You might hate me a little bit for this…but part of my job involves playing — err, working — on Pinterest.
We just launched our brand account, http://pinterest.com/growingbolder/, last week, and I’m loading up our content like crazy (and I’ll also be pinning content from our clients, other TV shows and people whose work inspires us).
Yes, I acknowledge that I am on record with saying that bloggers may not want to pin their own content. That opinion is…a work in progress. Y’all made some very convincing arguments. Either way, I think brands are a different story (and many bloggers may be big enough brands that my “rule” does not apply).
Here’s why:
- 8 Strategies for Launching a Brand on Pinterest (via Mashable)
- Ad Age Digital A-List: Pinterest (via Ad Age)
- 26 Tips for Using Pinterest for Business (via Social Media Explorer)
OK, back to today’s tool. Did you know that you can see who has pinned your content as well as content from other sources? I think it’s a great way to see what kind of things resonate with the Pinterest community, so you can do more of it (and get more traffic).
Go to: http://www.pinterest.com/source/WEBSITEURL.COM (and obviously, substitute your URL or whatever source you’re checking out for WEBSITEURL.COM).
When I look at my version, I can see that I am typically pinned into:
- healthy living
- blogging/social media tips (my media kit is up there a lot!)
- hair tutorials
That is great, because I definitely think of my website as being geared toward those top two. If I was getting other stuff pinned — say, pictures of my dogs or some of the junk food I eat, I might consider doing a few extra posts on those topics. (Nothing off-brand, but perhaps more posts on why I think indulging is part of a healthy diet, or how I try and keep moderation in mind when chowing down on candy.)
I also love to see what others are pinning from some of my favorite sites.
Check out:
- http://pinterest.com/source/shape.com/
- http://pinterest.com/source/mashable.com/ (I love that the Pinterest infographic has been pinned so many times)
- http://pinterest.com/source/foodnetwork.com/
If you work in social media, it’s also a good idea to review what people are pinning for your company or your clients. Call attention to what’s popular, and maybe come up with a plan to create more “pinnable” content!
If you use the tool, come back and tell me what your most-pinned piece of content. Oh, and be sure to follow me: http://pinterest.com/kwidrick.
About Katy
Katy, thanks for posting such informative blog. I’ve already got pinterest. And as for now, I enjoy pinning my favorite blogs.
I was surprised that two of my pictures have been pinned!
As far as pinning as a brand, I do some of our product and then some fun stuff that’s not. I follow one brand who only pins their own stuff and it’s sort of pointless. It’s like just looking at the recipe.
Shamless plug for my work pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pinnaclepromos
I was JUST looking for how to do this yesterday. You are awesome with the web tools, once again!
This is awesome, I was sure no one had pinned my stuff and low and behold people had! Thanks for sharing, new tool Tuesday’s are my favorite!
I have the opposite question – I get traffic from pinterest, but I can’t tell how it’s finding me, especially since I don’t have my blog on it. Any way to tell?
Hmmm…only a couple of things from your blog are pinned: http://pinterest.com/source/runningpeanut.com/
It wouldn’t matter if you had your blog listed at all…if lots of people pinned your stuff, it would lead to a lot of traffic for you. But since that’s not the case, it’s tough to see!
If I were you, I’d dig deeper into your analytics. Can you trace the traffic source to a specific pin or someone else’s post on Pinterest?
Are you able to amend your content once someone pins it?
Claire,
The pin itself is just a thumbnail, a caption and a link. You can certainly edit the content that is held on the link/blog post if you want. But you can’t control which thumbnail the person chooses or what caption they give.
I get to use Pinterest for work too! My boss was so excited about adding it to our roster of social media and I was just excited because I can now be paid to be on Pinterest.
It was a happy day when I made our account.
Awesome lady – thanks for sharing!
I’ve substituted mine and your URL into that web address above and I can’t get it to work — pinterest keeps giving me a 502 error. My fault or theirs?
Looks like they’re having server issues this afternoon — I got the same error when I tried your link, AND when I tried mine, which was working a few hours ago.
This is so cool! I just started a Pinterest for my company and this info is so helpful. It will also help me with my blog!
I didn’t “get” pinterest and didn’t really try until I started seeing TONS of traffic to my site from the website. I was curious, and slightly worried, as to what was going on but I had to sign up for it in order to see. I figured out that people were pinning my stuff, which was fine. I appreciate that readers enjoy my stuff and that they were spreading the word!
Thanks for the post here…This serves as an inspiration to all…
Hi Katy!. i’ve already got pinterest. And i really enjoy pinning my favorite blogs. Thanks for the post and for the info.
I was just looking for how to find out this information! PERFECT. Thank you so much. I thought it would be much more complicated.
I’ve just launched my blog and am working to make I share my content on lots of different channels: facebook, twitter, pinterest, linkedin, etc.