1 | P a g e PINTEREST GUIDE for NONPROFITS by Kristin McGinnis,
MBA about.me/kristin_mcginnis
2 | P a g e Pint Background on Pinterest
_______________________________________________________ 3
Demographics of
Pinterest___________________________________________________________
3 Benefits of
Pinterest________________________________________________________________
3 Followers
________________________________________________________________________
4 Pinterest Basics & Tips
_________________________________________________________ 5 Basics
___________________________________________________________________________
5 Tips on Boards
____________________________________________________________________
5 Tips on Pinning &
Images____________________________________________________________
6 Tips on Following &
Followers________________________________________________________ 8
Tips on Liking Images, Repining, & Comments
___________________________________________ 8 Tips on
Searches___________________________________________________________________
8 Integrating Pinterest with Your
Website________________________________________________ 9 Syncing
Pinterest Account with other Social Media
Websites_______________________________ 9 Pinterest How-To
____________________________________________________________ 10
Pinning
101______________________________________________________________________
10 Creating Boards
__________________________________________________________________
10 Community
Boards________________________________________________________________
10 Adding Images to Boards Manually (without use of Pin It button)
________________________ 11 Best OfPinterest Pinners and Boards
___________________________________________ 13 Examples of Other
Non-Profits on
Pinterest____________________________________________ 13 Inspiring
Green Boards on Pinterest
__________________________________________________ 13 Other
Successful Pages (not
nonprofit)________________________________________________ 14
References
_________________________________________________________________
15
3 | P a g e Background on Pinterest Demographics of Pinterest
Pinterest is now on the top 10 list for social media platforms
(Buck , 2012). Most social media platforms are populated by men
ages 18-44 (Kaplan, 2012), however Pinterest reaches a different
demographic, with the predominant user being women ages 25-44
(Haydon, n.d.). Most of these women are product and market-loving,
being the main purchasers for their households. Pinterest grew
4,000 percent in six months and had over 32 million visitors in
November 2012 (Waters, 2012). Benefits of Pinterest Pins on
Pinterest are linked directly to their website source. This can
generate a lot of traffic to the your website, if the images are
pinned directly from the website. For example, if you pin an image
of a product from your business website onto your Pinterest board
and a person clicks on the image, they will be directed back to
your website (huge SEO bonus points), as Haydon explains (n.d.,
para. 6). Pinterest can also be used for creative marketing
strategies. For example, Lands End held a contest and gave away a
$250 gift certificate for the Pinner who created the most unique
holiday pinboard. More benefits from Waters (2011): Do you have an
interesting or compelling story to tell with images? Every cause
does, but believing you do is half the battle. Pinterest is a
natural site for museums, historical sites and cultural
institutions. Maybe your nonprofit helps needy kids and you have a
pinboard called "happy moments" to capture all the great things
you're doing for and with kids. (Waters, 2012). Is your cause
considered hip, trendy, or do you just want to be? Pinterest users
are looking for cool, trendy and hip things. I think organizations
such as Goodwill and Shelter Scotland could pin fashionable used
clothes available in their stores. Conservation International could
post images of the beautiful and endangered frogs they are trying
to save. (Waters, 2012). Are you engaged on other social media
platforms? Despite my enthusiasm for Pinterest, it's not a
standalone platform. I wouldn't start with it unless I already had
an active blog, Facebook and Twitter. It's win-win. You'll gain
traffic from visitors to Pinterest but your social media platforms
can drive traffic to it as well. (Waters, 2012).
4 | P a g e Are you looking to reap the rewards of local SEO?
I've talked about the benefits of your nonprofit being easily found
online. Pinterest can give your SEO a big boost because the links
posted there - every image links to a real web page - are being
posted by REAL PEOPLE and not marketers and spammers trying to game
the system. This won't last forever so get busy now! (Waters,
2012). Followers Just like Twitter, Pinterest is a social community
based on followship and thats why you must be very interested in
offering users what they really wantfollowers. So, by following
others people will notice you and as a sign of appreciation they
will follow you back in no time. Now, Im not saying you should
start following like a freak, but try to find people with similar
interest and try to build a bond with them. (Cosmin, n.d.).
5 | P a g e Pinterest Basics & Tips Basics 1. Give the job
to someone who has an eye for aesthetics. Not everyone has a good
eye for pictures -- that includes me! Just look at some of the
images on Pinterest. They're beautiful. Yours should be too.
(Waters, 2012) 2. Learn from these 15 Pinterest superusers. I found
this article on the habits of 15 superusers very helpful on what
Pinterest is for and not and how to use it wisely. This post made
me laugh as there is only one guy on the list. Yep, Pinterest is
for the ladies. (Waters, 2012) 3. According to Moth (2013)
Greenpeace is running their Pinterest very well, with over 1,000
images to 46 boards and over 6,000 followers. Most of the boards
focus on a particular campaign or initiative, such as saving the
arctic or protecting rainforests, while others make use of
Greenpeaces celebrity endorsements.As with other charities and
brands most of the pins link back to Greenpeace's own website, but
the overall mix of nature, animals, fashion and celebs is perfect
for Pinterest as its all content that people like to
shareGreenpeace has also made use of Pinterests community feature
by creating boards that allow other users to post their favourite
images related to environmental issues. (Moth, 2013) 4. Food is
Pinterests most popular topic. Oxfam has clearly done its research
on the kind of content that tends to get shared on Pinterest and as
a result eight of its 23 boards are food related... These include
boards named Cook smarter and Less meaty meals, which tie into
Oxfam campaigns around sustainable living but also cleverly target
Pinterest most popular topic. (Moth, 2013) 5. Oxfam is one of the
few charities that isn't shy about pinning content from third-party
sites (Moth, 2013) Tips on Boards 1. Create Pinterest boards with a
specific purpose in mind. (Haydon, n.d.) 2. Collaborate with
co-workers or team members to help build your Pinterest board by
using the board edit feature Me + Contributors. Lets say your
organization has a project to build a house. You can call the board
The House That Love Built and invite team leaders to post photos of
tools needed, progress of the build, and volunteers. (Haydon, n.d.)
3. Create an online fundraising catalog. Add $ symbol and the
amount of an item in the pin description, i.e., $7.95 or $5.00. A
grey banner with the price will be displayed on the upper left
corner. Your pin will automatically go into the gifts tab located
at the top of the homepage. (Haydon, n.d.) 4. Use keywords to name
your Pinterest boards, board descriptions, and pin descriptions for
search engine optimization (SEO). (Haydon, n.d.)
6 | P a g e 5. Create categories that reflect what users are
looking for. If you run the Paul Revere House and want to post
pictures of the furnishings and silver work call it "Early American
Decor" or "Silver Teapots." (Waters, 2012). 6. Community boards are
great way to increase traffic (Moth, 2013) o Oxfam disclaimer on
their community board: Please add to this board pins related to
title theme. No spam, No nudity, No advertising! Do not pin more
than 10 pins at a time. If you would like to join group boards, you
send me board name you want to join and your Pinterest address at
facebook message. I don't want to add your friends to this board no
longer. Happy Pinning! 7. Moth (2013) recommends not having empty
boards, ensuring each board has amply pins 8. Amnesty UK has an
excellent collection of boards, with content including its various
campaigns, celebrities, recommended reading, Christmas cheer and
images of staff members. (Moth, 2013) 9. Boards should have no less
than 10 pins/images each, to show professionalism and to
engage/excite followers (McGinnis) Tips on Pinning & Images 1.
Use eye-catching images to get peoples attention and repins. The
more repins, the more chances youll have people clicking to the
source website. (Haydon, n.d.) 2. Like the other social media
networks, Pinterest is not a place to blatantly promote your
organization. You will turn people away if you constantly push your
cause. Instead, pin images that capture the lifestyle and essence
of your organization while building a community of potential donors
and volunteers who share the same interests. (Haydon, n.d.) 3. Be
useful. Pinterest users are looking for ideas and inspiration.
Speak to that muse. Just don't pin a picture of the new lobby area
of your school. Highlight an architectural detail that makes it
interesting, unique and inspiring. (Waters, 2012) 4. If youre an
environmental organization: Pin images of endangered species; Pin
pics of unique beach trash your volunteer teams clean up; Build a
collection of innovative recycling in your community (Kaplan, 2012)
5. If youre a foundation: Pin images from your grantees' projects;
collect images that demonstrate the problem you are trying to
solve; Community foundations can pin things they want to celebrate
in the community (Kaplan, 2012) 6. Action Aids Pins contain a huge
amount of text describing whats taking place, which can discourage
other users from sharing the image (Moth, 2013) 7. Amnesty UK
includes far too much text, according to Moth (2013), but good use
of hash tags promoting certain campaigns 8. National Trust pins
often include a massive amount of text which serves to break up the
flow of the boards and make them look a bit messy, but in most
cases the images are strong enough to hold your attention. (Moth,
2013) 9. Unpinnable Images:
7 | P a g e a. Problems arise when a site just isnt optimized
for pinning. You cant pin anything from a Flash site, which is
still a favorite of many high end retailers, so that is a
completely missed opportunity. b. More subtle problems arise with
product sites that offer nifty image preview tools. In this example
on Schumacher, a provider of high end textiles and wallcoverings,
they have a javascript image tool that prevents the images from
being detected by the Pin It bookmarklet. If you are a savvy user,
you can click on switch to JPG view and be able to pin that image,
but most people will not know to take that extra step. (Kinney,
2012) 10. Hashtags: a. Sanchez (2013a) states: From my research on
Pinterest, #s used in board titles or in board descriptions seem to
have no impact on making boards easier to find in Pinterest
searches. I was able to find only 1 board named #Inspirational
quotes and it was way down on the list. b. Where #s really seem to
show their muscle on Pinterest is in pin descriptions. The # is
clickable within the pins description and when clicked, it searches
and pulls up the other pins that use the the same # or words in
their description. It seems to be a shortcut for using the search
box. (Sanchez, 2013a) c. For a short time, while Pinterest was
making the big transition from the old look to the new look,
hashtags stopped functioning but now theyre back. Within Pinterest,
as in other social sites such as Twitter and Instagram, hashtags
serve as a shortcut to performing a search for other pieces of
content. (Sanchez, 2013b) d. There are several places that I have
seen hashtags used in Pinterest including, board titles, board
descriptions, account descriptions and profile names. Sorry to
disappoint Pinterest users who have used them in these places in
hopes of making their accounts or boards easier to find but,
hashtags DONT work in these areas, they are not clickable. In
Pinterest, hashtags are only clickable and searchable in pin
descriptions and they work a bit differently than they do in
Twitter or Instagram. Clicking on a hashtag in a pins description
will not only result in pins that include that hashtag but also in
pins that include the same word or phrase in the description.
(Sanchez, 2013b) e. Clicking on a hashtag can also result in pins
without the word or phrase in the description at all. I came across
the hashtag, #babyclothes and when clicked on, some of the pins
didnt contain the phrase or any of the words in the description.
For example, when I clicked on #babyclothes, one of the pins that
came up in the search was of a rubber duck. Duck was the only word
in the description but the reason this pin appeared was because of
the link attached to this pin. The URL tied to this pin had the
phrase babyclothes in it. This is something to keep in mind when
naming your images, blog posts and product pages. Even though
Pinterest is an image based, search results are still based on
words. (Sanchez, 2013b) f. To make the most of hashtags the best
approach would be to make one that is unique. This technique is
often used in Pinterest contest where participants must pin items
with a specific hashtag as part of the entry process. However, it
may take a while for you hashtag to be searchable. As a test, I
included #pinterestingtips in a few of my
8 | P a g e pins and after 2 days they are not searchable. Its
unclear why. To maximize your pins chances for being found be sure
to include more than just a hashtag in the description, use common
descriptive keywords too. For an extra boost, include key words in
the link attached to the pin. (Sanchez, 2013b) g. hashtags are
quite popular on Pinterest too, and like on Twitter and Google+,
these are the ones helping users to easily find your content. So
use them, but try to be relevant and dont overdo it. (Cosmin, n.d.)
Tips on Following & Followers 1. Follow Pinterest users with
similar interests with quality pins on their boards, like,
Nonprofit Organizations, National Wildlife Federation, Water.org,
Jokolna Foundation. (Haydon, n.d.) 2. Follow back influential
people who follow you. The trick is to click Follow All on the
individuals profile, then unfollow specific boards that arent of
interests to you. (Haydon, n.d.) 3. Being active is vital in every
social community because that shows your followers and other
members that you are interested in doing great things. Besides
that, commenting on others Pins means feedback for others which in
most cases means a lot especially if that person doesnt receive
lots of comments. (Cosmin, n.d.) 4. My advice would be to start
simple and grow from there. Spend some time on creating or picking
a pin that can easily go viral. This will bring you lots of
attention and as a result, you will get tons of followers. (Cosmin,
n.d.) Tips on Liking Images, Repining, & Comments 1. Like pins
or repin items that appeals to you. This action will show up on the
users sidebar. It will also send an email notification to the user
(if turned on). (Haydon, n.d.) 2. Use the pin comments section to
engage in conversation and leave your mark. (Haydon, n.d.) 3. Use
the @ feature in the comment box to tag specific people (like other
social networks). (Haydon, n.d.) 4. Don't just pin, repin.
Pinterest is just like any other social network. It's not all about
you. Search through Pinterest and find images that you can repin on
your boards. As with most social platforms, this is where the magic
happens! (Waters, 2012) Tips on Searches 1. Use the search box by
typing in topics, peoples names, businesses, etc. Then filter
search by clicking pins, boards, or people. (Haydon, n.d.)
9 | P a g e Integrating Pinterest with Your Website 1. Add a
Pinterest share button to your website and URL on your business
cards. (Haydon, n.d.) 2. Let your supporters pin for you. Add "pin
it" buttons to your blog or web site so your visitors and
supporters can create their own pin boards that highlight your
cause. (Waters, 2012) 3. Optimizing Your Site for Pinnable Images:
a. The best way to test how your site pins is to set up a Pinterest
account, grab the bookmarklet tool, and try pinning a few of the
things you would like to see pinned and review the results. This is
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. (Kinney, 2012) b. If
you are a blogger, does your post offer some type of featured or
lead image? Many list/resource posts typically use many smaller
images and lack a good featured image to pin. If you use WordPress,
remember that you can create a featured image that is available but
doesnt actually have to be used in your post. (Kinney, 2012)
Syncing Pinterest Account with other Social Media Websites 1. This
is a vital step if you want to obtain best results on Twitter,
Facebook and also keep a place open for the new Pinterest. You can
easily synchronize the Pinterest account with Facebook and Twitter
by going to: Your Account -> Settings -> Simply Click on to
Link Facebook or Twitter to your account. You can also add
Pinterest to your Facebook timeline as long as you dont decide to
post the same story manually. 2. Once you synchronize Pinterest
with Facebook and Twitter, you get access to many possibilities
including the friend messaging/following option which allows you to
send as many Pinterest invites you wish and also to follow your
Facebook friends who are already on the platform. The following
process is almost instant and since they are your friends, its a
huge possibility to follow you back in no time.
10 | P a g e Pinterest How-To Pinning 101 Instructional Guide
from Pinterest site on how to Pin, Create Boards, Follow, UnFollow,
& More http://about.pinterest.com/basics/ Creating Boards Title
Description Category Who can Pin? (used only for community boards)
Community Boards Can be set up when creating the board initially,
or you can edit a board to convert to community board Use Who can
pin? option within edit or create You must be following the
person/organization before you can invite them to pin Helpful
Videos: How to Create a Pinterest Group/Community Board:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5NRQmQU4gM What is a Pinterest
Board? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hds8J6Gtxk4
11 | P a g e Adding Images to Boards Manually (without use of
Pin It button) 1. If images are not pinnable from website, download
the image to computer. After image has been downloaded, go to the
Add+ button at the top on the Pinterest page. You will be prompted
to upload a the image by locating it on the computer: 2. You can
then add description text.
12 | P a g e 3. The image pin will then show on your screen.
Click Edit. It is very important to then add a website link to the
image you just added. 4. Then enter in the website link to where
you want users to be directed when they click on the image. For
more information on this go to the following section in this
manual: Linking Images to Product Website vs. Your Website
13 | P a g e Best OfPinterest Pinners and Boards Examples of
Other Non-Profits on Pinterest Greenpeace:
http://pinterest.com/greenpeace/ Macmillian Cancer:
http://pinterest.com/macmillancancer/ Action Aid:
http://pinterest.com/actionaid/ Amnesty UK:
http://pinterest.com/amnestyuk/ National Trust:
http://pinterest.com/nationaltrust/ Oxfam:
http://pinterest.com/oxfaminternatl/ RSPCA Little Valley Animal
Shelter: http://pinterest.com/rspcaexeter/ UNICEF:
http://pinterest.com/unicef/ Wateraid:
http://pinterest.com/wateraid/ BC SPCA:
http://pinterest.com/bcspca/ TerraCycle:
http://pinterest.com/terracycle/ Inspiring Green Boards on
Pinterest Organic Logos:
http://pinterest.com/holidayorganic/organic-logos/ Green Certified
Hotels & Restaurants:
http://pinterest.com/jdvhotels/green-certified-hotels- restaurants/
Natural Cosmetics:
http://pinterest.com/patandrub/natural-cosmetics/ FCS Certified
Products: http://pinterest.com/scscertified/fsc-certified-products/
Leaping Bunny: http://pinterest.com/leapingbunny/ 50 things to do
before youre 11 :
http://pinterest.com/nationaltrust/50-things-to-do-before-you-re-
11-3-4/ NonProfit Resources:
http://pinterest.com/npquarterly/nonprofit-resources/ Green
Schools: http://pinterest.com/usgbc/green-schools/ Sustainability
Infographics:
http://pinterest.com/paolafiore/sustainability-infographics/
14 | P a g e Sustainability Infographics:
http://pinterest.com/tracyjean/sustainability-infographics/
Sustainability Infographics:
http://pinterest.com/greenmediasite/sustainability-infographics/
Sustainability Infographics:
http://pinterest.com/jurlaub/sustainability-infographics/
Sustainability Infographics:
http://pinterest.com/sunnycrowd/sustainability-infographics/ Other
Successful Pages (not nonprofit) Sony:
http://www.pinterest.com/sonyelectronics/ Starbucks Beautiful
Objects (board):
http://www.pinterest.com/starbucks/beautiful-objects/ Nordstrom:
http://www.pinterest.com/nordstrom/
15 | P a g e References Buck, S. (2012, January 8). Pinterest:
13 tips and tricks for cutting edge users. Retrieved from
http://mashable.com/2012/01/08/pinterest-13-tips-and-tricks-for-cutting-edge-users/
Cosmin. (n.d.). Increase the number of followers on pinterest.
Retrieved from http://devstand.com/marketing/pinterest-followers/
Haydon, J. (n.d.). 12 ways to use Pinterest for your nonprofit.
Retrieved from
http://www.johnhaydon.com/2012/01/12-ways-use-pinterest-for-your-nonprofit/
Kaplan, A. (2012, January 13). Steal these 42 creative Pinterest
ideas for nonprofits. Retrieved from
http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2012/1/13/steal-these-42-creative-pinterest-ideas-for-
nonprofits.html Kinney, D. (2012, February 1). Leveraging
pinterest: How pinnable is your content? Retrieved from
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/leveraging-pinterest-how-
%E2%80%9Cpinnable%E2%80%9D-is-your-content/39623/ Moth, D. (2013,
April 10). 10 charities and how they use Pinterest. Retrieved from
http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/62498-10-charities-and-how-they-use-pinterest
Pinterest. (2013). Stories. Retrieved from
http://business.pinterest.com/stories/ Sanchez, C. (2013, January
15). Tips for using hashtags on Pinterest. Retrieved from
http://www.ohsopinteresting.com/tips-for-using-hashtags-on-pinterest/
Sanchez, C. (2013, April 13).Using hashtags with pinterests new
look. Retrieved from
http://www.ohsopinteresting.com/using-hashtags-with-pinterests-new-look/
Waters, J. (January 7, 2012). Why and how causes should use
Pinterest. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-waters/why-how-causes-should-use_b_1190956.html