As stated on the Pinterest for Business homepage, Pinterest, the image board sharing database of photos and "things" of the internet personally curated by users around the world, can help businesses "get discovered by millions of people looking for things to plan, buy and do."

Pinterest is a visual bookmarking site created as a way for people to save, or "pin," interesting things they find around the web or on Pinterest itself. Pins are organized into "Boards" which users can save by theme or topic, ranging anywhere from dinner recipes to turquoise pillows to favorite sunwear. Socially, the site functions as an environment where users can find new products, glean ideas and take note of what others are touting as trendy or noteworthy around the web—in other words, what others are "Pinning."

Pinterest has its ongoing and current "success stories" of influential brand users; Nordstrom, an early adopter of the service, now uses Pinterest on the web and in its retail stores to show customers what's "trending." Tom's is running a back-to-school campaign instructing fans to create a pin board titled "#Toms Give Back to School Contest" where they can pin their favorite Tom's apparel styles and use the #Toms hashtag in each post. Modcloth, a social shopping site that uses crowdsourcing to let consumers decide what products it should sell, ranked as the fastest growing retailer on Pinterest in June, according to Stylophane, a social media index and analytics firm for the fashion and beauty industries.

Eyecare practices deserve a place in the Pinterest spotlight, too. Here's a selection of optical practices around the country who are using Pinterest right now—see if they inspire you to start sharing—er, pinning—your own ideas and interests in picture form.

 

Forster Eyecare
Lawrenceville, Ga.
Pinterest profile

Forster Eyecare based in Lawrenceville, Ga. has 22 Boards, 229 Pins and 279 Followers at press time. Board topics include "Eye Health," "Eye Tricks," "Eye Candy" and "Creative Clothing" featuring apparel that's patterned with eyes, eyeglass frames or other optical-themed prints.

 

Family Vision Care
Kapolei, Hawaii
Pinterest profile

Family Vision Care in Kapolei, Hawaii has 72 Boards, 3,896 Pins and 189 followers, highlighting boards such as "Our office in Kapolei" providing visual information about the practice, "Healthy Food Eyedeas" with eye-healthy recipes and "Women With Glasses" pinning—well, that one's self-explanatory.

 

Madeira Optical
Cincinnati, Ohio
Pinterest profile

Madeira Optical, a Cincinnati eyewear shop with 10 Boards, 1,723 Pins and 342 Followers, mixes up the themes between Boards like "Sunglasses We Love," "Madeira Optical News" and "Your Family's Eyes" highlighting eye health info like when to get an eye exam and how to protect eyes from the sun.

As you can see, the pictures and topics practices are pinning aren't the frames they carry, their optometric equipment or their staff bios. Pinterest is different from a website or e-com site in that it shows the creative side of a store and allows for split-second saving of items from around the web that consumers can share without feeling committed. It differs from Facebook in that you're not publishing personal updates or selfie campaigns, but ideas, tips and inspiration. Store updates and events you might see on Twitter are irrelevant here and next week's trunk show won't get much attendance if you use Pinterest like the bulletin board in your local library.

Although the link between social marketing and revenue is more direct on Pinterest than other social platforms*, Pinterest is not about pushing products or information to followers, but allowing them to see inside your creative process—by letting them see what you find interesting as an eyecare professional. Whether you curate boards about eye health, fashion icons or glaucoma treatment, you're telling stories about the interests and personality of your business. As an optical retailer, you can be consumer-facing without being in-your-face to consumers.

*What Makes a Great Pinterest or Instagram Image? via Forbes.com