Social media marketing can be a great way for marketing local businesses to attract customers and build brand awareness.

Many local businesses already conduct social media marketing campaigns on Facebook. While most business owners are familiar with or have at least heard of Pinterest, many are still in the dark about the details of using it for their marketing.

Pinterest is designed to work as an online cork board for consumers. Users can “pin” photos from practically any website in the world to their online “boards”. These virtual cork boards are then displayed to the user’s followers. Some consumers also share their Pinterest boards publicly, meaning that almost anyone with Internet access can view them.

Perhaps the most powerful tool in the Pinterest arsenal is the ability to pluck a picture from any website with the click of a button. Users who are viewing an assortment of shoes on a major retailer’s website can use a button on their browser’s toolbar to pin photos to their online cork boards. Users can also make comments about the pinned images. A link to the site where the user found an image is included when the image is pinned to a cork board.

How Do Consumers Use Pinterest?
Consumers use Pinterest to post images of retail goods that they are interested in purchasing. An individual user may post hundreds of photos of dresses or kitchen tiles. Many individuals also use Pinterest to share home improvement ideas, health information and recipes.Users can also “re-pin” the photos of others and share them on their own cork boards.

Many businesses and organizations have seen significant increases in web traffic thanks to Pinterest. This online cork board site is the virtual equivalent of window shopping. Consumers express their desires and share photos of products in a fun, interactive environment. Business owners can make the most of Pinterest by ensuring that their website features plenty of high-quality images of their products.

While a business owner may not see immediate financial gains when products are posted on Pinterest, the potential for consumer exposure is great. After all a ready audience of over 23 million users (source: Comscore) is eagerly pinning and re-pinning photos. These users offer word-of-mouth marketing to any business whose products manage to land on someone’s virtual cork board.