pinterestGeorge Orwell once wrote: “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Public relations is everything else.” It’s true, look it up. You can find it in the public relations section at Pinterest, the new home for great PR campaigns, infographics and images.

More PR professionals are finding visual social sharing value with Pinterest for new client campaigns, logos and designs, product images and more. It’s becoming another tool in the profession of gaining brand awareness, viral mentions and to put it in Orwell’s terminology, column inches.

The number of active users on Pinterest has jumped dramatically in recent months. The Next Web reports that the image sharing site is now up to 70 million US users and is expanding quickly internationally as well.

Your company or agency can start to use PR with Pinterest in several ways – embed Pinterest images into blog posts; repin images related to your clients’ campaigns with others, and share on your other social networks. Follow below to learn how to use Pinterest for promotion.

Promoting Company History

Companies can use a Pinterest page to highlight visual occurrences in a company’s timeline. Images of the launch of its first product, to company outings and speaker presentations, it’s all fair game for promotion possibilities. And when a company gains the longevity of say a General Electric, then it becomes more of a history lesson.

Social Media Examiner offers up some tips on how a company like GE can use its history on Pinterest.

  • Increase credibility of your company’s value throughout the years by showing your history on Pinterest.
  • Show how your company has adapted to present day and changed with customers’ lives and patterns.
  • Include emphasis on new products to promote your company’s continuing viability and evolution.

Promoting Agency Life

The New York digital marketing agency iAcquire uses its Pinterest page to highlight various areas of its work in different areas. (See iAcquire on Pinterest.) From employee presentations to company seminars to industry infographics, the firm’s Pinterest page offers up a glimpse of inner workings, personalities involved and insights into nature of its digital work. The categories are PR-worthy and help bring the agency online awareness.

Promoting Company Goodwill

Overall, Pinterest can be used for just about any creative endeavor that your company needs. Here are a few more ideas via Jeffbullas.com.

Get Active – Engage with users. Be upfront with Pinterest followers. Seek input and ask for suggestions on adding items to Pinterest. Be thankful when they repin company images.
Rewards and Offers. Is there exclusive company content or shwag that you can offer followers? When you can offer your followers free stuff. Pinterest users love free.
Maximize attention to company services. Like the agency above, show what your company can do. Maybe your Pinterest followers work for a potential partner company. Emphasize services for lead generation opportunities.
Increase SEO. Keywords are crucial on Pinterest, just like everywhere else. Use keywords wisely to bring in new followers to your page. Be active in re-sharing images in related categories.

Cover photo from Flickr user Jason Howie / Jason A. Howie.

About the Author: Barry Solice

Barry is the COO of a marketing company who freelances to keep his journalism skills sharp.