Social Media School Module 11 – Pinterest, Instagram and other Social Media Tools

You can download your lesson plan for this week here:

ZSMS Module 11 Pinterest, Instagram and other tools

In this module, we are looking at other social media tools (or platforms) which we have not yet covered. The beauty of many of these tools – and I think the ones most likely to succeed – is their interconnectivity with established networks we’ve already discussed such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and more. This can also sometimes pose a security issue (as you’re often giving each tool authorisation to share information) so you need to regularly check your security and privacy settings and the terms and conditions.

It’s also becoming increasingly apparent in the last year that social media is on the move – we are increasingly accessing sites via mobiles, iPhones, iPads etc. So you may like to keep this in mind in your social media strategy – how are your target market accessing and interacting with you – from a desktop or mobile – and if it’s the latter, are you making it easy for them? This also influences the types of tools you use and those which are easy to use from a smartphone are becoming more popular.

In this post, I’ve chosen three tools to look at in a little more depth.

1. Pinterest

This is a tool which has taken a very steep rise in popularity in the last few months. I joined about 2 years ago when it was quite new – I liked the concept but thought I didn’t have time for another tool. Since then, I’ve had a lot of friends regularly commenting that they are addicted which has made me spend some more time exploring it. Recently, they have also updated their look and feel which is much nicer to use than it was previously. They have also bought in comments on the images (similar to Facebook) which personally I’m not really keen on as it does break up the clean simplicity of the photo boards. I do think enabling comments is good, but feel these should only show when you actually click on the photo.

To learn about Pinterest, they have a very simple yet comprehensive help section.

As a personal tool, it’s a nice way to collect a series of images and categorise them. When using Pinterest, as with all social media tools, just make sure you understand and comply with the terms of service and privacy policy as well as sections on copyright and trademark.

How to use Pinterest for business? Each photo you share on Pinterest, if done correctly, links directly back to the website from where it was sourced. Therefore, if you are sharing beautiful product or viral images there is potential to increase your website traffic. Even if people don’t click through to your site, you can brand your pictures with a watermark to increase brand exposure.

I have done this in the past with my website www.dutchaustralian.com. I took lots of photos at a Dutch festival, shared a few on my Dutch Australian Facebook page, and put the rest on my website. Then I am progressively “pinning” some of the photos onto my “Dutch Australian” board on Pinterest to see if others “like” or “repin” these. All the rest of the photos haven’t yet been liked or repinned but you can see my branding with where they have come from (the dutchaustralian.com site). I’ve also started using # hash tags like you do when using Twitter (on the suggestion of friends) which helps further categorise and highlight your topics, especially if you Tweet your Pinterest photos.

To pin a photo in the first place, you need to install a small app on your toolbar. I can also track in the backend of my website whether I get any traffic from these back to my site. When “pinning” you can also connect to your Facebook and/or Twitter account so with a simple click you can post on Facebook or Tweet about your pin….driving potentially more traffic.

For some excellent example of Pinterest in action for business, see Billycart Markets – who have pinned beautiful photos of their stallholder’s products, and Brisbane Kids who are collating a lot of great ideas and inspiration for parents.

2. Instagram

This is also a picture based tool, where you can apply various filters to your photos and share. It’s a free app to download and I have used this on my iPhone for around 2 years as well.

Again, I was a little hesitant to learn a new tool at first and really didn’t have a lot of spare time to experiment, however I have found I use it a few times a month now, often to just get creative and try different effects.

Here is a regular photo taken with my iPhone at the beach of my daughter:

and here is the Instagram photo I created of the same photo:

You can then share on other social media tools such as Facebook and I find this cropped size more “Facebook friendly” proportions. You can also make some eye-catching effects with the various filters if you wish.

A friend also taught me a neat trick combining the use of another free app called Photo Frames. You can then combine a number of photos together and then either run it through Instagram to filter it and/or share to Facebook and other networks. This is a “Thank You” collage I did for my brother, combining a number of images together of a lovely dinner he did for us, which I then messaged him. I haven’t used it this way myself yet, but you can perhaps see the potential of quickly and easily incorporating your branding into something like this, particularly “on the go” on your iPhone or iPad.

Check out the Instagram Blog for more ideas and inspiration, or of course, simply join up and experiment.

3. Foursquare

This is the final tool I will look at in this post, and is what many call a “location based” social media tool. Interestingly enough, this is also the one tool I have become least active on and dropped from my strategy. When it first came out, I could see the potential of “checking in” at businesses to show others where you were and give recommendations while you were there. Businesses could offer specials and rewards for loyal customers who did so. Personally, I’ve found that Facebook Places fulfils a similar purpose for me of letting others know where I am when I choose to share (for example to give support to one of my favourite restaurants….or many like to “show off” if they are at iconic locations or events!).

However even as a “hard core” social media user, I think that taking the time to check in and pinpoint your location has more risk than reward for me, and I know many other social users find this feature completely unappealing. Still, it’s worth looking into what it offers as there is no doubt that location based marketing is here to stay now we are all often so mobile. I’ve also included it here as I think it’s important to see that some tools have a “rise and fall” in the social media landscape.

Other social media tools

There are a HUGE number of options out there, and this landscape is constantly changing. I’d suggest watching website such as Social Media Examiner or Mashable to keep up with the trends and decide which you might like to try. Here are a few posts to take a look at for ideas.

Would love your comments on the three tools above and any other social media tools or apps we haven’t yet covered!

Renee

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