7 Top Pinterest Tools for Business

Pinterest is now the 3rd Most Popular Social Media Site in the World. And with that comes huge potential for businesses who are using this engaging visual platform more and more as part of their overall marketing strategy.  And also with that comes the “Tools” to help us manage Pinterest, and the growing number of social media accounts that it now joins.

Interested in Pinterest? Then you will LOVE these Tools!

Here are 7 Fabulous Pinterest Tools that are worth checking out for Your Business.  Some are basic.  Some are familiar.  Some are new,  and one is yet to be released….but all are worth checking out.

But first, a reminder from Pinterest about what this “Pinning          Business” is all about.

1   PIN IT BUTTON

This little button is becoming a familiar sight across the internet.  With the surge in popularity of Pinterest, avid “pinners” are pinning content from websites and blogs in huge numbers.  All that is required to get your piece of the pinning action is a PIN IT button. Available via the Pinterest website,  you just easily add the code to your own Website.

It is highly recommended that you add this button to any content on your site that is shareable and graphic or visual. For example, if you sell products or services, ensure that you have a visually appealing photo to match. This will be more enticing to Pinners (I can’t believe that “Pinners” is becoming widely accepted as a word!).  Start thinking about where you can add the PIN IT button. Remember that it does not just have to be attached to products. It can also be placed at the top or bottom of blog posts. Pinning blog posts or articles has become hugely popular as a way of sharing content, and also curating content on Boards to refer to later.  Your options are endless!  But as a general rule: if it is shareable, visual and you own the copyright, add a PIN IT button.  Let the pinning commence!

2  PINMARKLET (“PIN IT” BOOKMARKLET)

With Pinmarklet, You can Pin while Surfing (is that safe?)

This little button makes pinning easy. Also available on the Pinterest Website.  Just upload it to your chosen browser and click on “Pin it” whenever you see something you want to share. When you click on “Pin It” a screen will pop up with available pictures to pin. These pictures or graphics are pulled from the graphics that are on that particular page.  All you then have to do is choose the graphic that best suits and add your comment. Note to all the Pinners out there: be creative about what you include in your pin descriptions. Make the content relevant, include key words and inject humour or interest for your reader.  The description helps to describe the pin, and particularly the content “behind it”. Always check that the original site is linked and choose a picture that represents the content well.  As a website owner, think about the pictures or graphics that are included in your content, as these may be pinned.  We love Pinmarklet. It makes Pinning easy!

3. PINVOLVE

At present, it is not possible to share content from Facebook to Pinterest (which I often find frustrating as I want to share photos and videos!).  Pinvolve is a new application that does allow fans or likers to “pin” the content from your Facebook Timeline via the Pinvolve App. When they click on your App Thumbnail, a page comes up laying out your content in Pinterest-Style.  Here are some I prepared earlier for Socially Sorted:

Pinvolve allows others to view your Facebook content and pin it to Pinterest

And here are some more...

This article by Techcrunch is a good overview of Pinvolve.  I will be “watching this space” when it comes to this App. Personally I prefer to have my content pinned from my website or repinned with the original link attached, so I am unsure whether I will continue to have my content “pinnable” from Facebook. But this is a good option should you wish for your Facebook content to be shared.  As stated in the Techcrunch article “it also pulls in the Facebook likes and comments associated with each post”. As an App, I like the look and feel of Pinvolve. Time will tell if it is one that remains popular.

4. PIN A QUOTE

Pin a Quote is a clever little tool that lets you create funky and professional looking “quotes” that can then be pinned to a board and (hopefully) repinned again and again.  The pins are sourced back to the Pin-A -Quote website under your account, so they are more designed to build your Pinterest Board following. I wonder if they will drive much traffic at all to your website as it is not the source of the pin. However, it is great way for those without any design skills to quickly make quotes look “re-pinnable”.

Here is a Pin-A-Quote in progress:

Enter your Quote and your Author, choose your colours and Pin It!

If you are happy with a plain background then you can create and pin for free, but if you would like a choice of a range of funky fonts and colours then a quick transaction with Paypal will nest you the “Pro” version for $1.99.

After that, you can make some of these:

Bright and fun. Pin A Quote is a great way of creating original content

I like it (for a bit of fun). If you are looking to create some of your own content then it is a great way to go. Just remember to give credit to the author of the quote.  If you want to create original content and “own” the final product/design, then this may not be for you.  But then again it is a lot cheaper than having something custom designed!

5. PINTEREST RSS WIDGET (WordPress)

I found this great little Pinterest RSS Widget recently when looking for a way to bring Pinterest on to my blog.  This is a widget that display the thumbnails and titles of my latest Pinterest Pins via my Pinterest RSS feed. And here is a visual:

Get your Readers Pinterested in Your Boards - this is a fun way to link to Pinterest

I like this little Plugin – visual, simple and you can show a lot of pins or very few. In my case I chose to show only 4.  I did have some problems with the fonts (there is no option to change it), but you can also switch off the titles/descriptions and just show the pictures.   I also love that it has a “Follow me on Pinterest” button so that readers can immediately follow you on Pinterest.

Note: Another Plugin that looks great is the Pinterest Pinboard Widget and the graphics on this one are lovely. The only downside is that it does not currently include a “Follow me” button. There are more and more plugins being produced for Pinterest, so please do a search and find one that suits you.

6.  PINTEREST INFLUENCE TRACKERS (PINREACH AND PINPUFF)

Just like Twitter before it, Pinterest now has a growing array of “tracking” and stats programs.  Two that I have checked out are PINPUFF and PINREACH.  I like both for the fact that you can you can “sign in” easily – with Pinpuff using email address +  Pinterest username and Pinreach allowing Twitter and Facebook login.   Both give your “Pinfluence” score which is somewhat similar to Klout as an influence rating on Pinterest.  Time will tell if these seemingly arbitrary ratings have any significance.  What I really like is some of the stats that both sites give you.

For example, on Pinpuff:

Pinpuff's Summary of Pinterest Boards - a quick overview of what others are Re-Pinning

Overall I like the information on both platforms – Pinreach (just like Pinpuff) also provides an overview of your activity on Pinterest:

Pinreach provides an overview of your Pinterest Traffic - Pinteresting!-

And a closer look: Pinreach's stats show which boards are getting the most Traffic and Repins

As Pinterest continues to gain in popularity, more and more of these types of tools will emerge. Pinpuff and Pinreach are a great place to start.

7. PINERLY

I have saved one of the best till last. Pinerly is creating a buzz because it is being rolled out like Google+ with an air of exclusivity. I have gained access to Pinerly before it is officially launched in May, and I will be trialling it over coming weeks. But for now, here is a quick overview.

Pinerly is a platform that allows businesses or brands to track pin metrics on Pinterest.  Not only can it track stats like the platforms above, but it allows you to follow particular pins via “campaigns”.  An upcoming feature will be the ability to schedule pins at particular times of the day. This is hugely important.  Pins stay in the “feed” on Pinterest for a period of time around Pinning and it would be beneficial to know when those times are and the times that people are online pinning, and to be able to schedule your pins, just like you can on Twitter. Pinerly will no doubt be releasing a paid version as well as rolling out additional features over time, with the initial launch “pinned” for May 2012.

I have just gained access to the early release version of Pinerly before it is launched to the public. I intend to do a full review of it soon after I have trialled it.

Pinerly is not yet open to the public - but we will be reviewing it soon (here is a sneak peek!)

“Pinerly is not affiliated with Pinterest, but we do love them very much =)” The Pinerly Team (www.pinerly.com)

In summary, all of these 7 Tools are useful and practical and help to enhance your Pinterest experience.  Hopefully brands and businesses can benefit just as much as consumers from the use of these Tools on Pinterest.  As long as we keep in mind the spirit of Pinterest itself (a place to share things we love) it has huge potential for all.

Do you use any Pinterest tools?  If not, which ones will you try?

Donna Moritz

Donna Moritz is a Social Media Strategist and Visual Marketing Specialist – and founder of Socially Sorted, in Queensland, Australia. Donna loves to help small businesses and companies use visual social media strategies to get more reach, referrals and results for their business. She has been a contributing author for Entrepreneur.com, Social Fresh and Amy Porterfield and has been featured on Forbes and Yahoo Small Business. Connect with Donna on Google+ and other social media networks below.