Whether it’s Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr or one of the many photo sharing sites popping up online, image-driven social media networks and sites are a great resource for B2B companies. Online marketing doesn’t just consist of Facebook, PPC efforts, and banners. Online marketing is about providing current and potential customers with interesting, informative content. This includes images. Because many photo sharing sites are free, you’re business’s biggest investment is time. B2B companies can truly benefit from having corporate accounts on a number of these photo sharing sites.
Benefits
Using these sites isn’t just a great way to connect with current customers, though that is a definite perk. You can connect with new customers and boost your business’s SEO. With the right images, you can even increase the personal connection people feel toward your brand.
- Enhance your online presence. By establishing your business on sites such as Pinterest and with apps such as Instagram, you’re creating a two-tier approach by showing off products and services: connecting with current customers and attracting new customers.
- Boost your SEO results. If you include links in your profile and optimize each image, on sites such as Flickr and Pinterest, search engines will take note and your SEO efforts can be instantly improved.
- Drive traffic to your site. While it may be difficult to track the traffic from Instagram, you can track the visitors coming from all online sites to see how your efforts are helping business.
Tips and Tricks
Before diving into photo sharing sites, there are a few things to keep in mind. Having a plan in place is one of the best things you can do. Just as with all aspects of business, a plan can keep you focused and on the right track to a flawless execution. Check out this infographic to determine whether your business should be on Pinterest. What photos create a connection on Instagram?
- Post and share compelling photos. No one will repin, like, share or comment on an image that isn’t visually pleasing or doesn’t have a great story behind it.
- Do your research. What are other businesses doing right? GE, Major League Baseball, and Wall Street Journal are just a few of the unexpected businesses excelling on Pinterest. Levi’s, Chobani and nH Hotels are three companies who make the most of Instagram.
- Add a “Pin It” button to your product pages or blog posts so customers and readers can pin your products onto Pinterest.
- B2B marketers sometimes think they don’t have enough visuals to share. This is wrong. You can share photos from company events, infographics, book covers and even customer-contributed images.
- If your company has a ton of visual content, you have easy access to each image when you use Flickr. You can keep images private or allow the public to view. Either way, your employees can easily find and embed the photos they’re looking for.
Using photo-sharing sites is a great idea for B2B marketers. Determine which platforms work best for your business and share interesting content for an ROI that only requires the investment of time. You can foster relationships with customers and create new photo-driven discussions. Photo sharing sites are a great resource for B2B businesses to tap into.
Bio: Erica Bell is a small business writer who focuses on topics such as SEO marketing and social media trends. She is a web content writer for Business.com