Getting Visual on Social Media: Pinterest

Pinterest is a social media site for sharing images you find around the web. It describes itself as “a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.” People (80% are women) spend an average of 16 minutes each time they visit Pinterest, posting pictures they’ve found of things they like, from classroom, home décor and wedding ideas, to recipes, work out routines and inspirational quotes.

What does Pinterest mean for businesses? Retail is finding a sweet spot on the site, which now accounts for more than 25% of social shopping sessions (source). Web referrals to a retailer from an image “pinned” on the site spend 70% more money than visitors referred from other, non-social websites (source).

Pinterest for Insurance Agents

Pictures of insurance policies are not likely to show up in the list of most popular Pins at http://pinterest.com/popular/. But – insurance agencies are made up of people, with unique talents, interests and community activities. Pinterest could be a place for your agency team to collect, organize and show your clients and prospective clients what you’re all about.

Independent Agent Carrie Galvez Reynolds shared the conclusion that Pinterest can work for insurance agents in her blog post, “13 Creative Uses of Pinterest for (insurance) marketing.” Skeptical at first, Carrie now manages the Pinterest account for her agency, with 44 pins and 132 followers. You can see what she’s doing on the Alan Galvez Insurance board.

 Another way to find insurance “pins” is by visiting www.Pinterest.com and searching “insurance” (the search is in the top left corner of the home page). Here’s what we found the day we searched: 

 Try searching for yourself, and let us know if you find anything worth “pinning!”

How to Get Started on Pinterest

The best way to learn enough about Pinterest and to feel comfortable starting a page for your agency, would be to try it yourself first. You can create an account for free at Pinterest.com and start looking at things other people have pinned right away.  To begin, search for any topic you’re interested in, such as gardening. Point your mouse over any of the pictures you like, and a Pin it button will appear. Simply click this button, and you’ve pinned your first image.

Once you’re comfortable with how Pinterest works, go to http://business.pinterest.com/ to get started with your agency page. The site offers a how-to guide, steps to get started, and a Pinterest for Business blog to help you along the way.

Happy Pinning!

Have you tried Pinterest for your agency? Is it part of your agency’s social media plans? Let us know by posting a comment.