So you want to get a Pinterest. Or rather, your business does. It’s a good move.

The more visual content you’ve got floating around on the web promoting your goods and services, the more opportunities you have to direct potential customers back to your storefront or online store.

Pinterest is a great tool because of its simplicity. Using it as a platform for logos and photos associated with your business allows people to engage with your brand. It’s one of the main reasons that good quality images go viral. Users pin, repin and comment on Pinterest — all you have to do is give them captivating content to work with. And then you need to monitor the success of that content to determine what your audience connects with. Pay attention — what do they respond to?

On Pinterest, pin images and videos of your company’s offerings. Pin quality-looking graphic coupons or information about sales you have going on. Pin tips from other industry professionals and share them with your followers. Pinterest, even as a largely visual platform, can be used to disseminate useful info.

And for EVERY pin, make sure your URL and contact information are attached. Each piece of content on Pinterest should direct users back to your business.

Consider creating boards for each of your employees. The potential effectiveness of this will, of course, depend on the type of business. If it’s a nail or hair salon, Social Media Today suggests, each artist could use their personal boards to pin their favorite work. Also, invite your customers to pin to your boards to deepen that relationship.

Use your Pinterest to cross-share across all your other social media platforms. Share your pins to your blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

You might use Pinterest for contests, too. Asking customers to “pin it to win it” has been used in the past as a method to “build buzz and engagement.”

For more tips on using Pinterest for your small business, click here.

Happy Pinning!