How Nonprofits Can Leverage the Visual Power of Pinterest?

Pinterest allows Nonprofits marketers to leverage their brand’s awareness and engage with their audiences in a more visual way than other social media networks. Although in its early phase Pinterest was seen as a place for a female audience, the Pinterest audience and their interests have diversified, making it a valuable social media tool for marketers. As brands (including Nonprofits) experiment with creating unique engagement opportunities on Pinterest, the social network is proving to be an increasingly effective direct traffic driver to brand sites promoting a cause. Therefore, understanding your audiences’ behavior; employing best strategies; and following best practices and tips will determine every brand’s success with Pinterest.

The Pinterest Audience

If the audience who follows a Nonprofit’s cause is on Pinterest, then it can be a valuable communication tool. If they are, it is important to understand how their behavior on the site differs from their behavior on other social platforms. Here are a few insights about the Pinterest audience at large:

• Audience is diversifying: More men are taking an interest in Pinterest.


• Audience doesn’t skew very young or old: 80% of users are between the ages of 25-54.


• Audience is engaged: the average time spent on Pinterest per visit is 14.2 minutes.


• Audience is exploratory: Pinterest’s reveral rates are increasing while those of Twitter and Facebook are decreasing.

Strategies for Leveraging the Visual Power of Pinterest

1. Know your Audience: It's important to understand who is using Pinterest before you start branding through the network.


2. Get Personal to Promote your Cause: When it comes to social media, users respond better to personal influence than widespread branding.


3. Focus on the Achievable: It has become a trend for individuals to use Pinterest for dreams — dream houses, dream weddings, etc. But as a non-profit organization, you're all about making things possible.


4. Make It a Team Effort: Get various staff members involved with your organization's Pinterest to diversify your boards and flesh them out.


5. Fundraise: Pinterest makes it extremely simple to sell various items, helping you raise money for your non-profit.


6. Repin/Highlight Other Non-Profits: Like all forms of social media, Pinterest isn't a place to over-promote. Avoid this is by mixing original pinning with repins of images from other non-profits within your sphere of influence.