If so then you’ve got the right idea and you’ve come to the right place.
Pinterest is a truly unique social media marketing platform. You can think of Pinterest as a digital scrapbooking, as well as an online wishlist.
Audiences on Pinterest are unique in that they’re in more of a buying mindset than many other social network users.
In fact, 87% of Pinterest users have bought a product because of Pinterest.
Who Are The People Buying On Pinterest?
The answer may surprise you:
- 79.5% of Pinterest’s users are female.
- There are 291 million active users on Pinterest.
- 77.4 million are from the US.
Pinterest is known for catering mostly to the home improvement, culinary, arts, fashion, and health industries.
But you can find a Pinterest board for pretty much any topic imaginable, as long as it is within Pinterest-approved parameters.
Many small businesses know this information already. But they still make the mistake of dismissing Pinterest as a potential marketing platform.
They think that, for their business, it couldn’t possibly be worth investing.
Maybe you’re one of them.
Takeaways
- Pinterest’s USP for marketers is that they are actively working to make sure that marketers on Pinterest succeed.
- Any business can succeed on Pinterest so long as they can relate their business to the most popular categories on Pinterest.
- Think of your pins as book covers; they should make people want to dig deeper into your content/brand.
Should I Start Using Pinterest For Business Marketing?
It can actually be a big mistake to dismiss Pinterest if you haven’t tried it yet.
If you start using Pinterest for business by following this guide, you might be shocked at how much traffic you can drive back to your website.
If you don’t believe us, then look at the rankings.
According to Shareaholic, Pinterest is already the 2nd largest driver of traffic from social media sites, behind only Facebook, and even surpassing Twitter.
As for eCommerce websites, Pinterest garners an average sales order of $50. That is higher compared to its competitors that has a marketplace.
And did you know that out of over 250 million monthly active users, 93% of them use Pinterest in planning their purchases?
That’s a surefire way to increase your revenue.
In short, using Pinterest for business can always work in your favor – so long as you can relate your business to one of the popular categories on Pinterest.
What Is Pinterest’s Unique Selling Point To Marketers?
Pinterest’s USP for marketers is that they are actively working to make sure that marketers on Pinterest succeed.
That’s why they’re creating educational marketing material for people using Pinterest for business.
Two major projects are currently underway:
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Pinstitute – an interactive workshop where businesses can connect with pinners (people who post on Pinterest).
The workshop will discuss ways to get the most out of their marketing on Pinterest.
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Webinars and resources for small businesses.
Pinterest also provides tools that are helpful for people using Pinterest for business:
- promoted pins
- pin it button
- widget builder
They’re also promising to add even more tools in the future.
You can stay up to date on their new tools by joining the Pinterest newsletter, which we highly recommend.
How To Start Using Pinterest For Business
There are over 100 billion pins on Pinterest. If you’ve ever visited Pinterest then you know how hard it is to stand out.
Countless pictures of adorable puppies, delectable recipes, and beautiful pieces of home decor all fight for your attention.
But you shouldn’t let that stop you! Remember – everyone goes to Pinterest to find more of what they love.
And there are 291 million active pinners – chances are some of them will love what they find on your blog.
Just follow these 25 Do’s and 10 Don’ts of using Pinterest for business and you should see a decent return on investment.
So grab a cup of coffee and get pumped for Pinterest!
Because we’re going to list just about everything you need to know about how to start using Pinterest for business.
Using Pinterest For Business Marketing: Do’s
1. Do learn the terminology.
There are many unique Pinterest terms and these are the main ones:
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Pinners – refers to Pinterest users.
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Pins – all the content/posts that are shared on Pinterest.
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Boards – think of these like digital bulletin boards for your pins. You can rearrange your boards and pins as you see fit.
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Group Boards – this is a collaborative type of board but is owned by one person. The board owner must send out an invitation for you to join.
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Archive Boards – this function will let you tidy up your profile.
It will also let you stop seeing pin/board suggestions that you don’t want to see anymore.
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Feed: your feed will show you pins from people that you follow, or whatever pins that Pinterest thinks you’d be interested in.
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Lens: this is the camera icon next to the search bar that’s only seen on the Pinterest smartphone app.
Here you can snap a picture of something and then Pinterest will show you other similar images/ideas.
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Tagging: use the @ symbol to tag other pinners.
2. Do learn the most popular Pinterest categories.
Any business can succeed on Pinterest so long as they can relate their business to the most popular categories on Pinterest.
Try to pick the most relevant category on Pinterest for your business.
For example, if your company specializes in selling sports equipment, then the health and fitness category on Pinterest should work fine for you.
That category can be your go-to for new pin ideas. You can create pins with workout routines, diet plans, etc.
3. Do use a business account.
A business account is essential when using Pinterest for business. That’s because excellent Pinterest analytics is only available for business accounts.
Luckily business accounts are totally free. You can also easily switch from a personal account to a business account without losing any of your boards or pins.
The main difference between the account types lies in the different terms of services.
A few of the most important terms of service that are exclusive for business accounts are:
- Don’t promote spam. One example: requesting pinners to comment over and over.
- Don’t run a sweepstake with each pin or interaction representing an entry. Also, don’t ask Pinterest users to vote on something with a like or pin saving.
- Don’t run promotional events “too often.”
- Never imply that Pinterest supports or sponsors your business.
4. Do verify your business account.
To get access to Pinterest Analytics, you must verify your business account.
Being verified will also show people that you’re using Pinterest for business legitimately.
5. Do use Pinterest Analytics.
Now that you’re verified, you should be able to access your Pinterest analytics. Here you’ll see analytics for all your Pinterest content.
Analytics include:
- Demographics
- What devices they used.
- Clicks
- Pin saves
- Your profile’s average daily impressions and viewers.
- Average monthly views and engagements.
- Your most popular pins.
- You can also see the interests of people who engaged with your content.
6. Do set up your profile properly.
There aren’t very many profile customization options on Pinterest.
But you can still upload a profile picture, create a custom username and write a description for your business.
In insecurity settings, be sure to turn on two-factor authentication.
When it comes to actually set up your business page, think of it as a library. Any great library will have a simple reference system.
So, you should use a variety of different boards (more on this later). The different boards will allow you to organize all your topics.
7. Do add a Facebook tab for your Pinterest page.
Now that you’ve set up your profile, you need to link your Facebook account.
Since you can (and should) use your business name instead of your real name, Pinterest won’t automatically link your Facebook account.
So you must add a Facebook tab for your Pinterest homepage.
8. Do make your image correctly.
On Pinterest, image is everything. Think of your pins as book covers; they should make people want to dig deeper into your content/brand.
According to Pinterest, you should generally use bright colors and a brief title for your pins.
Size: Pins are organized into columns, so you want to have taller/longer pins if you want to stand out more in the feed.
Since Pinterest is uniquely built on a vertical grid, you should size your images around 2:3 or 1:3.5 aspect ratio, with 600 pixels width as a minimum.
There’s a general consensus for the ideal pin size. For a general pin, Picmonkey says the ideal pin size is 736 x 1104 to 2061.
Kissmetrics says it’s 736 x 1102. These sizes will result in a pin that isn’t too big or too small.
9. Do link all your Pins to your sites.
This is something simple to do that shouldn’t be forgotten. It’s very important to do this no matter what kind of pin it is.
Even if it’s just a simple pin or an inspirational pin, it should still lead back to your site.
If that inspirational pin made someone’s life better, then that person will likely want to check out your brand.
So be sure to include a link in your pin’s description.
Which link you want to use depends on your goals. The best links are to your landing page, product page, or your homepage.
10. Do pin as much as possible.
According to a Minnesota Pinterest study, the 3 main things that people factor in when deciding whether or not to follow you are:
- How many pinners you’re following and are following you.
- How many pins you have.
- How many boards you have.
So, more pins are better because it means more content for pinners to look through on your boards. You can post as many pins as you have time for.
And thanks to the Pinterest Smart Feed algorithm, you don’t have to worry about overwhelming your followers with your pins.
Besides, each pin will be a chance for you to grow your presence on Pinterest.
As for posting frequency, it can vary. There’s no formula for how often to post.
Big brands all do it differently. But, posting more is good.
As a good starting point, you can get more Pinterest followers by posting at least 5 new pins every day.
And don’t just repin other users content – put your creativity into making your own pins.
11. Do use a variety of content.
For Pinterest profile pages, variety is key. You should have lots of different boards.
As for what kind of boards, Pinterest suggests studying your analytics to see what kind of content your visitors will enjoy.
It’s crucial to keep your content varied, or your followers will lose interest.
Variety doesn’t just mean in terms of topics, but also in the type of material you present.
In other words, don’t be too salesy or your followers will lose interest.
Make sure to add in other kinds of boards that provide value to your target audience.
12. Do use rich Pins.
Just like their name implies, rich pins are the best strategy when using Pinterest for business and growing sales.
In the world of 2019 social media marketing, rich pins are still pretty new.
So if you’re a growing small business, they’ll help you get ahead of the game and beat your competitors.
After all, the big brands are already using them, so you should too. And if that isn’t enough to convince you to use them – brands using rich pins see 82% more repins!
Now, how does a rich pin actually work?
The Pinterest-rich pins tool will automatically add the headline, author name, and article description to your pin.
Some rich pins even include an interactive map location. If you post it from your site, pinners will easily be able to see where it came from.
13. Do validate your rich Pins.
In order for your rich pins to have the potential to direct traffic back to your site, you must get them validated on Pinterest.
If you aren’t tech-savvy enough to do this, then let us help you. It involves meta tags.
14. Do use the 4 types of rich Pins.
Because of the great versatility of rich pins, they’ve proven to be the best friend of bloggers.
For example, you can add more contextual information with any of these 4 different types of rich pins: app, article, product, or recipe.
They should also include a click-through link to your site.
- Article pin: shows most of your article’s information at a glance, making it more readable and searchable.
- Product pins: makes shopping easier by showing your current product’s price, where people can purchase it, and also a direct link to your product’s page.
The price will also update itself in real-time on the user’s end.
- Recipe pins: these pins show important information like necessary ingredients, cooking durations, etc.
- App pins: allows pinners to download an app directly from the app pin.
15. Do add a call-to-pin to every Pin.
Kissmetrics coined the phrase “call-to-pin,” which simply means having a call to action in your pin description.
For example, if you’re using a recipe pin, you could say a few words like “for more delicious lobster recipes like this, visit our site.”
Or even a CTP like “repin to your own lobster recipe board” is better than nothing.
You’ll get 80% more engagement with a call-to-pin.
16. Do allow users to pin your website images on their own boards.
You know that red Pinterest button you see when hovering over an image on a site?
That’s the pin it button, and your site needs it. Hover over the image below and click the red “Save” button in the top left corner to see what we’re talking about.
It’s an easy way to increase your outreach. It allows pinners to easily pin your website’s pictures on their own boards.
You can add a hovering pin it button to any of the images on your website by going to the Pinterest website.
If you use WordPress, there’s also an alternative method: the pin it button plugin. This plugin will let pinners pin your pictures to their account.
And it can also lead them to your own Pinterest account. Thus creating more traffic for you all around.
17. Do get browser extensions to pin images right from the website you’re on.
Different browsers have extensions that you can download that will let you pin images from any website that you’re on.
18. Do let people buy directly from Pinterest.
If you shop on Pinterest then you’ll notice that all the big brands let people buy their items directly from Pinterest.
You can do this as a small brand too.
This works well because people will find related ideas to the product that they’re interested in. These related ideas show up in their feed.
Oftentimes this leads to more sales for the big brands since they have a large presence and variety of products on Pinterest.
19. Do incorporate Pins in your email marketing.
Yes, you can even incorporate Pinterest marketing into your email marketing via your newsletter. Just throw in a couple of your latest pins.
Try saying something along the lines of: “these two pins will show you how to quit your job and make more money, check out our Pinterest to find out more!”
20. Do create pincodes if you have a physical business.
This is a great way for physical businesses to draw in more customers with their products. It’s simple for both you and your customers.
All they need to do is point their smartphone’s camera at the pincode to get access to your curated boards and profile.
And all you have to do is create the pincode. However, you must have a Pinterest business account and be residing in the US, UK or Canada to create pincodes.
You can create a pincode for your profile, or for one of your boards, on the Pinterest app or the desktop site.
21. Board do’s
Here we list the key information about boards on Pinterest.
- You can access the “create a board” button anytime from your profile page or whenever you create a new pin.
- Give your board a name that’s clever, but still searchable and related to your brand.
- Add a cover photo for each board. They should reflect your brand’s message and have visual appeal.
- Over time you’ll be able to see which of your boards are most popular. You should move these to the top of your page so that you can put your best foot forward.
- Consider putting your rich article pins into one article board.
Then put it at the top of your page to help people easily find your content. You can apply this logic to other types of rich pins as well.
Here are the different types of Pinterest boards and how you should use them:
- Create a dedicated board for contests, giveaways and sales.
- Use a group board when planning for a big event or project. It will allow multiple people to view the board and pin their ideas.
To add people to the board just add their name or email.
As the creator, you have full control. You decide which pins are approved. Invitees can’t change the board title or description.
One more reason why a group board is a good idea – when using Pinterest for business…
…you can try to get industry experts to contribute to your board, which will give you more authority on Pinterest.
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Create a gift guide board! It’s important to be creative with your boards.
Don’t just pin your newest products to any of your boards; create new boards, and even think about incorporating new products into a “gift guide” board.
You’ll want to include products from other brands as well so your board doesn’t look like one big advertisement for your business.
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Create a secret board. It’s secret because it will be a private board just for you.
Use it to collect new pins or inspiration throughout your day. This will save you time later.
Return to it later to grab the pins you want to put on your “live boards.”
22. Do consider hiring someone for your Pinterest management.
When it comes to being an active pinner, especially as a business, it can be overwhelming to keep up with your boards, pins, and followers as your brand grows.
We know hiring another person on your team may not always be feasible or the best option if you’re trying to increase ROI.
This is why we suggest hiring a social media management company to help offset these costs and free up some of your time.
When it comes to analytics, a social media management company usually has advanced tools that will measure the success and performance of your pins.
23. Do repurpose your infographics for Pinterest.
Infographics are engaging and fun to share, making them great to have when using Pinterest for business.
In fact, infographics are so popular on Pinterest that Pinterest coined the phrase “instructographic.”
This is because of the heavy DIY, how-to nature of Pinterest.
You can repurpose your existing infographics for Pinterest by orienting them more vertically.
24. Do try the lens search.
The lens search tool can be used in many creative ways. Pinterest says that it works best for home decor ideas, things to wear, and food.
25. Do follow competitors, trends, and influencers.
We’ve saved the best for last. Competitors, trends, influencers.
These three things will be the keys to your success on Pinterest. So let’s tackle each one.
Competitors: Simply “following” your competitors on Pinterest will allow you to monitor them easily.
To find out who your competitors are, start by following brands and people who save ideas that relate to your business.
Your feed will now reflect your niche and allow you to easily find your competitors.
Trends: After you start to follow and comment on popular boards, other people will take notice. This is a good way to start using Pinterest for business.
But how do you know which popular boards to follow and comment on?
Start by finding trending keywords related to your business.
To find them, type a keyword into Pinterest search and see the relevant keyword suggestions below it.
You should include these trending keywords in your titles and descriptions.
Search using these trending keywords to find the currently popular and trending pins and boards in your niche.
You’ll want to center your content on what’s trending in your niche. When you can relate what’s trending back to your brand, you’ll make your brand more discoverable on Pinterest.
In addition, you can check out Pinterest Pinsights to help you decide what to pin.
Influencers: You can reach out to influencers to get a bigger following. There are 5 steps to doing this:
- Find influencers and follow their boards.
- Leave engaging comments on their pins.
- Initiate collaboration.
- Ask if they would post on one of your boards, or offer to post on one of their boards.
- Show that you’re familiar with their content by offering your ideas for their board.
Now we’re reaching the end of our guide. We’ve covered tons of ground already, but we’re not quite finished yet.
You should be aware of the following don’ts. These are common traps and pitfalls for brands using Pinterest for business.
Using Pinterest For Business Marketing: Don’ts
1. Don’t use rich Pins all the time.
Rich pins are a good tool. But like anything else, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
Good things to use with rich pins are: product pictures, articles, and events because these things benefit from the additional information.
But for certain things, like brand inspiration boards, rich pins shouldn’t be used because they just aren’t necessary.
Inspirational quotes don’t need rich pins, just a direct link to your site and that’s it.
2. Don’t neglect SEO.
Social Media Examiner describes Pinterest as a “visual search engine.” This is true, but keywords still play a large role in your success on Pinterest.
For many people, Pinterest is like the “Google of the DIY world.” So, SEO does have its place on Pinterest.
Before you start pinning, you must understand what your audience on Pinterest is searching for.
To find the keywords they’re searching for, you can use tools like SEMrush, Moz Keyword Explorer, or SpyFu.
You can also play around with the Pinterest search function to see what pins come up for your keywords, as well as suggested categories from Pinterest.
If the results closely match your business then your keyword is likely a winner.
Now, where do you put these keywords on the highly image-oriented platform that’s Pinterest?
Places, where you should seamlessly incorporate your keywords, are:
- Pinterest profile
- Board names
- Board descriptions
- Pin descriptions
- Image file names
When it comes to SEO, nobody’s off the hook when they’re using Pinterest for business.
For many businesses, it’s too time-consuming to create images for Pinterest and optimize keywords at the same time.
That’s why hiring SEO professionals when using Pinterest for business is a great idea.
3. Don’t go crazy with keywords.
Now while you should add keywords to the places we mentioned, you don’t want to go overboard and risk sounding like a robot or spammy.
A good rule of thumb is not to add more than two keywords in your titles and descriptions.
Basically, you want to optimize but still sound human. The key to this is adding effective keywords in the right contexts.
On the image-dominated platform of Pinterest, it’s easy to forget that it’s a social media platform. A community.
So don’t forget to enable comments and messages and communicate freely with your community.
This means that you should engage with your followers as well.
Remember that engagement is a two-way street. Comment on their pins and they might just comment on yours too.
And remember to address them directly using their names. This will improve your level of customer service, too.
Finally, don’t get stuck in the Pinterest bubble – share your pins to your other social networks too.
After everything we’ve said about Pinterest, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; Pinterest is a unique social media platform with its own rules.
So, don’t copy your other social media strategies when using Pinterest for business.
6. Don’t pin at the wrong time of day.
This is very important to consider. Luck plays a role here. But with some research, you can partially “create your own luck.”
According to numerous studies of pins, the best times to pin depend on your topic and industry.
So what kinds of things are important to research about your industry’s audience?
- When they’re most engaged.
- When they sleep.
- What days they’re active on Pinterest.
- What time of day they’re active on Pinterest.
Socialfresh posted this infographic showing the best times to post on Pinterest in general.
Your goal should be to post on Pinterest when your audience is actively engaged on the platform. That’s why we suggest scheduling your pins ahead of time.
7. Don’t pin all at once.
Earlier we mentioned how you should post at least 5 pins/day when starting out on Pinterest.
However, you shouldn’t pin all 5 new pins at the same time, and not even in a 5-minute timespan. Try to spread them out throughout the day.
8. Don’t just pin images.
On Pinterest, you aren’t just limited to pinning images. You can also pin videos from YouTube and create a playlist board.
For companies that benefit more from video content marketing, this is a smart way of using Pinterest for business.
9. Don’t start all over building a following on Pinterest.
Why start all over again when building a following? It’s very easy to connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts with your Pinterest account.
This will also add Twitter and Facebook buttons to your account automatically.
Do note however that you can’t connect a Facebook page to your account – only a personal Facebook account.
10. Don’t live under a rock.
A great way to keep your content fresh is to piggyback off of timely events, holidays, etc. Create a special board for these.
This type of board will work great because it’s relevant and creates a sense of urgency.
You can also archive it once the holiday has passed and the board is no longer relevant.
Conclusion
If you’ve managed to read through the whole article, then you’re on your way to developing a profitable Pinterest campaign!
And don’t worry if image creation isn’t your expertise. You can let our professionals handle that part.
Feel free to contact us for more information about our Pinterest management services.
One Response
Thank you for explaining it in depth, It was very helpful for me.