Business Buzz: Get visual with Pinterest

PHUKET: This week I thought we would cover something that would be of benefit to many businesses in Phuket.

We are very fortunate that we are surrounded by scenic beauty, which is one of the reasons Phuket has a thriving tourism industry, plus a lot of adventure and outdoor activities.

And what better way to promote your business than to highlight and showcase the visual images that make the island so inviting.

By sharing with people our unique surroundings, and beautiful and graphic photos of what is naturally appealing, we can instantly build an image and brand that is unique and makes it very difficult for competitors to match.

Many people are familiar with Facebook and Instagram, but Pinterest is a relatively new addition to the social media household names. Pinterest also has a different consumer base, which can be helpful if we want to target a variety of audiences.

The main purpose of Pinterest is to share photos, which for many Phuket-based businesses is the perfect medium.

Users have ‘boards’ on which they can pin pictures they like or are interested in. They can also re-pin other people’s photos as well, which helps promote the image and share it with others.

Pinterest has 70 million active users, and the vast majority (80 per cent) are women. So we can use a different approach to target what will appeal more to the ladies in this particular forum.

To get the best results when pinning pictures they should be inspiring, educational, visually appealing or entertaining. This will help get more interest and will lead to images being shared and going viral, hence more people being exposed to the images.

— Simon Wetherell