It’s no secret that for most small businesses social media is a constant challenge because there’s simply not enough time to do everything. With Pinterest too many businesses think that pinning a boat load of images will be enough to achieve their marketing goals. Unfortunately if you don’t have a plan that includes a lot more than just pinning product pictures it will ultimately result in total waste of time and you’ll never see the results that you were looking for.

According to our Visual Content Marketing Expert here’s a step-by-step guide for how your small business can maximize its’ social media marketing efforts for 2015:

1. What are your social media goals? Ask yourself what do you want social media to accomplish? Is it?

Building brand awareness.

Driving traffic to your website and/or blog.

Getting new customers.

Encouraging existing customers to write great reviews about you.

Interacting with customers to collect market feedback.

2. Who is your target market?

Determine who you want to reach with your social media interactions.

What is your ideal prospect profile?

Do you know where and how to target them?

Use techniques to gain a deeper understanding of their needs, problems, interests, etc.

3. What are your competitors doing?

Investigate how they are interacting with their prospects / customers?

What can you do differently, newer, better, faster…?

4. Brand your images.

Use your company logo so you’re more easily recognized.

Be careful with copyright laws.

Size matters on Pinterest. Make sure your pins are at least 800×1200 pixels.

Humanize your content by showing how your customers are using your products and services.

5. Create an editorial calendar for creating and curating your content.

What kind of content will you create that your audience wants, needs and loves?

Determine the frequency of pinning. Monthly, weekly, daily – have a well thought out plan.

Stick to a regular schedule – don’t just wing it or you’ll look like a wing nut 🙁

Are you sure you know the key times to use each platform to “meet” you customers?

Use a Pinterest scheduling tool like ViralTag

6. Maximize the impact of your Pinterest activities by amplifying your messages.

Leverage your other socials like Facebook and Twitter.

Include your top pins in your email marketing. Let everyone know in your data base that you’re on Pinterest and give reasons why they should follow you there.

Encourage your customers and prospects to join you on your social media networks.

Include all your social media icons on your website, email signatures, stationaries, marketing materials, and so forth.

7. Measure Results.

Before you start your social media campaign establish metrics that are associated with your business goals.

Decide how often you want to monitor your results.

What analytics will you use to measure your results?

If you cannot track and measure ROI accurately how will you even know if something is not working, partially working and booming? How will you ever know if the person you are paying to do the job for you is actually earning their paycheck?

Use this list before you start pinning away. Remember without a plan you’re never going to fully maximize your results on Pinterest.

Sign up for a free trial of Viraltag today and start streamlining your social media visual content strategy.

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