If you ask the question "Which social platform is the hottest at the moment?"  Even hotter than Facebook?  9 out of 10 people will tell you "Pinterest".  Indeed.  The unique visitors of Pinterest grew rapidly (155%) from Dec.2011 to Jan. 2012.  And keep rising.  From friends around, the common talk from 'add me on Facebook' to 'repin my post please'.  You can see how the trend has changed.  The conversion on Pinterest is much higher than Facebook or Google+ is another reason all companies start to pay attention.

Pinterest has made a lot of individuals famous, similar with the blogging scene a few years ago.  These Pinteresters have huge number of followers, their influence of recommending products and styles can't be ignored.  Some big corporations already started the collaboration with them for various marketing campaigns. 
 
How to get involved in Pinterest to benefit your business?  From the observation and practice I had so far, I would like to share some thoughts and tips, hope you will find them useful and start pinning too. 
 
1.  Add "Pin it" button near your product images, then people can easily pin it. 
No one will go out of their way to share your content. Putting "pin it" button around product images or anything you want to promote will remind viewers to share.
 
2.  Put hashtags in the description, which make it easier for others to find your pins
For example, if you pin a beautiful dish, add "#food" at the end of your message. When someone searches 'food', your pin will end up in the result page.
 
3. Use Pin to drive traffic to your website
Don't just pin images from third party websites, remember you are a publisher yourself.  Pin your content which can drive traffic to your own sites. 
 
4. Pin good-quality images
We always say men are visual animals, but actually women too.  As today, Pinterest is still female dominated, although men are catching up.  You can see those most 'liked',’re-pinned', 'commented' images are either beautiful, sensational, witty or motivational.  So don't pin just for pin's sake, make sure the images are good quality; otherwise you won't get too much attention.
 
5.  Re-Pin other's pins
At the end of the day, Pinterest is a social platform, so don't just keep things to yourself and only pin your own stuff.  Repin others' pins, this way you may get more followers and get your pins repinned more too. 
 
6. Be creative
Pinterest is a platform for people to share their interest, for companies to showcase the styles and beliefs they try to communicate.  Pinning the dull product images is not recommended at all. Some companies share motivation quotes, or heart-felt image which is a nice way to start the conversation with existing and potential customers.
 
Let me know what you think.  And share your pin tips with us!