pinning like you plan your tweets and Facebook posts.
You’re using your name and not the name of your business
When people search for your company on Pinterest, they are not typing in your name, they are typing in the name of your business. Having your personal name on the profile is causing them to miss you. Also, when you post pins under your name, your followers aren’t correlating that information with your brand, they’re associating it with you personally. What it boils down to is, if you want to raise brand awareness, use your business name.
You aren’t interacting
Pinterest has options other than pinning and repining; you have the ability to like and comment, too. Your profile shouldn’t be stagnate — people follow you and pin your content because they are genuinely interested in what your company does. Showing that you have an interest in them too only improves that relationship.
You aren’t collaborating with others in your industry
Pinterest has an awesome feature that allows you to invite others and be invited to pin on group boards. This article on scalablesocialmedia.com explains how this increases the amount of people who can see your pins and repin them, thus increasing your audience dramatically.
You have too many fluff boards
Your business has many personalities, and people love to see there are humans behind the company. But you should keep the amount of boards that have little to do with your industry to a minimum. The best use of a non-industry focused board would be to show of the faces of your office, the office mascot (Pinterest users love animal photos!) or inspirational quotes that cheer you up during your work day.
Just like with all other forms of social media, there is a right way and a wrong way to use Pinterest. If you take the time to learn the dos and don’ts, you can reach a whole new audience.
What B2B companies do you feel are utilizing Pinterest to effectively drive leads? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
photo credit: Nrbelex via photopin
