5 Myths About Pinterest Marketing Pinterest has the robust, engaged community marketers seek.
By Lesya Liu •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Are you marketing on Pinterest? Well, you should be.
Although Pinterest looks like a cute platform, geared toward females, manicures and recipes, there is much more to it. Pinterest continues to prove itself as a potent platform for marketing, and those who employ its power enjoy high-quality traffic. Yet, there are still lots of myths surrounding the network, and many businesses make rookie Pinterest marketing mistakes. Here's a list of myths surrournding Pinterest.
1. Managing another platform creates more headaches.
Pinterest is easy to gain a presence on because it allows you to jumpstart your profile in just a few hours. It is a great platform, which encourages sharing content found online. You don't have to create tons of unique content to keep up on Pinterest.
Start by curating content from other sources.
The network has a wealth of content already there, all you have to do is to find what's worth sharing with your audience. It's like a network that comes with built-in content. Start by identifying a few major interests of your audience; create a few themed boards; and start pinning beautiful imagery, aspirational content and worthy tips.
Of course, it's also great to pin your own content, so you could start doing that as well by pinning your old blog posts, YouTube videos or any infographics you've created.
Related: 5 Tips for Creating Great Pins on Pinterest
2. If your business is not geared toward females, don't bother.
Although it's true that 62 percent of Pinterest users are women, the statistic is slowly changing. Even if there are only 38 percent of male users, that makes it approximately 20 million men on the platform.
Lowe's is a great example a mostly male business thriving on Pinterest. The company has attracted more than 3.4 million followers by sharing theme-specific content. Think of ways you could attract male and female audiences by providing value. The rest will fall into place.
Related: How to Attract Customers Through Pinterest
3. Your business has to be highly visual.
No, no and no.
Going back to curating interesting and inspirational things found around the Web, it's easy to see that your business doesn't necessarily has to be highly visual to provide value on Pinterest.
You could easily share inspirational boards, tips and checklists specific to your industry, which do extremely well on Pinterest. Think about the ways you could create visual content without directly displaying your offering.
For example, if you're running a financial services firm, you could share tips and tricks on saving money, making better financial choices and common financial misconceptions.
If you own an auto body shop, you can provide tips on how to take care of a car; create infographics on recommended services; and post images of hot rides.
If you own a construction company, collect DIY projects ideas, images of beautiful homes and interesting architecture. There are always ways to create content even in the most mundane industries.
4. Pinterest provides limited insights into audiences' interests.
The easiest way to identify your audience's interests is to take a look at your best-performing pins and boards.
Another way to gain greater insights into your audience is to create curated boards. You can invite your Pinterest followers to collaborate on a board with you. Not only will you see what's of interest to them, you also create a deeper connection between consumers and your brand.
Related: 6 Strategies for Pinterest Buyable Pins
5. Pinterest doesn't provide any real business value.
Pinterest users are some of the most active online shoppers out there. They spend more money, more time and shop online more frequently than traffic from other social networks. Additionally, not so long ago, Pinterest rolled out advertising opportunities for brand pages.
If you own a local shop, you could take advantage of geotagging abilities on Pinterest as well.
Pinterest is a cool platform, which any business - whether product- or service-based, geared toward males or females -- can thrive on. Just like with any other social network, be creative; listen to your community; and engage your audience. Results won't disappoint you.
