I must admit, being a highly visual person and never being able to turn "off", when I first joined Pinterest I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough of those gorgeous idea inspiring photos.
It didn't matter what category I was looking at, my boards and pins grew at an alarming rate. After a while I found myself having to allow myself small periods of time on the platform - seriously, it was getting out of control. I felt like I needed my daily fix.
I understand not everyone is NOT like me (thank God, I hear my friends say!) - I'm a keen DIYer, photographer, marketer, web designer, cook.... The list goes on but I don't want to scare anyone off, so I'll leave it at that.
The point I'm trying to make is, Pinterest is awesome and, if right for your business, can be a powerful marketing tool.
Don’t just sign up to Pinterest and start promoting your brand.
Important questions you should are:
I use my personal Pinterest account with Itchy Fingers Design as I have built up a huge collection of inspiration boards which really helps when looking at designing a new site or developing a client's logo.
It's wonderfully visual and continues to help and inspire me every day. I use this in conjunction with Instagram which is my favourite social platform - more about that another day.
In a post by Kissmetrics they shared the fact that a University of Minnesota’s Pinterest study shows the most popular categories by gender because, yes, while 80% of users are female, men are starting to catch the Pinterest bug. In the past year, the number of male users has DOUBLED, making them Pinterest’s fastest growing demographic.
Adding existing blog or product content to your new Pinterest page is likely to draw in a new audience, and possibly new customers.
Pinterest is all about the visual so images need to be eye catching!
There is no point in using an image based platform if you are sharing things that aren’t pleasing to the eye. You are selling imagery on Pinterest! “This looks SO good, you want to buy it”
Also, don’t stick to the same format, there are many formats you can post:
- Long form graphics - these are really popular on the platform
- Rich pins - there are currently four types of rich pins
- Animated Gifs like the one below (click on the GIF play button)
Easily create stunning graphics for free using Canva - a free online tool that allows you create stunning images for use on many platforms. Canva have over 100 layouts designed for Pinterest or start your own design from scratch. Choose from more than 1 million stock photographs, graphics and fonts, or upload your own.
With Canva you can create templates for your Pinterest posts. All your designs in Canva are saved online, and it's easy to duplicate and edit your posts. Create templates for quotes, announcements, images, special offers and more. Doing this will give your images and pins a consistent look and feel, which is important in branding.
Make sure your Pins are found by the right audience by using relevant search friendly keywords - include these in your caption. Don't stuff them in either, make sure they use natural language and are relevant to the image or subject.
It's also vital you time your posts right. There's no point in doing 10 pins in one sitting then nothing for a week. You should space them out, say one every three hours or so. According to Bit Rebels, the best time to share on Pinterest is between 2PM and 4PM in the afternoon and 8PM to 1AM in the night. Make it a point to place your most important pins at these times. If it is not possible for you to manually share the pins at those times, you could use a scheduling tool to help you. You could try Tailwind or Buffer.
Not every user spends the right amount of time on the description of a pin and this ultimately affects the chances of having it repinned.
Pinterest favours the pins that provide a specific and thoughtful description, one that helps the users find the image they are looking for when performing a search. Add all the details that describe your image and create a natural flow of text that will favoUr your pin’s discovery towards others.
Have you ever been browsing and come across an image you wanted to pin straight away? I know everyone isn't like me and has a tonne of chrome extensions installed (get the pin it chrome extension) so having a pin it button appear on an image hover on your site makes it easy for pinners to pin your images. It's easy enough to do. Follow the guide here.
Allow customers to share their purchases/projects with your audience by creating a board to which they can add their own images. This is customer feedback in a visual age.
You should also join other Contributor Boards relevant to your industry and contribute there. Contributing to a guest board which has already built a loyal audience can help increase pin exposure too. So make it a point to actively search for popular group boards under your niche and get invited to contribute to them. Once you are on these boards regularly contribute a lot of pins.
Don’t just share pins from your own website, but pins from other websites too.
Chances are you are already active on other networks so spread the word. Compose a network specific message inviting them to join you on Pinterest. You could hold a competition or feature them on the platform.
Here are some ideas you can use to let fans or subscribers know your brand has a Pinterest profile.
- Tweet about Pinterest 2-3 times a week.
- Post on Facebook once a week to once every two weeks.
- Send an email mentioning Pinterest and feature a Pinterest profile widget at least once a month.
- Add a (free) Pinterest app to your Facebook account.
In addition to social media promotion, optimise your website with a profile widget, ‘follow us’ buttons, and ‘pin it’ buttons on your images. And don’t forget to take advantage of offline tactics like putting Pinterest promotional content in store if you are in retail.
This is a golden rule no matter what platform you are on, your whole goal is engagement so be sure to respond when people interact. Be friendly and responsive. Build a reputation as being friendly and give them a reason to come back.
Social Media is an extension of your brand and every interaction counts. Your brand should be something your customers want and like to keep them coming back for more.
Turn Your Customer’s email inbox into a pinbox by including a few of your best Pinterest pins in your weekly newsletter or your regular email. Okay, Pinbox isn’t a real word, but the idea and execution are simple.
Include a screenshot of your Pinterest Pin(s) in your newsletter. Place a clickable link on the image that links to the Pinterest Pin. When newsletter readers click on the image they’re taken to that pin on Pinterest where they also browse your pinboards to see what else you have. It’s a win-win.
Are you on Pinterest already? How have you found it benefits your business? Drop me a line in the comments below.
If you need any help with your Pinterest marketing, please get in touch. You can follow me on Pinterest where you can witness the extent of my madness !!!
