Should My Business be on Pinterest

1. Am I trying to reach women with my products or services?

80% to 90% of Pinterest users are women depending on what reports you check. Men’s shaving product and cologne companies probably won’t benefit as much as home decor and fashion companies (see below for more categories) from being on Pinterest – that is unless those companies find a way to make those images appealing to women. Here’s an example of how men’s products can turn into women’s pins (pay special attention to the name of the board that it’s pinned on):

2. Does my product or service fit into one of the following top ten categories on Pinterest?

Pinterest is just another social media tool that enables its users to interact with each other by sharing images (and their comments about these images) in an easy way. As a marketer or business owner, you want to go where your audience is, not just where everyone else says you should go. If you have a fashion blog, decorate homes for a living, run a local hobby store or teach cooking classes at the local community center and you are not on Pinterest, why not? Seriously. 

If you’re running a B2B shop with little to no overlap in any of the above categories, then there’s always Linkedin. Prioritize your time on the channels that your target market uses.

Now that you’ve made it past the first two questions and you think your business qualifies for the Pinterest audience, what’s next?

• Step 1: Get invited. If you need an invitation just ask me in the comments below.
• Step 2: Unfollow everyone that Pinterest recommends you follow and start from scratch. It’s annoying to have to cleanup later. 
• Step 3: Start following boards that relate to your industry and target audience and observe what gets comments and repinned by others (or just search for and read Pinterest research from others).