Pinterest gained its fame as an online pin board and has never looked backed since. Recently the site introduced the ability to add Place Pins which allow brands to map out their existing or future pins and associate the pictures with an actual location. These Place Pins present interesting new opportunities for business owners who use the social network to advertise their products, services or brick-and-mortar stores.
Let’s take a closer look at how your store(s) can use Pinterest Place Pins to generate more foot traffic and increase exposure.
1. Brick-and-Mortar Pinning
Before Place Pins Pinterest business users could drive traffic to their websites by posting (or allowing others to post) pictures of their products or services on the site. With the addition of Place Pins local customers can now use the feature to locate the actual stores and shop in-person. The big advantage of Place Pins is that the business address is pinned along with the image providing users easy access to directions. This is particularly important because over three-quarters of Pinterest users peruse the site on their mobile devices.
Example of a Place Pins map
2. Create Interest Beyond Your Storefront
Single or multi-location brands don’t have to limit their geo-pinning to just their own stores or locations. Take the Four Seasons Gastronomic Travel board for example. This board showcases great food items from around the world and Place Pins the locations in which to get them. The idea is to attract foodies as well as international travelers and associate the Four Seasons name with both of them. It is a creative approach to pinning that spans beyond just the hotels that Four Seasons operates.
3. Create Local Town Attractions
If you are a local business owner you can create local town maps or industry-related attractions in your local city to attract exposure to your storefront and those of others in your town. Frequently posting events, businesses, and products or services will help keep the board fresh and keep people citing it for information. Partnering with other local businesses can help to encourage cross-store traffic and grow the online views and foot traffic to all the businesses in the online board community.
What other ways can You Think of?
The uses of Place Pins are essentially limitless with a little bit of creativity. As a bonus, consider syncing your Place Pins with other social media accounts to integrate the followers of your other social networks to the local stuff you are promoting on your Pinterest site.
What ways will you use Place Pins and where do you see this going in terms of increasing foot traffic for mobile users?
