“Pinterest” is a web service that allows you to collect images and videos from the Internet, create collections, and share them. It is used not only by individual users but also for corporate marketing and promotion, and has the potential to increase product awareness and branding. This time, we will introduce the basic usage of Pinterest that even beginners can understand, how to use it in business, and examples.
What is Pinterest?
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Have you ever wanted to collect and save your favorite images or videos while browsing the Internet? Also, have you ever wanted to share the images you have collected with your friends, acquaintances, family, work team members, etc.?
In fact, Pinterest is an easy way to do this on the web. It is a service that allows you to “pin” your favorite photos and images to a “board” like a personal cork board, and share them.
You can organize your own boards on Pinterest by giving them a name like “Fashion,” “Places to Go,” “Scenery,” or “Business Ideas,” and dividing them into categories.
Pinterest is a service that allows you to publish your collection. General users can easily see the boards of people with good taste or who are sensitive to trends, which can be stimulating, increase their sensitivity, and help them catch trends. Therefore, in addition to creating your own collection, you can also “like” and react to the boards of other users you are interested in, bookmark them, and interact with them through comments and messages. There are also sides.
Pinterest was born in America in 2010. Since then, it has been used all over the world, and the number of users has continued to increase.
According to the financial results for the third quarter of 2022 announced by Pinterest in the US, the number of monthly active users worldwide is 445 million.
Source: Pinterest News Release
https://investor.pinterestinc.com/press-releases/press-releases-details/2022/Pinterest-Announces-Third-Quarter-2022-Results/default.aspxRelated
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Differences with Instagram
By the way, when you think of image sharing services, Instagram probably comes to mind. It may seem similar to Pinterest, but it’s completely different. Let’s take a look at the differences.
- Differences in the purpose of use of users
The general purpose of Instagram is to post and share photos that you have taken and edited, but the purpose of Pinterest is to collect and share photos found on the Internet. The difference is that while Pinterest is more important for personal collections and ideas, Instagram is more important for disclosing information to the public, friends, and acquaintances.
- Functional differences
There are also differences from Instagram in terms of functionality. For example, Pinterest allows you to attach external links to images you post, but on Instagram, even if you enter a URL and post it, it does not function as an external link, so you cannot actually post an external link. It can be said that Pinterest is easier to expand externally than Instagram, and has a strong bookmark-like meaning.
- Difference in diffusivity
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Examples of what Pinterest users are using
When a company uses Pinterest, it is important to understand how general users use it. Here are some common usage examples from Pinterest users.
Collect and bookmark photos and videos you like from external sites and other users.
Rather than posting photos you’ve taken yourself, Pinterest focuses on collecting photos from external websites and photos pinned by other users. You can pin videos as well. Clicking on an image will take you to the page where the image was posted, so you can use it as a bookmark.
plan your trip
When planning a trip, you can use Pinterest to search for destinations and tourist spots you want to visit.
Use for research on fashion coordination
You can collect snaps that interest you when going out or for everyday fashion coordination, and use them as reference for your outfits.
Collect interior items for moving/renovation
You can use it to research and collect interior design references before moving or redecorating.
For ordering hair style and nails
Before you go to the hair salon or nail salon, you can collect images on Pinterest to make it easier to order.
Sharing images of the wedding with the couple
Some couples use it to solidify their wedding image, such as designing invitations and welcome boards, and ideas for hair arrangements and bouquets on the day. You can find great photos both domestically and internationally, so you can create something more sophisticated.
Scrap ideas for work
It is also used to scrape up ideas for work designs and productions. When you are stuck, looking at all the photos and videos will help you come up with ideas more easily.
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How to register an account on Pinterest
There are many ways to use Pinterest. We would like to provide useful information to our users and make meaningful use of it as a company. Now, let’s move on to how to use it. First, register for an account. You can easily do it by following these steps:
Visit Pinterest
Visit Pinterest’s homepage.
https://www.pinterest.jp/
Register an account
When you open the top page, first press the “Free Registration” button at the top right to proceed with registration. Registration is free.
A pop-up screen will appear with the message “Welcome to Pinterest!” Enter the “email address”, “password” and “age” required for registration and press the “Continue” button.
Alternatively, you can also use your Facebook, Google, or LINE account, so you can log in with those accounts.
Select 5 interests
Next, select five themes from among the many categories that interest you. Your home feed is customized based on your interests, so you can see other users’ Pins on the topics you’re interested in every time you visit.
Proceed further and your registration will be completed. Your home page will open, and you’ll probably see a row of photos of the themes you’re interested in.
Basic usage of Pinterest
How exactly can you use Pinterest? Basic usage is explained in an easy-to-understand manner for beginners.
Pin
Pinterest starts by “Pining” an image or video from a website on the internet. Pin means to clip something as if it were pinned to a board. There are two ways to pin.
1. How to pin from a browser button
One way is to install a dedicated Pinterest button on your browser and save by pressing that button. You can place buttons in Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. For example, in Chrome, visit the Chrome Web Store page, click Add to Chrome, and follow the prompts to complete the installation.
If you install the Pinterest button in your browser in this way, you can pin an image by simply pressing the Pinterest button on the page that has the image you are interested in.
2. How to save pins without using browser buttons
Another option is to save your pin without using the browser button. After logging into your Pinterest account, click Create at the top left of the home page. Then select “Create Pin”, click “Save from Website” on the screen that appears, and enter the URL of the website of the image you want to save. Next, click the “right angle bracket icon” and a list of images included in that URL will be displayed on the new screen. Select the image you want to pin and click “Add 1 Pin” at the bottom right. Click.
Add a title and description, click Select above the title, click Save next to the board you want to save your Pin to, or click Create Board to create a new one. Create a board and save to that board.
Repin
You can “Repin” images and videos posted by other users on Pinterest. A repin is similar to a retweet on Twitter. You can paste images pinned by other users to your own board. When you hover over another user’s image, a “Save” button surrounded by a red frame will appear, and you can repin it by pressing this button.
Create a board
You can create a board and save images and videos that interest you. It is an image like a folder that can be stored by category. There are two ways to create a board. One way is to create a new board when saving pinned images. The other method is to create one from My Page.
Boards can be made public or private. If you make it private, only you and the users you invite will be able to see it. You can see that board.
to follow
Other useful features on Pinterest
Pinterest has other useful features, including: Let’s take a look at each.
Keyword search
Pinterest has a search function. One of them is keyword search. You can find pinned images by entering your favorite keywords. For example, for “wedding”, images related to the wedding will be displayed, as well as images that seem to have little relevance. On Pinterest, many images are displayed even though the keyword is not mentioned in the image title or description. Therefore, flexible image searches are possible without being bound by fixed concepts.
Zoom in search
There is also a search function called zoom-in search. This is a function that allows you to freely select a range from a specified image and finds images that resemble the selected part of the image. For example, if you zoom in on a specific flower in an image of a landscape that includes trees, flowers, or mountains, you can search for images related to that flower or flowers with a similar shape or color. images etc. will be displayed.
Pinterest Lens
This is also a kind of search function. Pinterest Lens is a feature that allows you to scan images taken with your smartphone and search for similar images. You can use it by opening Pinterest on a mobile device such as a smartphone and clicking the “magnifying glass” mark at the top right of the search screen. You can tap the button to take a photo on the spot, or select a photo from your smartphone’s camera roll.
similar pins
Similar Pins, as the name suggests, are similar images. When you open an image on Pinterest, it will appear at the bottom of the page. It is unclear what criteria are used to select the images, but similar or related images are displayed beautifully.
sub board
A subboard is like an extension of a board. This feature allows you to further categorize and organize your saved pins within the board. For example, if you create a board called “Interior,” you would create sub-boards such as “Living Room,” “Bedroom,” and “Children’s Room.” Since you can organize your board more, it will be easier to see when browsing than if you had a bunch of different types of images lined up.
Message function
The message function is a function that allows you to send pinned images to users with a message. Click the “speech bubble” mark at the top right of the home screen. You can search for users by name or email address and send messages.
Ability to add notes and schedules to boards
The board has a note function where you can add notes and a schedule function where you can enter dates. For example, if you pin a cooking recipe, you can shop for the recipe and schedule a cooking date and time.
How to use Pinterest for business
Now, it’s time to show you how to use Pinterest for your business. First, let’s understand the characteristics of Pinterest from a business perspective.
[Characteristics of Pinterest’s business perspective]
Easily leads to the next action such as purchasing behavior
Pinterest is basically used for the user’s next action. Unlike SNS like Instagram, it is more of a platform for deciding to “Pin it and take this action later”. Therefore, from the perspective of companies that want to sell goods and services to general users, there is a possibility that it will lead to purchasing behavior because it has characteristics that are likely to lead to actual user behavior. Due to these characteristics, Pinterest is already being used by many companies for business purposes.
Easy to attract real interest
Pinterest is said to be a place where people’s real interests tend to gather. This is because it is often tied to one’s actual actions. Therefore, companies that operate businesses targeting general consumers can also grasp trends in the interests of general consumer users.
Given these characteristics, it can be said that if you actively utilize Pinterest for business, it will be easier to lead to results. So how exactly do you use it?
We will introduce the main usage methods.
[How to use Pinterest for business]
Understand the hobbies and preferences of general consumers and their intentions to use in-house content
As you open and operate your business account, your number of followers will gradually increase. Users who are interested in your business will follow you. Additionally, when a follower repins an image from your account, it will be saved to that follower’s board. At that time, you can predict to some extent what purpose or intention the repin was based on the board name. For example, let’s say a food manufacturer repins a photo of a recipe using their food. If the board name saved by the user who repined the recipe photo is “Recipe,” we can infer that the user intends to cook using the recipe. On the other hand, if you saved it to a board called “Christmas Party,” we can assume that you intend to use it as a recipe for a Christmas party. In this way, by analyzing what board names have been saved, you can learn the purpose for which your company’s content was used, and you will be able to consider the direction of your company’s account management and marketing measures.
Use the function to follow boards to separate boards
As mentioned earlier, Pinterest allows you to pin different boards. Even within your company’s content, you can categorize it into several categories. For example, if you are an apparel manufacturer, you may have various divisions such as “Men’s,” “Ladies,” “Kids,” “Tops,” “Bottoms,” “Spring/Summer,” “Autumn/Winter,” “Products,” and “Coordination.” Among them, it can be inferred that the tastes and goals of users who follow the “Men’s” board and those who follow the “Coordination” board are different. If there are a lot of followers on the “men’s” board, it would be effective to operate an account for people who are interested in men’s clothing, for example. By making the corporate account itself as closely aligned with the user’s intentions as possible, it is believed that results such as promoting purchases will be more likely to be achieved.
Utilize PIN code
A Pin code is a QR code that allows you to access a specific profile or board by scanning it with a camera on the Pinterest app installed on your smartphone. For example, one possible use would be to place a pin code inside an apparel shop and ask customers to scan it and access the “coordination” board, where they can see the coordination of products in the store. This allows customers to imagine multiple scenarios in which they would use the clothing in front of them, which is thought to encourage purchases.
Use shopping functions for e-commerce businesses
Pinterest has a shopping feature for e-commerce businesses that sell products online. For example, “Product Pin” automatically displays the price, product title and description obtained from your company’s e-commerce site, etc., and “Product Pin” that automatically creates a product pin when a product image from your company’s e-commerce site is pinned. Catalog function etc.
Deliver advertisements “Pinterest Ads”
From June 2022, “Pinterest Ads”, which allows you to distribute advertisements within Pinterest, will be available in Japan. Since it is distributed in a format similar to a normal post, it can be said to be an advertisement that does not look like an advertisement. It is possible to distribute various creatives using images, videos, etc.
It is divided into three campaign types: “Increase awareness,” “Encourage comparison consideration,” and “Increase number of conversions,” and the ad formats that can be used vary.
Additionally, since targeting is possible, full-fledged advertising operations are possible.
Introducing “Premier Spotlight” and “Travel Catalog”
“Premier Spotlight” is an advertising solution designed to expand your reach at a time when people are most likely to respond to your ads.
“Travel Catalog” is a feature that uses Pinterest technology to easily upload travel products to the platform.
As you can see, there are many ways to use Pinterest for your business. There are other ways to use it than the ones I’ve introduced, so please do your own research.
Pinterest corporate usage examples
Finally, we will introduce four examples of companies that are actually using Pinterest.
sanrio
https://www.pinterest.jp/sanrio/
Sanrio is known for having a variety of characters, and the most distinctive feature is that the board is divided into different characters. Many photos of character goods are pinned. There are also boards categorized by sweets, fashion, etc. This is an account that gathers many followers both domestically and internationally.
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
https://www.pinterest.jp/honda/
This is the account of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., known for Honda cars. The board is divided by car type, so it’s easy to see. A variety of photos are pinned, from the car’s body to driving scenes and interior seats.
Gap Japan
https://www.pinterest.jp/gapjpn/
This is an account for apparel manufacturer Gap Japan. The boards are divided into seasonal collections such as Kids & Babies, Autumn and Winter. This is very convenient when you want to view all collection items at once. In addition to purchasing clothes, this is a rich variety of images that can be used by a variety of users, such as pinning children’s fashion to help coordinate their child’s outfits, and creating design ideas.
Awaji City Hall
https://www.pinterest.jp/awajicity/
Local governments are also using Pinterest. The Awaji City Hall account has many fun boards for foreigners categorized by sightseeing spots such as “JAPAN”, restaurants in Awaji City, and power spots. There are plenty of attractive images that make foreigners want to visit. Of course, Japanese people will also be attracted to it.
summary
- “Pinterest” is a web service that allows you to collect images and videos from the Internet, create collections, and share them. It is used not only by individual users but also for corporate marketing and promotion, and has the potential to expand product awareness and branding.
- The basic ways to use Pinterest are “Pin”, “Repin”, “Create a board”, and “Follow”.
- Pinterest can be used effectively in business because it can easily lead to the next action, such as purchasing, and attract real interest.
- Examples of ways to use Pinterest for business include “Knowing the hobbies and preferences of general consumers and their intentions to use your company’s content,” “Using the board follow function to divide boards,” “Using pin codes,” and “Using information for e-commerce businesses.” Examples include “Use the shopping function” and “Distribute advertisements using Pinterest Ads.”