Pinterest, one of the fastest-growing social media websites (behind Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn), could be the next must-have networking tool for financial advisors, says Edward Swiderski, managing partner at Kambio Group LLC in Chicago.
Pinterest, launched in 2010 by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Cold Brew Labs Inc., is built around the premise of sharing photos the way people traditionally posted pictures on bulletin boards. Pinterest users collect links to images of interest and post those images on their online “boards”; each image contains a link to its originating website. Once a Pinterest user clicks on an image, he or she is directed back to that image’s website.
Pinterest first became popular among hobbyists, who would “pin” (upload) images of items such as knitting projects and recipes.
Total Pinterest accounts reached 29 million in July 2012, according to Experian Information Solutions Inc. of Costa Mesa, Calif. – up from 1.27 million a year earlier.
Businesses are beginning to see the potential of Pinterest as a marketing tool. It’s especially effective in sectors such as the financial advisory business, says Geoff Evans, founder of Social Media Coach in London, Ont., in which potential clients seek to work with professionals they like and trust.
Pinterest can help you in that area by enabling you to provide information – both general and industry-specific – that is of interest to clients and prospects. For example, you can set up boards covering topics such as travel or education planning, with images that link back to websites of interest to your clients. You could even create a “retirement vision board,” which might include images such as a lakeside cottage, a European adventure or seniors spending time with grandchildren.
You also can use these boards in client meetings: clients can click through the images and tell you which pictures resonate with them.
Pinterest users represent an important market to advisors. According to Virginia-based Modea Corp., the average net worth of North American Pinterest users is approximately US$100,000; two-thirds of users are female. With women making more decisions about family finances, Pinterest could be an ideal tool for reaching women prospects, says Jess Loren, managing partner with Kambio Group and co-author, with Swiderski, of Pinterest for Business.
@page_break@ Pinterest launched a business-related platform last November, which allows businesses to set up profile pages. As an advisor, you can register your Pinterest account using your company email address, add a high-quality profile photo (or company logo) and set up a professional username.
Below are some tips to consider when setting up a Pinterest account for your practice:
– Create boards that are relevant to your clients
Set up a board for each topic you would like to cover. Specific topics could include dream vacations, life insurance, money-saving tips or “where I want to retire.” The more creative your board, the more traffic it will garner.
“Keep it simple and organized in ways that make sense,” Loren says. “If you are talking about money-saving tips, don’t mix that onto a board that focuses on life insurance policies.”
When looking at what to pin to each board, Loren adds: “Think about content that you may already have, such as other websites, social media sites, blogs or links to news articles that could be beneficial to clients.”
You can pin images from your blog or website (for example, the pictures that illustrate your blog posts or articles) to drive users to your website.
Create as many boards as you want. But, Loren says, but make sure you have at least five pins or images per board to start.
– Educate your clients
Use images to direct clients and prospects to other websites of interest to them.
Images needn’t be photographs; you can also use text-based images, such as “retirement-planning tips” or “education savings” to direct users to a specific article or blog.
“If you don’t have a visible product to sell,” Swiderski says, “then education is always a key to driving new business. People come to you as a trusted advisor and as a portal to learn new things. Education is the best way to show them what you have to offer.”
– Measure your success
As with any business initiative, Swiderski says, setting measurable goals is essential to success when it comes to social media.
There are not many third-party analytics tools designed specifically for Pinterest yet. Both Loren and Swiderski suggest using Google Analytics to measure your Pinterest traffic. And Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Reachli.com (formerly Pinnerly.com) offers online metrics regarding Pinterest.
– Get personal
Exposing your personal interests can help strengthen relationships with clients and prospects who share your interests. If, for example, you enjoy cooking, set up a recipe board; if you are an avid golfer, pin pictures of your favourite golf courses; if you love to sail, pin pictures of sailboats. Those images will take users to websites with content that interests them. And they will know it was you who directed them there.
“Any successful advisor will say the first [sales goal] is about selling themselves,” Evans says. “Clients don’t care about your products until they know [you]. This is where Pinterest can offer support.”
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