Pinterest - As A Marketing Tool - ?

Good Morning -

I have been wandering around Pinterest and am confused to say the least -

Can it be used as a marketing tool? Does one create a theme board with things they find on the internet and slip some of the items they are selling onto that board? -

And then - once a board is created how is it seen by others than your followers and perhaps other Pinterest users who happen on it?

Are you using it as a marketing tool? and if so, how?

Thanks to Carolyn for inviting me into this very overwhelming world.

Marie

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jan Story on March 4, 2012 at 7:34pm

Same here - I get repinned by some unlikely people, and the more eyeballs on my stuff the more likely it is to sell.

Turned this up: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120301/04085817924/all-this-talk....

Most of the flap seems to be coming from photographers and artists who sell digital images and designs rather than physical objects or services. However, a photographer who is embracing the new model posts his ideas at http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2012/02/13/why-photographers-should-s....

Regardless of what the law might say, I have a feeling they're ordering the tide not to come in - and any business that gets too zealous about enforcing every last iota of its rights is probably going to end up alienating its market.

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on March 5, 2012 at 2:25pm

Hi Folks,

If you perceive a copyright infringement you can report it to Pinterest. It is evident that Pinterest has a legal team or attorney that advises them on what can or cannot be done on their website. Pinterest is the one someone would go after IMO ... we are small potatoes. Unless you are uploading images from a website that you copied to your computer and are not crediting the source then I seriously doubt you have anything to worry about. If you repin something it shows where the image came from so you know if there is a link or not. Some folks put very little info in the pin's descriptions (or the board) which makes no sense since the site is keyword driven. We do not put the shop name in the pin description, the link is sufficient.

I don't know why any shop would object to having an item listed in their shop posted to a Pinterest board, unless the link is missing. If the link is missing then put a note in the comment field for the pin. One more way to get visitors to your shop. The whole point of a seller creating a board with the items they sell is to get more eyes on their wares and click thru's to their website. Or, at least it should be.

Pinterest Copyright

http://pinterest.com/about/copyright/

"If you notice that a pin is not sourced correctly, leave a comment so the original pinner can update the source."

Pinterest Terms of Use: http://pinterest.com/about/terms/

Read the Ownership section.

Pin Etiquette

http://pinterest.com/about/etiquette/

Note the information on Self-promotion (a reason you should include other pins along with your shop items - I do - be a good neighbor and spread the love.)

If you don't want someone to pin images from your site (not Ruby Lane shops of course) then read this:

http://support.pinterest.com/entries/21063792-what-if-i-don-t-want-...

For inquiring minds - the following is taken from the Ruby Lane Terms of Use

5. Content License. When you provide us with content, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free right to exercise the copyright, publicity and database rights (but no other rights) you have in the content, in any media known now or in the future.

Pinterest is a great way to market your shop.

Carol

Permalink Reply by Charmed Life on March 5, 2012 at 3:12pm

Thanks, Carol. You've said what I've been trying to say, but much better.

I post links. Links to other folk's images and back to their website.
It's kind of the same as typing an HTTP://WWW address as a clickable link in a blog post online or in an email or whatever/where ever. It's just a visual link rather than a word link.

I do use the pin it widget rather than the RL pinterest button. I can highlight the text of the title of the item I am pinning and it shows up when I use the widget where it doesn't when I use the RL button.

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on March 5, 2012 at 3:16pm

Me too on the Widget. :)

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on March 6, 2012 at 12:40pm

I found the following article in the Social Networking Forum (http://thevintagevillage.com/group/socialnetworking/forum) under the Pinterest discussion on TVV:

Good read - http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31434/6-Compelling-Reas...

Permalink Reply by Glamour n Glitz Vintage on March 7, 2012 at 5:17pm

How do you put your url in Pinterest. When I use mine pinterest cuts off my shop and just leaves RL Does anyone have a solution? Thanks a bunch, Mary - gaga for glitz

Permalink Reply by Jan Story on March 7, 2012 at 6:22pm

It only displays RL but the link actually goes back to your shop if people click on it.

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on March 7, 2012 at 6:24pm

Correct!

Permalink Reply by Graceful Antiques on March 11, 2012 at 9:09pm

http://pinterest.com/gracefulshops/

Try to share other Ruby Lane shops but do not see many connected to me.

Loving this site pinterest more than any I have ever done of all the ones over the years.

Permalink Reply by Graceful Antiques on March 12, 2012 at 5:31pm

I am going to try to pin items here on the Vintage Village to my pinterest boards if they go with my theme.

Please let me know if you do not want me to. I will add the title, your shop name and the price.

I will do this by following your item back to your shop and pinning from there.

Permalink Reply by San Marcos Art Glass on March 13, 2012 at 10:59am

I am in the cautious group about Pinterest. It has been in the news much lately, and even made the Yahoo! Financial news this morning. There are problems when it comes to the "Pin It" button and Terms of Use. People can pin things from all over the internet, often pinning copyright material without the permission of the owner. Once pinned, Pinterest's TOU states that the pinned items can be used by them for whatever reason they need. The end result when you take a image off Pinterest, you don't know where it came from. Is there copyright infringement?

Pinterest's TOU state that the users are responsible for all fines and legal expenses both for themselves and for Pinterest in actions resulting from a board.

One can get around the problem by only using one's own images or images they have permission to use. But when the images are used, Pinterest then has the right to use the board and images. I don't know if I want to give such rights for my images unless there is a marketing advantage. To tell the truth, I have not yet seen a great marketing advantage to Pinterest, though it might come in the near future.

Pinterest is enjoyable, but people need to understand copyright and read the TOU, then make decisions about what to include on their boards. Yahoo! Finance has a blog today about Pinterest potentially being the next Napster. There always seems to be a catch to things that seem so simple.

Permalink Reply by Charmed Life on March 13, 2012 at 11:55am

Let's look at what Pinterest's site says about Member Content:

"Member Content" means all Content that a Member posts, uploads, publishes, submits or transmits to be made available through the Site, Application or Services."

So ... I interpret that to mean images that are on my computer's hard drive that I upload, post, publish, submit or transmit to their site ... right? I can use their site, another application or a service on my phone to upload to their site.

When we go online and use the PIN IT tool to PIN something to a board, then all we are providing is an image based link to another webpage.

Go to any popular blog ... go to any website ... and you will find text based links to other webpages and websites and images. Are those "copyright infringement"?

Using the PIN IT tool to PIN something is different than finding an image on the internet, downloading it to my hard drive and then uploading it to Pinterest's website. THAT is copyright infringement, if it is a copyrighted image.

The PIN IT tool simply converts a hyperlink to a visual image ... just like when a website says "click on the image to be taken to xyz page"...

That's the difference, to me.

I have seen a HUGE difference in the marketing advantage to Pinterest. I listed a ring on Ruby Lane. A very expensive ring. The ONLY place I marketed the ring that evening was Pinterest. That was it.

My traffic to that particular piece of jewelry was phenomenal and was double ... just to that one item ... of all other traffic I have ever had to anything on my page. We're talking hundreds of hits in that one evening.

Does Pinterest have a right to that image of that ring? No. It was not UPLOADED to their site. It is not a file sitting on their server. It was PINNED to my board as a virtual link.