How Pinterest Is Becoming the Next Big Thing in Social Media for Business

Move over Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Another social media site is stepping up as a valuable marketing tool for businesses.
Pinterest, an online bulletin board for your favorite images, launched in 2010 and is already experiencing wild growth. The site registered more than 7 million unique visitors in December, up from 1.6 million in September. And it's driving more traffic to company websites and blogs than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined, according to a recent report from Cambridge, Mass.-based content-sharing site Shareaholic.
Why should small businesses care? To answer that, you first have to understand how consumers are using the site. Pinterest allows you to organize images -- maybe pretty sunrises or wines you've tasted -- into boards for specific categories. When you "pin" something new, your followers will see it. They can like, comment or re-pin it to their boards. Like Facebook content, your Pinterest pins can go viral.
Brides-to-be can pin pictures of different wedding dresses to review, and people shopping for a new car can pin images of their options. When I joined Pinterest I started a board to show the Major League Baseball stadiums I've visited. The possibilities are unlimited.
Here's a look at why some business owners -- particularly retailers -- might want to seriously consider starting a business profile on Pinterest now.

How It's Being Used
Perhaps the most powerful business application is the ability to post images of your company's products on your Pinterest board and link them back to your website. It works as a sort of virtual store catalog.
But remember that this is social media. If you simply display images of your products without contributing other content or sharing other users' pins, you'll likely find that people don't pay much attention. After all, no one likes a self-absorbed blowhard.

Related: What's With All the Interest in Pinterest?
But savvy social media users know not to get too promotional. For example, Whole Foods Market pins pictures of delicious-looking food, food art and images of recycled or reused products to inspire customers to be environmentally responsible. Daniel Gordon, who runs Samuel Gordon Jewelers in Oklahoma City, pins pictures of his rings and watches, but he also has a board for images that make him laugh and other types of products he loves.

Driving Sales
Pinterest already is driving buyers to some websites. In the last six months, the retail deal site ideeli.com has seen a 446 percent increase in web traffic from Pinterest and sales resulting from those visits have increased five-fold.
"We continue the Pinterest conversation with [the] members by following their pins, and we love to give feedback outside of the shopping category -- whether that means commenting on a great recipe or [giving] a heart next to our favorite pet pics," says ideeli.com social media manager Sarah Conley. "We also see Pinterest as a growing resource to better understand our members and the larger retail landscape."

Is Pinterest Right for Your Business?
The site does have some drawbacks for businesses. If your product or service isn't particularly visual, your images may not tie directly back to your brand. Pinterest also doesn't offer business-oriented features, and its search function prioritizes pin and board subjects ahead of "people," the category that brands would fall into.
The best way to determine if Pinterest could attract buyers is simply to give it a shot. Set up an account and start pinning things that are relevant to your business but not too promotional.

Related: How to Use Social Media for Research and Development
If you run a lawn-care center, for instance, pin pictures of landscaping you find online or snap in your community. If you're a brick-and-mortar store, pin shots of the interesting sites and people around your neighborhood and photos you take at community events. You also can search through Pinterest's categories and add some inspirational, funny or beautiful images you find.
Then, follow interesting boards and individuals who post images that inspire you. Once you've done some pinning of other people's content for a week or so and attracted a few followers, create a new board of your products. Add descriptions and perhaps the price to the images. Make sure they link back to your website and start tracking pinterest.com as a referral source in your website analytics.
Next, try creating an image of a special deal or coupon just for your Pinterest followers. Upload it to a new board for Deals. Perhaps offer a prize to the person who gets the most likes or comments on a re-pin of the coupon, and then see who shares it the most. Don't fret about creating multiple boards. People who follow you will see them all.

In a month or two, see if you're getting referral traffic or sales. Depending on the results, you may need to tweak your boards with new images and words.
One thing is clear whether you're on Pinterest for personal or business reasons: the best images -- be they funny, beautiful or thought provoking -- attract the most attention and followers

BY Jason Falls

Barack Obama’s Prospects: A Global Buy-Side View

The election is months away. The Republican challenger is not close to being decided. Whither Barack Obama? Last week we surveyed a sample of 115 global buy-siders (from Asia to Europe to North America) and discovered that investors around the world currently see the power of an incumbent president as perhaps too much to overcome. This conviction is understandably stronger among investors who are not as close to the US electoral process and passions (those based outside the US) – among whom 54% prophesize an Obama victory. The “score” is much closer in the United States where a decided plurality (44% versus 31%) still thinks Obama will win. But from another vantage point, 44% is certainly no majority and if you take the 31% of the US buy-side which doesn’t believe he’ll be reelected along with the 25% who are uncertain a very different picture emerges – one where more than half (56%) do not forecast reelection at this time. We will be giving updates on this over the course of 2012. Should be interesting.

Aprio

Aprio is a financial communications company offering a comprehensive range of services delivered by a team of highly-skilled communications professionals. We have well-established relationships in the investment community and financial media. Over the years Aprio has become a leading independent and wholly-owned South African, strategic communications company’s operating across a range of sectors, including financial services, mining, retail and manufacturing, among others. Please visit http://www.aprio.co.za/ for more information

5 PR skills you won't learn in a classroom

An interesting thing happened the other day. A new business prospect asked us why he hadn't come across a PR professional before who knew the right questions to ask about his business.

It's a gross generalization, but as a rule we joke that we went into PR because we hate numbers.

And numbers are just one thing you need to know that you won't learn in PR class. Here are five other skills:

1. The business dashboards. Do you know the difference between a profit and loss statement, and a balance sheet? Do you know how to read them? Do you know the difference between revenue and the bottom line? What about the difference between gross and net margins? Do you know how your efforts can affect revenue and margins? If you can't say yes to every one of these questions, I recommend you befriend someone in your accounting department. Learn it. It will benefit you in the long run.

2. Traditional marketing. The lines between PR and marketing are becoming even more blurred. In a comment on a blog post describing the difference between PR and advertising, Ken Mueller lamented that the term "PR" may eventually go away because everything is integrating. Learn how to generate, nurture, and convert leads. Work with your sales team to understand how they use the customer relationship management software. Learn how to automate some of your reporting, as it relates to all the good work you're doing.

3. Budgeting and forecasting. As you move up in your career, you're going to be charged with budgeting and forecasting. Learn how to budget conservatively and aggressively. Learn the difference between accrual and cash statements. Learn how to adjust your forecasting, based on trends, the industry, and even accounts receivables.

4. Management and leadership. There is a difference between the two and it's necessary for both to exist in your career. Particularly if you work on the agency side, you'll find you are managing client accounts by the time you hit account supervisor level. But you might also be leading an internal innovation team or mentoring younger colleagues. Management skills need to be learned so you can lead a team that works together in the best interest of the clients.

5. Willingness to learn something new. In a blog post, Suzi Carragher commented, "A former colleague was often asked if she was in the medical profession, because she could hold a conversation about open heart surgery with any surgeon on the planet. She advocated FOR the medical profession as a public relations practitioner."

My friend Mimi Meredith was to join an agency that focuses on automotive PR. She worked at a car dealership, selling cars, for 90 days. Learn the business you're counseling. Go on sales calls. Work on the floor. Do what you have to do to know everything you can.

There are many other skills you need as a PR professional that you won't learn in the classroom. So, you tell me, what else is there?

Gini Dietrich is founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich. This post originally ran on Spin Sucks

You Don't Know Jack About Public Relations

Think you're great at getting the word about your business out there to the world? Think again. Here's what you're getting wrong.

By Steve Cody |  @RepManCody   |  Jan 31, 2012

 

 

It seems whenever I explain to someone I've just met socially that I'm a public relations executive, I'm typically asked one of two questions:
"So, what did you think of the Super Bowl commercials?"
…or…
"So, how many politicians do you have in your pocket?"
When I respond by saying I have no more knowledge of advertising than the average Joe or that I detest politics and politicians, the interrogator always responds with a blank stare and asks, "Well, then, what's public relations?"
Trying to explain, I get about a sentence or two into my definition before I see the other person's eyes scan the horizon in hopes of an emergency rescue. Reading the non-verbals, I'll quickly change the subject and bring up the weather, a mutual friend's cancer diagnosis or Demi Moore's addiction to nitrous oxide.
In truth, though, the pervasive lack of knowledge about public relations, and how it differs from advertising, lobbying, and other "marketing disciplines" is troubling. In fact, I believe far too many chief executives officers of the country's fastest-growing companies have no real clue how truly multi-faceted and more powerful public relations is than its marketing counterparts.
So, here's a quick primer on the fundamental differences between advertising and public relations:

• When advertising, an organization selects the precise words it wants to communicate. It also determines the exact page, size and date of the advertisement, the specific media property in which the ad will appear and, critically, the words and visuals that will accompany the corporation's value proposition.
• Public relations, which is sometimes referred to as unearned media, is more of a dog's breakfast. It involves reaching out to an objective reporter, editor, or producer with the facts and figures about an organization, its products or services and hoping the journalist finds the information of interest to her readers, viewers, or listeners. But, and this is a huge but, it is entirely up to the journalist what is written and when it appears.

As a result of these two fundamental differences, advertising is used to create awareness, while PR is used to enhance credibility. In fact, with the advent of the citizen journalism and the simultaneous decline in trust in all of our major institutions, PR now far surpasses advertising as the most-trusted source of information for most consumer or business purchases. Countless studies report that, next to word-of-mouth advice from friends and family, editorial commentary (usually generated by your friendly, behind-the-scenes PR practitioner) carries far more weight than advertising.
It's not difficult to understand why. Advertising continues to embrace an antiquated, top-down, inside-out way of communicating. It reflects senior management's view on what a consumer or business-to-business buyer should think is important. PR, on the other hand, depends upon listening to the conversation and understanding the who, what, when, where, why and how of engaging in the discussion. Public relations executives excel in storytelling and, typically, present a perceived problem (i.e. childhood obesity) and their client's unique solution (i.e. a new type of fitness equipment designed by, and for, pre-teens).
There's a reason why the monolithic advertising agencies are withering on the vine while public relations, as an industry, grows annually at a double-digit clip. The latter concentrates on the conversation and depends upon a responsible journalist to convey a client's message. The former represents the thinking of an out-of-touch C-suite executive who believes the world should beat a path to her door.
So, do yourself a favor the next time you tune in a football game or candidates' debate: don't ask the PR guy standing next to you what he thinks of either. He won't necessarily have an informed, professional opinion. But, if you are interested in understanding the smartest, fastest-evolving and most effective ways in which to engage your target audience in credible conversations, buy the poor PR dude a drink. He deserves one after all these years of being misunderstood.