Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web.

1. Engagement University
EU03 Emerging technologies: Pinterest
Fall Semester, 2011

2. Understanding Pinterest’s audience was uncharacteristically easy, as the
site is essentially one large, collective moodboard. A quick peak at
Pinterest’s homepage gives a clear narrative about who is using the site,
and what they are using it for. - From ‘Pinterest’ on thecaseandpoint.com

3. What is Pinterest?
✤ Pinterest is a virtual pinboard.
✤ Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you
find on the web.
✤ You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new
things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.
✤ People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes,
share their favorite recipes, all kinds of stuff like that.
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

4. What is a pin?
✤ A pin is an image added to
Pinterest.
✤ A pin can be added from a
website using the ‘Pin It’
button, or you can upload
images from your computer.
✤ Each pin added using the ‘Pin
It’ button links back to the site
it came from.
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

5. How to install the ‘Pin It’ button
✤ The “Pin It” button lets you grab an image from any website and add
it to one of your pinboards. When you pin from a website, Pinterest
automatically grabs the source link so they can credit the website it
came from.
✤ Display your Bookmarks Bar by clicking View > Toolbars >
Bookmarks Toolbar
✤ Drag the “Pin It” button to your Bookmarks Toolbar
✤ When you are browsing the web, push the “Pin It” button to pin an
image
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

6. How to install the ‘Pin It’ button
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

7. How to pin with the ‘Pin It’ button
✤ Use the ‘Pin It’ button to pin as you browse the web. When you see an
image you wan to pin, click ‘Pin It’ on your bookmark toolbar. This
will pull up all the images you can pin.
✤ Select the image you want to pin, choose which board the image
belongs on, type a thoughtful description, credit the source, and add
some tags to help users search for it.
✤ You can choose to share the pin to Facebook and/or Twitter.
✤ When you're done, click ‘Pin It’.
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

8. What is a
repin?
✤ A repin is adding an image you
find while browsing the
Pinterest website to your own
board.
✤ When you repin an image, the
user who first pinned the
image will also get credit.
✤ Repins maintain the source-
link of the image no matter
how many times it’s repinned.
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

9. Two ways to repin an image
✤ When viewing a pin in thumbnail-view, mouse-over the pin and click
the ‘Repin’ button.
✤ When you're viewing a pin in full-size view, click the ‘Repin’ button
at the top-left corner.
✤ After you click ‘Repin,’ choose a board. You can edit the description of
the pin and choose to share it on Facebook and/or Twitter.
✤ Then click ‘Repin.’
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

10. What’s the difference between
liking and pinning?
✤ If you come across something
that you like but don't
necessarily want to pin on one
of your boards, you can simply
‘Like’ it.
✤ This won't show up in the feed
of those who follow you, but
you can click on ‘Likes’ from
your profile to see a list of
everything you have Liked on
Pinterest.
Credit: Based on info from ‘Pinterest: A beginners guide’ on sortacrunchy.net

11. What is a board?
A board is a set of pins.
A board can be created on any topic, such as Cool Posters, Recipes For Dinner, or Wishlist.
You can add as many pins to a board as you want.
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

12. What is following?
“Following All” means you'll have all of a user’s pins on all their boards shown to you in
real-time on Pinterest. If the user makes new boards, you will automatically follow them.
You can follow individual boards if you're only interested in seeing a user's pins to specific
boards.
You can unfollow boards and users at any time: they will not be notified.
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

13. How to sign up
for Pinterest
✤ Pinterest is currently invite-
only. Request an invite from
your Community Manager
✤ When you receive your
invite, you can register via
Facebook Connect or
connect through Twitter.

14. Pinterest for brands: Copyright
✤ We can’t control readers’ use of
our images on Pinterest but we
can control use of our brand’s
images on our brands’
Pinterest accounts.
✤ Each brand has different
photography contracts which
impact their ability to share
their brand’s photos legally on
Pinterest. For advice specific to
your brand, speak with your
Online Content Director.

15. Pinterest best practices for brands
✤ Credit your sources and include a thoughtful pin description
✤ If you are pinning a photo that your brand owns, credit the
photographer in your pin description.
✤ Avoid excessive promotion of yourself or your brand
✤ Choose to receive email notifications from the ‘Preferences’ section of
your Pinterest account. This will alert you to new followers, new
repins, @ mentions, and likes.

16. Pinterest best practices for brands
✤ Don’t over-pin. Your pins appear in your follower’s feeds. Too many
pins will overwhelm their feeds and obscure pins from other accounts
they follow.
✤ Do pin up to twice a day.
✤ Don’t pin images from your brand exclusively. We want to avoid
charges of self-promotion.
✤ For every pin of a photo from your brand, pin two photos from
other sources.

17. How to let colleagues contribute
to your brand’s board
✤ To add contributors to a board, go to that board and click the ‘Edit’
button in the top-right corner.
✤ Change the setting from “Just Me” to “Me + Contributors.”
✤ You must follow at least one board belonging to a user in order to add
him/her as a contributor.
✤ Then, type his/her username into the text field.
✤ Potential matches to this username will begin to load; when you see
the person you want, click their name. Click Add. When you are
finished, click Save Board Settings.
Credit: Based on info from pinterest.com/about/help

18. Homework
✤ Request an invitation to Pinterest from your community
manager
✤ Join Pinterest and create a personal account.
✤ Install the ‘Pin It’ button on your bookmark toolbar
✤ Create at least three boards with at least three pins each
✤ Follow at least three Pinterest users