Finally, the day all of us digital marketers have been waiting for... business accounts for Pinterest!

In the beginning of this guide, Pinterest is quoted as saying this about business pages,

"Thousands of businesses have become a part of our community, giving great ideas, content, and inspiration to people on Pinterest. Whether it’s Anthropologie sharing awesome clothes, Whole Foods sharing tasty recipes, the Smithsonian sharing fascinating collections, or Amazon making products easy to pin, many of us have been inspired on Pinterest by businesses."

... and I couldn't agree more. I've said it before (and a million other times) visual media is the future of social media and brands need to take all the steps to ensure they are keeping up with trends like Pinterest.

If you're interested in taking your business to the next level of social media marketing, I recommend this step-by-step guide to Pinterest for Businesses by HubSpot. It's a free online download!

More from HubSpot:

• 55 Brands Rocking Social Media with Visual Content

We've been talking about how to promote your business on Facebook a lot lately but anyone who’s anyone has a Facebook Page these days. (They're like bellybuttons, everyone's got 'em!) Just as with the www websites, Facebook Pages are on track to become a standard practice for companies. As we start to make this transition to a Facebook Page norm for brands, how can you ensure your brand is staying ahead and above of the competition?



Click here for Show Notes

From time to time I like to give a shoutout to a resource that I found particularly helpful. This time I would like to recommend a free ebook from HubSpot called 55 Brands Rocking Social Media with Visual Content if you are in the market for some quick reading and some quick tips on visual social media marketing (because, of course, it is all the rage).

The books introduction states:

The times they are a-changin'. These famous words of Bob Dylan can easily be applied to the rapidly evolving character of social media. No doubt, social media is changing--it's rushing into its most visual stage. If you aren’t prepared for the visual content revolution, you may be left in the dust. That’s why the HubSpot marketing team compiled this list of 55 brands killing it with visual content on these top four visually-driven social networks. Use this for inspiration to launch your visual content strategy. 

Flip through our presentation to learn how you can use visual content on:

• Facebook 

• Pinterest 

• Twitter 

• Instagram

We never thought when we started this show that we would ever seriously cover Myspace. We figured that we might cover the official death of the network--if anything--but never its comeback! Recently Myspace unveiled a promo for the new Myspace. It's pretty awesome.

Myspace (yes, that's right... I'm talking about Myspace) is undergoing an entire makeover and it doesn't look half bad. On their site they say:

We’re hard at work building the new Myspace, entirely from scratch. But we’re staying true to our roots in one important way—empowering people to express themselves however they want. So whether you’re a musician, photographer, filmmaker, designer or just a dedicated fan, we’d love for you to be a part of our brand new community.

Here is the video they provide as a sneak peak:


So visual! I kind of love it. Sort of a Pinterest feel, yet different. It seems to be optimized for tablets which, if true, will really set it apart from its competitors.

I feel weird saying that I like it, but I do. And honestly, I think I'll be checking it out when it debuts. All I need to do is remember my Myspace login information. Hmm...

It looks like the new Myspace is going to be invite only at least in the beginning. You can request an invite at new.myspace.com.

What do you think? Once you're known as the uncool club can you rise back to the top? Is it too late for Myspace?

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The big trend in 2012 social media has been, and will continue to be, visual media. This trend makes perfect sense when you think about the way humans are hard-wired. According to a study conducted by 3M, we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text! That speed may seem hard to grasp but if you think about the current obsessions on the internet, all of them include a visual element.

• Blog Images - It's no secret that images sell newspapers (just look at what's getting your attention about the front page) and this recipe for success has been transferred to newspapers' digital counterpart, the blog, with the same undenying success.
• Facebook - With the introduction of Timeline earlier this year, brands (and the average user) are now having more visual experiences on Facebook. The Timeline itself, framed by the Cover Photo, gives a visual storyboard of a brand's evolution (and of a person's life). If you play your cards right, this is visual storytelling at its best.
• Memes - You no longer need a witty comeback up your sleeve, just grab something from the internet's arsenal of memes and you'll be sure to make a point without having to say anything at all.  This images are worth a thousand words.
• Instagram - The mobile app Instagram allows anyone to take beautiful photos with their smartphone. Over a billion photos have been uploaded and posted through Instagram by both individuals and brands. It's a newer platform but brands are starting to use it more and more to capture the still beauty of their company. Instagram was recently acquired by Facebook, which means we should be seeing even more visual integration into Facebook.
• Pinterest - The latest (and greatest) of social media is one of the most visual social networks out there. Pinterest is the fastest growing independent social network and sends more referral traffic to other sites than Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined. Its quick growth and addictive qualities points toward the desire to consume visual content.
• Infographics - An infographic is basically a visual representation of a story, typically featuring data. Its rise in popularity across all networks shows that people want visual content and want to interpret data differently.

The Future of Visual Social Media?

• Mico Video Blogging - In addition to still images that are all the rave right now, I believe we will see the increase of micro video blogging through platforms like Viddy--the Instagram of video editing.
• Google+ - In addition to its spring closing in acquiring Picnik, Google has just acquired Snapseed. As a competitor of Instagram, Snapseed is a photo editing tool that could transform Google+, along with Picnik, into a visually stimulating social network, which it is currently lacking. Google+ already has photo editing tools available but they are not widely utilized.

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It's obvious that Pinterest is the next big thing but is it the next Facebook? This is the question that all social media marketers and enthusiasts are asking themselves right now. It definitely has the highest traffic increases that we've seen to date, so is it really that outlandish that, in a matter of time, it will take over the social networking world? Or is it outlandish to think Pinterest can compete against the giants in the social media ring?

 

Join the discussion and learn more at JustCoolEnough.com.

You can catch Social Media Meltdown live every Tuesday at 7:00pm EST!

Pinterest will be hitting iPads (then maybe some Androids) near you in the foreseeable future! The roughly two-year old social bookmarking site has an iTunes app in the works, which will skyrocket the networks mobile ability.


Here are some Pinterest tips and resources you might find interesting from a business standpoint:

• How to Launch Irresistible Pinterest Contests
• Pinterest For Content Marketers: A Q&A With Reggie Bradford
• 9 Tips to Boost Your Business with Pinterest
• Ad Age Digital A-List: Pinterest
• The Ultimate Guide for Mastering Pinterest for Marketing

There's no doubt about it, Pinterest has been picking up momentum and picking it up very quickly! So quick, in fact, that it is actually driving more traffic than Twitter these days!


Shareaholic monitored some 200,000 websites to see where their visitors were being referred by. During February 2012, Pinterest ranked #6 of all traffic referral websites--right behind StumbleUpon and right in front of Twitter.

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Despite the rise of social media and big businesses' ploy to use it for marketing over the last few years, consumers still trust their peers over corporations. Technically, who can sell a product best? Traditionally it would be the company's sales team but in today's society, people trust what their friends are saying.

As social networks become more and more flooded with corporate influence, users turn to other, less known, communities... and this is where we find Pinterest, "hottest website of the year."


Pinterest is a high-tech version of a bulletin board where you can "pin" up things you like for all your friends (your Pinterest network) to see. You can have multiple boards, each with its own subject.You can find and upload content to pin on various subjects including interior decorating, recipes, animals, architecture, men's/women's fashion, and design--the possibilities are endless.


As a great way to share your interests and categorize your thoughts, companies have now figured out ways of using it as a marketing tool.

There is definitely a niche market for it. The companies that will see the greatest results would be in the retail industry. Clothing, gadgets, home products, art work and other tangible objects a consumer can purchase are the best types of content for Pinterest. For example, ideeli.com, a retail site, saw a 446 percent rise in web traffic since utilizing Pinterest. By pinning your product with a link to where it can be purchased, your pin can go viral thus increasing sales. Simply pinning your insurance agent's phone number, is not a good use of Pinterest or your time as a marketer. Users want to share high quality images and graphics with their friends. It's all about the visual... which is why less visual companies are coming up with more creative ways to share over Pinterest, for example through infographics.


By using Pinterest and its ideal that people share what they like with their network, companies are getting the word-of-mouth advertising, at little to no cost, from their friends that most consumers trust.

So tell me...

As a Pinterest user, how would you feel about being bombarded by advertisements and sales-ey pins? Would the site still hold as much appeal if it was a well-known marketing hub? Would you still "trust" your friends pins as recommendations?