I’ve been away from my blog for a bit, mainly because I’ve been super busy with clients but also, I must confess, I have been Pinning.  Are you on Pinterest yet? At first glance I looked around and almost had an anxiety attack, but then like most social media integrations, once I let it wash over me and fell into the rhythm of pinning and being pinned I quickly realized how this is such a goldmine both for the user and for just about anyone with an online presence.

As an experiment, I used Pinterest to plan my daughter’s 1st Birthday Party. I created a Board where I dumped Etsy finds, recipes and inspirational ideas for my “Glittery Winter Wonderland” theme.  It was such a help to see all the imagry in one place, and I loved that others started repinning my lovely Etsy finds…giving these hard-working and super creative designers another platform to showcase their wares.  I loved the way Evie’s party turned out, and from there I officially became a Pinning Junkie.

So why should you join Pinterest and waste even MORE of your time on yet ANOTHER social media platform? I consider Pinterest, like Twitter, to actually be a daily enhancement. If used wisely (i.e. not obsessively) you will find a great way to categorize your daily web chaos into specific, totally visual Boards.  Trying to decide on what color to paint your dining room (my next project!). Make a Board with color and room inspirations! Looking for easy weeknight recipes? Pin your fave blog posts and emails to a board for quick reference in a pinch.  Want to keep gift ideas from multiple sites in one place? Create a Gifts Board and boom. You’ll have all those great finds in one spot.

And therein lies the benefit for retailers.  We are a searching generation, and if your stuff in out there in a place where people are actively seeking new gems they can buy, it stands to reason you will benefit with conversions.  In addition, Pinterest has a nifty Gifts category where anything with a price added into the description is segmented in incremental dollar amounts. That means not only do your followers see your newest wares, but with the price added, so does EVERYONE else. And by everyone, were talking about an estimated 7.5 MILLION users and counting.  In addition, Pinterest is highly searchable in Google – giving your SEO more sticking power with loads on inbound links.

There’s so much more to discuss here, nuances and etiquette being two points that warrant their own posts.  But in the meantime, I’ve officially added Pinterest management to my Consulting services, however – PLEASE NOTE: Just as I stress to all my clients with regards to EVERY social media endeavor, a “commercial” Pinterest account MUST remain authentic and transparent.  Too much “buy this buy this buy this now” will not gain you any new followers.  This is another opportunity to showcase your brands personality, and therefore must be considered an integral and highly visible part of your digital identity. I can help with this.  Either to get your mind around the concept and train you to manage it yourself, or show you how I can elegantly manage it for you to take some weight off your shoulders.

I’ll leave you with my three most urgent words of Pinterest advice, and a fab infographic from Mashable:

1) Don’t blow off Pinterest right now. With brands like West Elm, HGTV, Anthropologie and Kate Spade already pinning up a storm, you do not want to be left behind.

2) Don’t let Pinterest take over your life. Find balance and work it into your daily marketing routine.

3) Never forget to stay true to your brand.

oh – and be sure to follow me!