Visual Content Marketing Tips Using Pinterest and Instagram

I recently attended a very informative webinar hosted by Piqora, a California-based company specializing in marketing and analytics for visual, interest-based networks like Pinterest, Tumblr, & Instagram. The team presented very helpful tips on how to market and promote products and services using Instagram and Pinterest.

More than just sharing photos, Instagram and Pinterest are two of the fastest growing social media platforms to help promote brands through visual content marketing. What are the main reasons for their success and what does using these platforms mean to your business? Here are some helpful nuggets that I learned from the webinar. If used strategically, Instagram and Pinterest can help promote your business more effectively.

What does Pinterest mean to your business?

• Virality – Viewers collect images through inspiration or if customers want to buy something. “Repins” help amplify the message.
• Content – Learn what type of of content is performing well and see what’s trending or popular.
• Traffic – 50% of web referrals happen 3.5 months after the initial pin on Pinterest.
• Money – Posting a product catalog can help drive traffic to your website or business, which in turn can generate revenue.
• Strategy – According to Piqora, pinning at the right time or when viewers are active leads to 36% higher repins. The best pinning time is before 9am on weekdays and after 9pm on weekends.
• One tip I learned: Hashtags are useless in Pinterest since the platforms can search keywords automatically. In other words, hashtags are NOT needed in Pinterest.

What does Instagram mean to your business?

• Posting frequency – Best posting time is usually after 5:00 p.m.
• Using multimedia types – Test and experiment with different media to see what your audiences love. For example, videos are a good visual to view an entirely different picture of a product while some brands don’t find video as effective as pictures with filters.
• Hashtags play a central role for your content to be discovered. According to Piqora, adding up to 7 hashtags on each post generates the most engagement with your audience. Having 8 or more hashtags would be perceived as spam. When adding hashtags, make sure they are concise, catchy and easy to remember.
• Should be a visual diary of your brand’s story – For example, if you want to show a logo or brochure that you designed, how about showing different variations of the piece or show inspiration on how you came up with the design.
• Build a community in Instagram through authentic visual storytelling. Instagram provides an opportunity to show your brands personality and build emotional bonds with your audience. In addition, hosting a contest or promotion can help accelerate community growth, just make sure that you have a clear goal and strategy in mind before promoting the contest.

For more tips and resources on Instagram and Pinterest marketing, go to www.piqora.com.