If you read this blog (or follow me on Pinterest), you know I’m obsessed with Pinterest. OBSESSED. It’s my equivalent of paging through a billion different magazines, cookbooks (which I never actually do) and idea boards, and being able to save everything that attracts my eye for possible future reference. I use it as my bookmarking site when I read articles I want to save for later.
I have also “done” Pinterest for two associations and know how much traffic it can drive to an association website–at both my current association and my last association, Pinterest was one of the top web traffic referrers. With Facebook organic reach on the decline and expected to continue to decline, now is as good a time as any to start looking to other social networks to start diversifying your social media/content strategy. Word to the wise, though: Pinterest is a highly addictive rabbit hole; I take no responsibility if you end up getting sucked in. : )
- Make pins searchable. Even if your association is not yet on Pinterest, you can make it easy for people to share your content for you by adding a Pin It button to your content. Here’s how to do it, including how to customize the default description of the pin. Want to be able to track when people are pinning your content? PinAlerts will send you email notifications when someone pins your content.
- Embed pins/boards on your website. One way to promote the fact that your association is on Pinterest and drive members there is to feature Pinterest widgets on your association’s website. You can create widgets of individual pins, boards or your Pinterest profile–here’s how. A word of advice if you try it and pins/boards aren’t appearing: widgets require you to install javascript code AND embed url.
- Use Place Pins to promote your meetings and events. I haven’t tried this yet, but this example from University of Michigan makes me think about how an association might create a similar board for attendees of an annual meeting with local hotels, restaurants and other attractions. Anyone have any examples like this?
Image by Roxanne Ready on Flickr
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