Using Pinterest for a professional presence
A professional Pinterest presence involves image boards, captions, business accounts and audience information.
Boards, captions and followers
Created in 2009, Pinterest let members pin images to boards on their own pages. In 2013 it was an image-led network: members pinned pictures for others to see rather than posting text for them to read. Each image had a caption that the member could create or revise to explain the pin and include website or identifying information. For members marketing something, the aim was to have others repin images to their boards, with cleverly worded captions helping them circulate.
In 2013 members could search for personal or professional topics and save images to boards their followers could see. Members could not choose their followers as they could choose Facebook friends, but could create secret boards visible only to invited people. They could also import contacts from email software, Facebook or Twitter.
Business accounts, analytics and professional value
Pinterest initially prohibited self-promotion and commercial use, but had introduced business pages by 2013. It had reached ten million visitors faster than Facebook or Twitter. Converting a personal account to a free business account allowed a writer to add a Pinterest icon linking from their website to their Pinterest page and to create a short biography in words and pictures in Pinterest's “about” section.
Web analytics followed business pages, showing who was viewing boards and which images viewers repinned most often. These preferences could inform a writer's website design, business-card colours or clothing for a client meeting. In 2013 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had boards with images and infographics about women's health, healthy living and disaster preparedness.
Professional possibilities extended beyond the weddings and puppies that could dominate a first impression: the areas of greatest interest among UK users in 2013 were venture capital, blogging, content management, public relations and web analytics, all possible interests of clients. Pinning a few images was quick, and switching from text to images could offer a fresh perspective and possibly improve productivity. Pinterest offered another free way to interact and make potential business contacts, although one medical writer who converted her account in 2013 reported no job offers from doing so.