Have you heard of Pinterest? Have you tried it out? I remember the first time I got in was only because I was writing an article on it. At first, it struck me as something that would not help me in any way. After a while, it became my go-to place for research on all things visual. Pretty soon, it was first on the list of sites I visit when I am extremely bored.
Pinterest is…
So what’s Pinterest? It is a site that lets you scroll through endless pins (pins are images that have been pinned (or posted) from all over the web or uploaded to the site) and repin them, like them or comment on them. It has categories for you to whet your appetite and if you are not careful, you may end up wasting your entire afternoon scrolling through that infinite page. There are various categories to sift through ranging from Humour to Men’s Fashion.
You can also pin stuff from wherever you are on the Web through various tools. There is the Pin It Chrome Extension, the Pin It Button that appears on the top left of images if you are on Google Chrome or you could simply right click on the images and find the Pin It option. Alternatively, sites like Feedly have installed the button on their photos. There are also Share on Pinterest buttons on many sites today.
Let’s forget the fact that it looks like a girlish site for a minute. Let us also forget the fact that we all pronounce it differently. Like I know someone who cannot help but call it Pininterest. Let us also bear in mind that most of us do not pronounce ‘interest’ right anyway. Here is why you should be on Pinterest as an individual and as a brand.
Why Pinterest…
Pinterest provides you with a space where you save all your inspirations from across the Web wherever you are. Say you really want a certain dress, you can collect pins from all over that have that design you like and look for them or show them to your tailor. Hopefully, he/she will make it look as good as the picture. Now if you look at this point from a brand perspective, you realize that if you are, say, a clothing line or shop that pins its clothes on Pinterest with the right descriptions, people will find you and actually just buy from you directly. A pin links back to the site it came from. In short, Pinterest is great at conversion.
There are secret boards on Pinterest, meaning whatever you pin there cannot be seen by anyone else but yourself. The perfect way to pin images that inspire your work or projects without letting the whole world know where you are getting your ideas. You can also invite people to view the board too.
You can have several people on board your board too! All you need to do is add people to it so that they can add pins from wherever they are. How is that for collaboration?
What Kenyan Brands…
I know a few Kenyan Brands on Pinterest like Nivea East Africa, Magical Kenya, Sleep Out Kenya. However, these accounts are not active anymore. For instance, the Nivea one was just opened for the Black and White contest the brand held and is pretty much dormant now. Magical Kenya was quite active last year.
Let’s point out the really active and awesome ones:
Safaricom has an account alright, complete with followers but no pins. Am I the only one seeing the opportunities here? Galore! Did I miss out on a Kenyan brand you know on Pinterest?
Kenyans are joining Pinterest gradually, just like they are on Instagram. Don’t ignore these visual tools in the coming days. What’s even better? Adopting them before everyone else discovers they were missing out. Of course, Pinterest is not for every brand, but if yours is visual or involves online shopping, you had better get your company on.
You know what else would be awesome? Actually pinning things that represent Kenya other than the Maasai and wildlife that foreigners pin on Pinterest. Just check this feed when you search Kenya and smh. I am not saying there’s anything wrong with Kenya being seen in that aspect, on the contrary. Magical Kenya and all the hotels that target international tourists should actually take advantage of Pinterest for that very reason. However, Kenya is more than that, don’t you agree?
Pinterest Hack…
Takeaway: If you want to see if people are pinning your images on Pinterest, do this: Click or type this link into your address bar http://www.pinterest.com/source/magicalkenya.com/ then replace ‘magicalkenya.com’ with your own URL, say, like I would replace it with belva.co.ke to read http://www.pinterest.com/source/belva.co.ke/. It tracks all pins from your website.
Convinced yet? Why or why not? Drop us a line.
