Last week Pinterest announced yet another new type of pin: the Place Pin. Their goal with these new pins is to make creating travel inspiration boards easier for their users, allowing them to map out their dream trip – whether it’s to Paris or a simple three hour road trip. Though this addition was developed with users in mind, it offers major benefits for businesses as well!

Place Pin Potential

The big draw to Place Pins for businesses is that they allow them to display their business location on the map with pins associated with their location. Not only that, the business website and phone number are displayed prominently below the pin and above the map. Thus, when users repin Place Pins, their followers can easily learn more about the business without even clicking away from the pin.

Another potential benefit for businesses is the possibility of being featured on their followers Place boards. Whether these followers visit you just once a year from their far away homes or they stop in weekly from their house down the street, encourage them to add your business to their Place Boards; more specifically, your far off fans may feature you in their Travel boards while locals could pin you to their Hometown Favorites board. While this strategy does rely on your customers doing some of the work for you, it will extend your Pinterest efforts far beyond your own existing pool of followers.

How to Use Place Pins & Boards

Creating Place Pins and Boards is easy! If you are creating a new board, simply select “Yes” next to the Add a Map? field when you are first adding your board information. Next you’ll choose your city and begin typing the name of the place you’d like to pin. As you can see, the place should appear in the list below. If your place does not appear, you may have to add the address and place type manually. Please note that Pinterest’s Place search is powered by Foursquare, giving businesses even more incentive to create a listing on Foursquare.

When to Use Place Pins & Boards

Of course you’ll want to use Place Pins and Boards to document your business location on images of your storefront, the inside of your business, etc., but Place Boards can also be used to:

• Show Support for Your Community:

  Create a Place Board of your favorite local spots, including both landmarks and businesses to foster a sense of community and show your support for your fellow small business owners. You never know, they just might do the same for you!

• Express Your Company Culture:

  Perhaps you own a French restaurant. Use a Place board to map out your favorite places in Paris, including restaurants that may have inspired dishes on your menu. Or say you run a local bookstore. Create Place Boards to map out a popular character’s journey throughout their book. These new types of pins give business owners one more way to engage their customers and express their company cultures.

• Create a Travel Bucket List:

  Even if these places are not directly associated with your business, Getaway boards resonate with everyone. Be sure to mention in your description that though you’d love to visit each and every one of these locations, there truly is no place like home!

Still unsure of how to create Place Pins for your business or simply looking for some guidance on building creative boards that will connect with your followers? Reach out to us! We’re here to help.