It's all digital

Vested Pinterest

How businesses can get the most of the social media site.

Janet Thaeler and Paul Wilson created www.PinnableBusiness.com, to share information about how companies can utilize the social media site. In this first of a two-part series, the savvy pinners explain how small businesses can use the site to promote their brands and communicate with customers.

Why did you think that Pinterest would be a good social media site for businesses?

Paul Wilson: Unlike other relatively new social networks at the time, such as Quora or Google+, Pinterest seemed easier to engage and accept. So, we started researching everything we could on the network. From our intense research a mountain of business data on Pinterest surfaced. We created our website to make sense of this research, and to help turn it into actionable items.

Janet Thaeler: At first my reaction was like many; not another social network! Our attention span has gone from short to shorter and pictures are faster to grasp than reading. Images also evoke emotion, which is part of marketing. Pinterest is so full of content that it just takes minutes to browse. It’s easier than Facebook, and they made it quick to save and share what you find. I read reports about how fast the site was growing. To me, this signaled opportunity.

Should everyone be on Pinterest?

Wilson: Just creating a profile and not providing useful content adds clutter to Pinterest and the web as a whole. The retailers who actively build relationships via Pinterest now may or may not see immediate benefits. However, what they will see is the long-term effect Pinterest has on consumers, particularly as more consumers emotionally resonate with the network.

How can Pinterest make businesses more profitable?

Wilson: First, the secret to profitability for most sites on the web is to continually drive targeted traffic, which converts to the requested objectives of the website. Pinterest can assist in this by driving targeted users who have visually connected to images they were just viewing. When businesses create visually pleasing pins on Pinterest, it helps the user to make an emotional connection. In essence Pinterest is a soft sell with a punch, which explains why websites are reporting more conversions from Pinterest users than any other social network.

Engagement is the true power of social media. Yet, a business engages differently on Pinterest than on Facebook or Twitter. Pinterest’s messaging system is only found through its pin comments, which should be utilized. And using the Pinterest source directory, businesses can see what people have pinned from their websites. If you go to http://pinterest.com/source/pinnablebusiness.com you will see what people have pinned from our website.

NEXT MONTH: Best practices & pitfalls

Multimedia Minute

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Houweling Tomatoes outside of LA grows millions of tomatoes annually in a 125-acre greenhouse powered by clean energy. Learn how they do it.
Watch the video here: http://bit.ly/HVSguH

Getting to zero discharge
Leanne Wilson of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers shows how a greenhouse water filtration system can help hydroponic growers reduce their environmental footprint.
Watch the video here: http://bit.ly/HVSdyY

All about poinsettias
Casey DeRosier from Minnesota Grown visits Bachman’s in Farmington, Minn., to learn about growing and caring for poinsettias.
Watch the video here: http://bit.ly/17t7Aog
 

Get noticed!

When you post an item on your website or social network, what’s your next step? Do you leave it there and hope someone finds it? Or do you seek out readers by promoting your post through social media? Digital communications consultant Jonathan Rick explains how Twitter can help you get your message out to more people.

Many growers who are using social media are doing so without a strategy, and most do not have a dedicated social media employee. Rick’s tips can help you make the most of each post and get back to other tasks.

Tweet summaries, excerpts, and teasers
Every digital native knows how to tweet the obvious: “Check out my new post.” But when the half-life of a tweet is less than three hours, you must keep pushing.

Send shout-outs
No doubt, you quoted, mentioned, or linked to others in your post. Be sure to recognize them. Play on their vanity—flattery will get you everywhere. Your unspoken goal: Get them to share your post with their network.

For more tips, visit rick’s website, www.jonathanrick.com, or follow him on Twitter at @jrick.
 

From Twitter

Senninger Irrigation @Senniger_Irrig
How do I Irrigate with Poor Water Quality? Check out our latest #agblog at: http://t.co/6bkrcreAxK #ag #agriculture

Ball Flora Plant @BallFloraPlant
Pantone’s Spring 2014 color trend forecast in flowers! fb.me/VqoaqyLK

Fast Company @XFastCompany
Bosses, take note. Here’s how you lose your best employees: f-st.co/KSvy4kg

Dallasa Aboretum @allasarboretum
Can you guess which of these four flowers is in the Mum family? Come out to the Arboretum and see them in full bloom! pic.twitter.com/C5SVg6cGt6

TGP Greenhouses @TGPGreenhouses
The Greenhouse winter bit.ly/16xBtU4 salads and nested greenhouses for variety

Bates Nursery @BatesNursery
Mites and mildew? Think neem oil: tinyurl.com/3m5daox

Timber Press @timberpress
Q&A: Pruning hydrangea, late planting, and more | A Way to Garden ow.ly/qKpHi #gardening

Chicago Botanical Garden @chicagobotanic
MT @usnews Where have all the botanists gone? ow.ly/qKGKC -to @chicagobotanic for #plantscience training. ow.ly/qKGoq

Maria Zampini @upshoothort
My article, Patent Primer, is the Nov cover story for @GreenhouseMag - learn in laymen’s terms! tinyurl.com/munxkfm

Terra Nova Nurseries @terranovanurs
@MSUENews has developed a series of #pestmanagement webinars, like Insect Scouting in Fruit Crops. ow.ly/qAyDb, @GreenhouseMag

Monica Hemmingway @gardenjunkie1
Feed your soil and it will feed you. bit.ly/18p35vk

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