5 Tools to Power Up Pinterest for Your Agency
by Catherine HeegFollowing is the latest in a series of guest columns by social media strategist Catherine Heeg.
What social site has 70 million unique visitors each month? Pinterest!
Imagine being able to use this powerful online pinup board, which I like to think of as a virtual tack board, (or a visual bookmarking site) to showcase all your fam photos and videos in one place?
If you’re looking to market to women – and remember that women make 80% of travel decisions – Pinterest is the place to find a receptive audience. Fully 80% of Pinterest users are women. That sounds like a great fit to me.
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However, only 28% of the travel professionals who attended the last Pinterest webinar I hosted had a Pinterest site. There is no better time than now for travel agents to become the retail travel industry’s early adopters by focusing on this wildly popular tool.
Here are five tools to power up your Pinterest experience. They include image editing tools to add pizzaz to your fam photos and analytics tools that let you focus on your followers and squeeze more success out of your site.
PicMonkey
This image editing tool is easy to use. Simply upload a photo and turn it into a masterpiece with text, banners, borders, enhanced colors and fun graphics. The free version provides a wide range of features, while the upgraded version gives you even more creative punch.
Creating a Facebook cover image or other collage is simple with PicMonkey. You can put together creative holiday cards for your clients, a new image for your social sites or new graphics for your next marketing campaign.
Canva
Canva, another photo editing tool, has taken hold quickly. It offers many unique layouts and backgrounds that make it easy to create Pinterest and Facebook images, cards, collages, posters and more. I really like the variety of banners and templates available.
Canva is still in the beta mode, so you’ll need to register for an invite to join. It’s well worth the wait.
Tailwind
Tailwind is an analytical tool that gives you a peek into your audience behavior by tracking fans, followers, likes, pins and boards.
I find Tailwind really useful for seeing see which boards and pins go viral. Then you can use this information to produce similar content to take your site to the next level.
The free version gives you valuable reporting; there is a paid version as well.
ViralTag
ViralTag (formerly Pingraphy) is a scheduling and analytics tool. The entry level price of $4.99 monthly provides a useful service for scheduling and uploading up to 100 pins every month.
Higher-priced subscriptions expand the number of pins you can schedule. The higher levels of investment also give you analytics and greater flexibility with upload sources.
Pinterest Analytics
Recently Pinterest added a free analytics tool. You’ll find some great charts and graphs here that show how many people are seeing your pins, clicking on your content or pinning from your website.
It’s easy to boost your Pinterest effectiveness by using these tools to understand your audience so you can put together a relevant Pinterest strategy that engages travelers and maximizes your sales.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ways to create awesome photos for Pinterest and measure and monitor the results. For more ideas, please visit my blog for travel pros.
What are your favorite Pinterest tools?
Catherine Heeg is president of Customized Management Solutions. An international speaker and trainer, she delivers interactive social media, marketing and communication workshops and webinars for clients in the travel industry. Connect with her at http://www.cmsspeaking.com/contact.php and socially: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest.
Related Articles
For more social media tips from strategist Catherine Heeg, see the following articles:
5 Twitter Strategies You Need to Know
4 Social Media Slip-Ups to Avoid
New Facebook Hashtags Are a Powerful Tool
