If you’re a nonprofit looking to use imagery to help drive the emotional content of your brand, there’s a whole lot to learn about how to effectively use Pinterest. With a majority demographic of women 25-44, many of whom are in charge of household buying decisions, Pinterest stands apart from the other male 18-24 dominated social media sites. Make this large female audience work for your nonprofit by thinking of creative ways your content can engage this demographic. In this article I will explain the basic ways to get up and running on using Pinterest to help spread your mission.
Three Things Your Nonprofit Can Do to Get Started on Pinterest
1. Create Dynamic Pinboards
Pinterest’s “pinboards” are virtual, interactive bulletin boards you create to organize images, or “pins” online. Boards can be followed individually or all together, so create specific pinboards to show your nonprofit’s reach and attract a wide-range of different types of followers. Allow multiple members of your nonprofit to post pins by using Pinterest’s collaborative function “me+contributor”.
2. Use Specific Keywords and Hashtags
Tagging your pins with keywords is essential in pin and pinboard titles and descriptions because it has both an SEO benefit and helps spread your reach. Your pin or board will show up whenever someone searches for that hashtag or keyword in Pinterest search. You can even tag your images to Pinterest users, such as your nonprofit’s followers, by typing names like ‘@JaneDoe’ in your pin/pinboard comments. Then, just like with Facebook, your followers get an email notification that you’re reaching out, and, as a result, your nonprofit will get greater engagement.
3. Pinning in the Wild
With Pinterest’s iPhone app, it’s easier than ever to pin on the go. For nonprofit members who work out in the field, it’s a great opportunity to capture authentic moments and connect your audience emotionally to your nonprofit’s mission, then pin them right to your nonprofit’s pinboard. This form of “field” pinning is a great way to connect followers directly to your organization’s work, but don’t stop there. Create connections to your pins by sharing them on Twitter and Facebook for even greater visibility.
If your nonprofit uses WordPress as a CMS, there’s a great WordPress Pluginyou can use to add a “pin it” button that displays your most recent pins anywhere in your site.
