One of the biggest mistakes business owners often make in their marketing efforts is to forget the most important aspect of marketing: The Call to Action. You only have a few sections to get the viewers attention whether it’s on a website, a brochure, or Pinterest. If you look around on Pinterest you’ll quickly see that one reason some business owners are not getting the results they desire is because they forgot a fundamental aspect of marketing! The Call to Action!
Granted, it’s a little more difficult creating a call to action on Pinterest because of the image centricity. But, now that you’re reading this, I’m sure you are having an “aha moment” regarding the obvious. A call to action is paramount to get anyone to do what you most desire them to do. You’ve got to tell people what to do. On Pinterest what you’re going to most likely be asking for is for them to re-pin your pins and boards, but you can ask them to do other things too.
Let’s take a look at what makes a Pinterest Worthy Call to Action:
Be Direct — You don’t want anyone looking at your pins to be confused about what to do. You want them at a glance to understand what to do and what will happen if they do what you ask. For example, if you’re going to donate money to a cause for each re-pin, say so.
Know your Target Audience — If you don’t know your target inside and out, you can’t choose pins very well, or create boards that interest them. Study your target and know them so you can know how best to phrase or show a call to action.
Be Succinct — You have a word limit, use it well. Really think about each and every word that you use so that it looks good while garnering the desired action. Remember, you can use images to get your message across too. On Pinterest, images always win.
Notice anything? The Pinterest call to action is almost the same thing that makes any call to action worthy! A big mistake business owners often make is acting like Pinterest is so different that marketing rules don’t matter anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth. Marketing rules matter. You can’t expect to make the sale if you don’t ask for the close.
By always remembering to tell your followers what you want them to do, you’ll get a higher return on your time investment. Tell them to re-pin you and why. With the advent of business accounts for Pinterest there is probably a lot more coming down the road that will make Pinterest even more useful for business marketing. Since studies are showing that people are spending more time on Pinterest than Facebook, this is a very valuable marketing tool that cannot be overlooked. It would be a shame to forget to include your call to action on such an important social media channel.
Oh, and while you’re learning to use a call to action on your boards, don’t forget to announce on your other social media accounts that your brand is now on Pinterest. That will get you off and running fast if you already have a following elsewhere.
Joshua Shoemaker
