| EDITORIAL |
PIN YOUR BUSINESS
Capturing the Construction Industry’s Culture one Pin at a Time Mary Meszaros
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hat is Pinterest? It is the fastest growing online social network, a community that allows users to share, curate and discover websites of interest via visual images and “pin boards.” Users can either upload images from their own computer or “pin” images from other websites. The idea is to generate interest with the content by reposting or commenting. Content, including video, can be embedded in Facebook, Twitter, email posts, websites and blogs. The site recently emerged as one of the top ten websites within the Hitwise Social Networking & Forums category. Launched in 2010 as a network to “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting,” the site has gone from 57,000 visits a month to over 1 million, and continues to grow. People are visiting and become more engaged with browsing website content. While Pinterest is a natural fit for retailers showing off their latest products, the question is how can the rest of business, and specifically the construction industry, get in on the act? The answer lies in marketing.
Market your company and what you do through the industry’s culture. Create a business presence. Link yourself to the culture of your city and how your business contributes to it. Showcase yourself as part of the environment in which you operate: this is what we do, here’s how we do it, here’s where we do it, why, and with whom. For example, Stetson Hat Company’s pinboards feature Hats in Entertainment, The Great Outdoors, American Automobiles, Country Weddings, and Classic Stetson Ads among others. In a nutshell, the key factors Pinterest provides are skyrocketing popularity, ability to drive online traffic, building search engine optimization, and appeal to vertical markets. Getting Started You will need an email address and a Twitter or Facebook account to get started. Of the two, creating a Twitter (www.twitter.com) account is easier. Register your account with the same email address you use for your business’ Twitter account so you can share your pins through the Twitter account. Currently, Pinterest
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