Pinterest Ideas For Musicians

One of the fastest growing social networks online, Pinterest is now the third-largest behind only Facebook and Twitter, with users pinning images just as much as they're tweeting. Unlike other networks though, Pinterest is equally popular with different age demographics. Although at one time it had a larger difference in gender mix than any other of it’s social counterparts with five times more women pinning than men, this is changing rapidly as both men, businesses, and brands discover its features and reach. Here's an excerpt from my upcoming book Social Media For Musicians about how artists, bands and musicians can use Pinterest as a promotional tool.

"Pinterest allows you to save and categorize images of things that you like (called “pins”) even when you’re browsing . The process of selecting or uploading a pin is called “pinning.” You pin things to folders that have a common theme called pinboards or “Boards,” which can be either public or “secret.” Every time you pin something, it shows the link of where the pin came from, which can be a good way to get traffic if you pin your own site’s graphics. You can follow people and use keywords and trending item hashtags just like Twitter. You can also link your account to both your Facebook and Twitter accounts so that when you pin something, it simultaneously publishes to those networks as well if you desire.

There’s a lot more about Pinterest than meets the eye. Here are some additional hints and ideas for using Pinterest.

• Pin pictures of your fans and then paste their testimonials in the pin’s description. People love seeing faces with testimonials because it seems more credible and friendly. 

• Your Pinterest page has its own RSS feed! Your (or anyone else’s) RSS fee can be found by going to the user’s Pinterest URL and adding /feed.rss to the end of the link. Here’s an example using my username “bobbyowsinski:” http://pinterest.com/bobbyowsinski/feed.rss.  You can also view a specific Board feed by going to the board URL and replace “feed” with the board name like in this example where my board name is ‘noms’) http://pinterest.com/bobbyowsinski/pictures-from-everywhere.rss. Use the RSS feed anywhere that a feed is appropriate (Facebook, LinkedIn, for syndication on other sites, etc.). Alert your fans and readers to your feed and ask them to add it to their RSS feed readers.

• Add prices to your pins to create your own Pinterest shop. To add a price to a pin, type the $ or £ symbol followed by the item’s price in the pin’s description. The price then shows up on a diagonal bar across the pin. Also, when you add prices to your pins, the pin may also be featured in Pinterest’s “Gifts” section.

• Create a special board to highlight your band or album project team members. Use the description area under each photo to write a bio of each person.

• Show behind-the-scenes photos of your gigs, rehearsals or studio recording. People love knowing the back story of what you do.

• Become an information curator. Gather the last news and resources regarding your type of music on a board or boards. If you become a trusted source for information on Pinterest, your following will grow by leaps and bounds.

• Highlight old content on your blog so that people can repin your archived posts. 

• Schedule your pins using Pingraphy.com. It provides some analytics as well.

• Create seasonal or holiday boards that relate to your brand. For example: New Year’s Resolutions, Fourth of July, etc. These are always a hit on Pinterest.

• Create a board that tells the story of band and communicates your core values. A “History of the Band” board is the perfect way to show your evolution.

• Create “thank you” boards for fans that send special messages. Pin their pictures to the board and thank them in the description.

• Have a blog? Create a board for it. 

• Going to a conference like SXSW? Create a board for it."

Social Media For Musicians, which is all about using social media for promotion, should be available by the end of the month. For excerpts from my other books, go to bobbyowsinski.com.

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