In October 2016, it was reported that Pinterest had amassed <a href="https://www.yotpo.com/blog/pinterest-marketing-strategy/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">150 million monthly users</a>.

Pinterest has often - and, arguably, unfairly - been labelled a platform aimed squarely at people building fanciful virtual pin boards for forthcoming weddings or house renovations, but its impressive growth (it had ‘just’ 100 million monthly users the year previous) hints at a tool whose use extends far beyond that of a couch companion.

If you’re a leader who owns a small business, you may be wondering how you can add this tool to <a href="http://leadchangegroup.com/digital-marketing-strategy-basics-for-start-ups/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">your marketing arsenal</a>, and what follows is five smart ways any leader can use Pinterest to its advantage.
<h3>1. Tell a story</h3>
It could be argued that Pinterest is more a form of content marketing than it is a social media platform.

The reason is simple; content marketing is all about telling a story. And to <a href="http://www.strattoncraig.co.uk/blog/go-content-owner-storyteller/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">go from content owner to storyteller</a>, you need a platform that excels at engagement.

Pinterest does just that, and it does so with rich content; images and infographics can be used by your business to tell the story of its heritage, products and customer successes. Pinterest provides a place for all of that to be found and shared.
<h3>2. Use separate boards</h3>
It’s easy to overlook the fact that Pinterest enables you to create multiple boards. For businesses, separate boards can be used to feature products, services, company news and for content repurposing (see point 5).

Get creative - don’t lump all of your imagery into one big Pinterest board. The more you categorise your content, the easier it will be for people to find it and delve deeper into what you have to offer.
<h3>3. Implement keywords</h3>
You may have spotted Pinterest boards appearing within Google search results, and that’s because they’re rather adept at ranking for keywords.

This is great news for businesses, because it turns Pinterest into a free and highly effective SEO tool. By creating boards that feature your keywords, you stand a greater chance of being found online - particularly if you keep those boards regularly up-to-date with fresh visual content.
<h3>4. Feature your employees</h3>
Chances are, you’ll have an ‘about us’ page on your website which might feature some bios of the team. That’s still good practice in the small biz space, but Pinterest offers the opportunity to tell the story of your team.

By creating a board that features your team members, you can share the culture of your business and show the outside world how it grows and matures. If employees are up for it, you can have a bit of fun, too, with ‘then and now’ headshots and snaps of team members indulging in their hobbies.

Pinterest is a great place for a small business to unveil the people behind the corporation.
<h3>5. Repurpose content</h3>
If you create eBooks and white papers or regularly hold seminars, Pinterest is a fantastic place to repurpose such content.

EBooks and white papers can be featured on their own boards with the cover used as the main image. Remember - you can add links to Pinterest posts, therefore you simply need to use the landing page for the content in question to enable people to click-through and engage further.

Seminars, videos and podcasts can also be repurposed by using the above technique or by turning transcripts into infographics.
<h3>Summary</h3>
Pinterest is a great way to promote your business and your leadership philosophies, no matter the industry you operate within. And, just like every social network and form of content marketing, you’ll only find out what it’s truly capable of by experimenting - so have fun!

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