When you first hear Pinterest, I can almost guarantee I know what pops into your mind. Wedding planning, recipes, fashion and home decor. Am I right? Well then, you’re not using Pinterest for everything this social media platform has to offer! Here are some tips and hidden gems that you might not know.

1. Share infographics. One of the best things about Pinterest is the fact that they don’t have size requirements for the pictures you upload. With Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, if you want to share an infographic, it might be too long and cut off or resized too small to read. Pinterest doesn’t have restrictions on their sizing so go for it, upload that 4000 pixels high infographic and share away!
2. Save interesting articles to read at a later time. Malorie Lucich, who works for Pinterest, said that the company has an “Articles Club” where “pinployees” will meet to share and discuss the best things they read that week. I don’t know about you, but every time I find an article that I tell myself I’ll read later, I always either forget about it or lose the article, which has to be one of the most infuriating things.
3. A how-to Heaven. Looking to learn new skills? Pinterest is a one stop shop for how to videos, articles and educational resources. This is a great way for companies to create informational boards about their products, company or industry trends, and send people to one organized place rather than separate pages or websites. You can also set each pin to send people back to your website, blog or any other page your heart desires.
4. All about the collab. Pinterest allows you to collaborate with connections, whether you’re planning an event, getting inspiration for a website or just wanting to share motivational pictures and quotes, these boards are a great place to work together. You can also make these boards private so only you and the people you invite can see and interact on the boards.
5. Create a video playlist that you can easily access and share. This is also great for uploading and sharing your company’s commercials or ads. All you have to do is create a board for all videos and easily share with your followers across other social media platforms.
6. Host a social media contest to gather a deeper following. Pinterest contest are growing in popularity, and with Facebook putting an end to the “like gate” on contests, Pinterest is the new king of social media.  For Pinterest contests, brands can require entrants to pin a particular image from that brand onto one of their boards to share with their followers. Simple and interactive, this is a great way to expand a brand’s image.

I would also like to take a moment to admire the quirky and honestly unbelievable Pinterest office. But really, have you seen this place? Now I feel like my office is boring and lacking creativity. I’ll be right back, I’ll be in the lounge crafting something.

photo credit: mikeyp2000 via photopin cc