Pinterest and Instagram

Pinterest and Instagram – The Rising Stars of Social Media

There is an on-going revolution among social networks on today’s highly competitive internet marketing and SEO. In addition to Facebook and Twitter, there are also hundreds of other options, most of which you’ve probably never even heard of although this two social networks we’re going to tackle is now rising through the edge of social media battle,Pinterest and Instagram.

If you are an online marketer, one service you may want to make yourself familiar with is a friendly new site called Pinterest. Perhaps the best thing about this little tool is that it can be used much differently than the usual suspects, yet still deliver good results.

You’ve seen those vintage-themed artsy photos taken by Iphone. It’s called Instagram – a pretty amazing Iphone-only App. Their USP you would think, is the amazing filters in their app to make pretty much any of your photos look brilliant. But no, that’s not the case. There are many Iphone photo apps out there, that do different things to your photos, but Instagram is the only one that has added the Social Network component to it. It allows you to follow cool people, and be followed and use of HashTags much like Twitter.

Pinterest – Latest Hype in Social Media

Pinterest is a relatively new social networking site that is fun, easy, and catching on the hype right now. It allows users to create online image collages, then quickly and easily share those collages – called “pinboards” – with other Pinterest users.

Showcase Your Products

Pinterest is great for pinning up the items from your store and letting users see what you have available in the catalog. The cool part about Pinterest is the targeted element that allows you to create different categories, meaning you can segment your items in sections that accommodate groups such as Kids, Adults, Gadgets, Designs, and so forth.

Sell Yourself

From a visibility perspective, social networking is great for companies and individual entrepreneurs alike. However, the rich visual aspect of Pinterest offers unique opportunities for establishing your presence. For instance, if you are a photographer or website designer, you could use the site to create a digital portfolio showcasing your best work. Thanks to a nice collection of user-friendly tools, you donít have to worry about needing to be an expert programmer just to put together a presentation that looks nice and professional. Include a link to your website, blog, or social hangout, and this could be a highly effective way to boost your traffic numbers.

Optimize Your Presence

Pinterest brings tremendous SEO value to the table but the real strategic opportunity is in optimizing your content. When users pin your content to their board, or you pin your own stuff, you are creating quality backlinks that can help you rank higher in the SERPs. Of course, good rankings bring traffic, and traffic is necessary for conversions. When optimizing your presence on Pinterest, remember that the same SEO rules apply – use relevant keywords and encourage your connections to help you create quality links. It’s also an opportunity to browse around and see what type of images are being pinned in your market sector or niche. Pinterest is an extremely visual medium, so pinners generally are looking for the largest and most appealing images possible.

Arguably, Pinterest is the hottest ticket in town as far as social media goes. We know whoís on top but statistics show that the site has grown by an incredible 4000% over the past six months. As far as keeping users engaged, it comes in at #3 behind Facebook and Tumblr, yet ahead of both LinkedIn and Google+ with an impressive 88.3 minutes spent on the site per visit. Anything can happen in the unpredictable social space, but Pinterest is definitely the train to watch.

Gain More Followers on Instagram

Launched in October 2010 as an instant photo-sharing, Instagram has since then garnered 15 million users who have uploaded 400 million photos, becoming a social-media phenomenon in its own right.

Top brands have begun showing interest in Instagram, which is currently available only on Apple devices. Starbucks has 202,000 followers through the app, Red Bull has 95,000 and Burberry has 151,000 followers.

Three fashion brands have leveraged Instagram’s API for their marketing success, namely they are Bergdorf Goodman, A Is For ALDO, and Levi’s. GE posts photos of it’s manufacturing process to Instagram. Sportswear company Puma recently sponsored 10 bloggers to Abu Dhabi to document the Volvo Ocean Race and Mar Mostro yacht.

These brands are using Instagram to communicate with their customers on yet another social media level, as it turns out the platform is more effective than Facebook or Twitter in some ways.

Optimizing for Instagram

You can display your Instagram Images on your blog using this very simple and easy to install Instagram Word Press Plugin http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/pin-it-on-pinterest/ . Additionally, you can display Instagram photo content by Hashtags, which means the possibilities are endless what you can use these for. Most likely you need a WordPress Developer to install this one though. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ep-hashimage/

When you build your own Instagram API, you can apply elements of gamification, high or low levels of curation, you can tell a story with pictures or search the far corners of the earth of talent and beauty, all while promoting your brand. It is important to remember, however, that this wealth of content that you’re mining technically belongs to someone else.

The most important thing to remember is that you should only be uploading your most impressive and best photos to your Instagram followers. Unless you’re a celebrity, (who thousands of mindless denizens of the web will follow anyway, regardless of what you post) nobody gives three craps that you’ve just folded your shirts and decided to show the world how awesome you are at it. The best way to look at it is as if you were a potential follower finding your own picture on Instagram. If you saw it, would you want to follow that person? If the answer is no, don’t post it.

If you have other marketing channels (i.e. blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc.) you should let your existing fans and followers know you’re now a member of the Instagram family so they can follow you there. The more you promote yourself elsewhere and let people know you’re now photo-blogging like a mad teenage hipster who’s just been given their first iPhone, the better your chances of harvesting new followers. Remember, social media success is all about perseverance and constant promotion. Get yourself out there.

Every single day, there’s a massive changes happening on the web. Social networking is the finest place imaginable to get the help that one might need. There are millions of people out there that will read just about anything that looks interesting. Because of this phenomenon on the internet, it’s just a beginning to making yourself known to millions of people that might read up on your stuff and enjoy your work.