So, what is Pinterest and why is it getting all this attention from regular users as well as from a lot of marketers?
Why as a Real Estate Professional should you jump on board and become an expert at it? Most importantly how can you utilize it to grow your real estate business? That’s what we are looking for at the moment, growing our businesses. Right?
Pinterest is a social image-sharing site that is basically like a virtual bulletin board that allows its users to connect and organize images that are of interest to them. Almost 80% of Pinterest users are college-educated females between the ages of 25 and 34, and I am sure you are aware of the fact that this is also one of the fastest-growing segments of homebuyers. Most of these women are using Pinterest to collect ideas about home decor, interior design, dream homes etc…. These users are your potential clients and they are all hanging out on Pinterest, each spending an average of 98 minutes a day.
The Basics
- Pin: An image posted on Pinterest.
- Pin board: A collection of different pins posted under one theme.
- Repin: Reposting someone else’s Pin or image.
“A pin is an image added to Pinterest. A pin can be added from a website using the Pin It button, or you can upload images from your computer. Each pin added using the Pin It button links back to the site it came from.”
So basically your goal is to be pinning images that are interesting enough and worth getting repinned by other users. The more people that repin your pins or images, the more back links you get to your site or blog. Also, the more likes, comments and repins you receive, the more visibility your pins will get.
The Tips
So let’s talk about how you can get your Pinterest followers’ attention and engage them with your pins:1) Share high-quality pictures: That is the first thing I want to talk about. Because Pinterest is a visual site it is all about pictures, so pinning high-quality pictures or images will make sense here.
Try to include quality pictures to all of your blog posts and make sure that you target them with the right keywords that users might be searching for. This will make Pinterest index your pins properly on its site. Don’t forget to always put links back to your blog/website; remember, we want to drive some traffic.
2) Make your Boards interesting: The reason Pinterest is growing this fast is because their users get to share what interests them, pin the places they love visiting, food they enjoy eating and home decor ideas they like! So for your pins to grab that attention, they need to tap into their interests and be worthy for them to repin and engage with.
3) Showcase your listings: Pin high-quality, beautiful pictures of homes you are selling, just like you would do on your website or craigslist, and make sure to include a link back to your website or blog. Make sure that you have the right to share these pictures.
4) Don’t be too much of a self-promoter: Focus more on educating your followers and sharing what they would like to see, like images from a pool design company, interior designs, and home decor websites. This will make people more interested in following your pins, and feel that you care about their interests and that you’re not only pinning to promote your listings.
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| An Example of a Pinterest Board with Listings |
5) Ask your clients to pin pictures of themselves: in their new houses and tag you. You can then repin these pictures into a “Happy Clients” Board for example. This is great for social proof and it might drive some interested prospects to your website.
6) Use videos: We talked in a previous article about videos and how powerful they are to your business. Well, Pinterest has a separate section for videos. You can create a video and add a Call to Action in the description or use annotations (check my YouTube article) for the viewers to Pin your videos or follow your Pins on Pinterest.
7) Encourage followers’ engagement: We talked about how likes, comments and repins will help your pins get more authority and visibility. Sometimes even if your pins are super interesting, people still need a little push to engage, and that’s fine. Try to include questions in your descriptions like “would you like to have a kitchen like this one?” or “What colors do you like in your bathroom?” Basically something to encourage them to comment. You can also include a call to action for them to “like” or “repin”: “if you like this Pin hit the repin button” for example!
8) Optimize your descriptions: When creating a description, make sure that you add the keywords that people might be looking for when searching Pinterest. Something like “Las Vegas high rise condos” or “Vegas luxury homes.”
You can also use hashtags like #style, #home decoration, #luxury homes…etc, just like you would do with Twitter. You can add as many hashtags as you want – just be careful not to look spammy!
9) Be consistent: Consistency is the key to any online marketing strategy; you want to keep pinning regularly and to plan it in your schedule just like you do with any other social media. Momentum will help you grow your followers and their engagement with your pins, which results in more traffic to your site and ultimately more business.
10) Let people know you are on Pinterest: Add Pinterest “Pin it” and “follow” buttons to your blog and/or website. This will encourage your readers to pin your images and follow your pins on Pinterest.
Originally Posted by TheNicheReport magazine
