If you aren't using Pinterest as a marketing tool within your deck building business, you're missing out. It's the perfect place to show off past deck building projects as well as set aside design ideas to share with prospective clients.
If you haven't heard of Pinterest, it's a social media platform that allows you to save images and content (such as recipes, articles, instructions, etc.) from a website by "pinning" them to "boards"—similar to pinning a picture or snippet on a bulletin board. From a digital standpoint, it's along the same lines as bookmarking, except you don't pin the whole website, just the pieces you want. Once something is pinned, it can be shared with friends or clients already on Pinterest and accessed from just about anywhere.
At this point, you're probably wondering why it's relevant to you and your business. Social media-savvy remodelers and contractors have been using Pinterest for the past few years as a marketing and design idea tool. According to a May 2012 article in Remodeling magazine, Steve Gray Renovations in Indianapolis, uses Pinterest during the design process of a project as a way for designers to understand and gauge a client's style.
Decking material manufacturers, such as Fiberon and Trex, have also joined in on the fun with robust boards aimed at both homeowners and contractors.
Like many other social media sites, Pinterest is easy to get started with and—once you get going—so is posting, as this video shows:
If you plan to use it as a marketing and design tool, you will want to set up some sort of strategy or plan for pinning things—and be sure to focus on type and quality of content you are pinning. Having a strategy also helps ensure that you are providing customers and prospects with the information that will engage and inspire them.
Still skeptical? Not sure if people will be able to find you? The people behind Pinterest are already ahead of you. A few months ago, the site launched Pinterest Guided Search, which allows users to better define what they are looking for, making it easier for them to find you on the site. It could also help you as a user get more specific in what you look for to pin on your own boards as well. Looking for a deck made of composite materials? Use the guided search to find it.
As you can see, Pinterest can be an effective marketing tool for deck builders so long as you are willing to use it and have a strategy for it. So what are you waiting for? Let's get pinning.
