Most people use Pinterest to plan their next vacation, find inspiration for room décor, or get ideas for their next DIY project. But are you using Pinterest for your business? Pinterest can be a powerful marketing tool if used correctly.
80% of weekly Pinners say that they have discovered a new brand or product on the platform. With 431 million active users, that means your business has the potential to reach a large audience that is already interested in your brand’s niche.
If you’re ready to start promoting your business on Pinterest, here are a few tips to get you started:
Create a Business Account
First, create a business account. This will give you access to analytics to see what people are saying about your brand. You’ll also be able to create rich pins, which include more information than a standard pin.
Don’t forget to take advantage of Promoted Pins, which are a form of paid advertising on Pinterest.
Build Your Pinterest Marketing Strategy
As with any social media platform, you need to have a plan before you start promoting your business. Who is your target audience? Creating your Pinterest marketing strategy means:
- Set SMART goals: Besides increasing brand awareness or driving traffic to your website, what are some specific goals you want to accomplish with your Pinterest marketing?
- Define your audience: Figure out who you want to reach with your content. This includes understanding what kind of content your audience consumes, what their interests are, and where they are in the buyer’s journey.
- Get familiar with the Pinterest community: If you have never used the app before, spend some time browsing. See what content is being shared and which topics are popular. Look at how others interact. What kind of language do they use?
- Research your competition: See what other businesses in your industry are doing on Pinterest. Look at what kind of content they are creating and pay attention to their engagement. Figure out what does well and what doesn’t and try to identify content gaps.
- Think outside the pin: Pins are essential on Pinterest, but that’s not all you should be creating. You should also create infographics, videos, blog posts that can be pinned, and other advertisement material.
Start Creating Advertising Material
Now that you have a plan in place, it’s time to start creating content. As I mentioned before, pins are not the only kind of content you can create. On Pinterest, you can also make:
Infographics
Infographics are a great way to share information in a visually appealing way. They are also easy to share, and users can repin them repeatedly. For example, infographics could be how-to guides that inform your audience about your product or service, data visualizations that show off industry trends, or specific information about your product.
Videos
Videos are becoming more and more popular on social media, including Pinterest. People love watching videos because they are entertaining and informative. You can create how-to videos, product videos, or even share a behind-the-scenes look at your business.
When creating videos, always remember to engage your audience with native video content. This means producing a video specifically for the platform you share it on. For example, the type of video you create for Facebook will differ from the kind you make for Instagram.
Blog Posts
You can promote your blog posts on Pinterest if you have a blog. This is a great way to drive traffic back to your website and get people interested in your content. Just make sure that you create pins that are eye-catching and informative.
Additionally, make sure to highlight any particularly popular blog posts. You can create a “best of” board or by creating pins with quotes from the post.
Ads
In addition to promoting your own content, you can also create ads on Pinterest. These are called Promoted Pins and they work like any other ad on social media. You can use Promoted Pins to boost engagement, drive traffic to your website, or even increase conversions. Whether you are advertising for a product or service, video and interactive ads on Pinterest are a great way to get noticed.
What Makes a Captivating Pin?
The key to creating content that does well on Pinterest is to make it visually appealing and informative. People should be able to glance at your content and understand what it’s about. And, of course, don’t forget to include a call to action!
When you create a pin, make sure to include:
Keywords: Use keywords in your pin titles and descriptions so that people can find your content when they search.
Hashtags: Hashtags are not as important on Pinterest as they are on other social media platforms, but they can still be helpful. Use them sparingly and make sure they are relevant to your content.
A call-to-action (CTA): Tell people what you want them to do! Include a CTA in the description of your pins so that people know what you want them to do next.
Make sure your pins are high quality: When making posts, only use bright, high-resolution images that are consistent with your branding. Pinterest is a visual platform, so make sure your content conforms to Pinterest ad specs.
Text overlay: Include text on your videos and images so that people know what your content is about without having to click through. This is especially important if you are creating infographics or videos. Large text that emphasizes key messages is highly recommended.
Animated graphics: When creating a video campaign, you can use animated graphics to make your content more visually appealing. Just make sure that the animations emphasize the key message rather than distract from it.
Descriptive copy: In addition to using keywords, make sure your descriptions are engaging and informative. This is your chance to tell people what your content is about and why they should care.
No broken links: Make sure all of your links are working before you share your content. Broken links are bad for SEO and they will guarantee that your viewers don’t convert.
Carefully Plan Your Boards Out
One key component of every single Pinterest marketing strategy is a cohesive board. These are the pages where your pins live and you should carefully curate them to appeal to a particular audience or demographic.
Creating great boards starts with a little bit of research. First, you need to understand your target market and what kind of content they are interested in. Once you have a good understanding of this, you can start planning out your boards.
Your boards should be:
- On brand: All of your boards should reflect your business and its values. If you are a fashion brand, for example, you would want to create a board for every season or type of clothing.
- Relevant: In addition to being on brand, your boards should also be relevant to your target market. This means creating boards that are specific to their interests.
- Consistent: The style of your pins should be consistent with the overall aesthetic of your brand. This means using similar colors, fonts, and images across all of your boards.
- Focused: Each board should have a specific focus. This could be a certain product, a certain type of customer, or a certain interest.
Monitor Your Campaigns
As with any marketing campaign, you need to closely monitor your Pinterest campaigns to ensure that they are successful. This means checking your analytics on a regular basis, and making changes as needed.
Be sure to measure engagement, reach, and conversions to get a good understanding of how your content is performing. You can also use A/B and multivariate testing to experiment with different pins to see which ones perform better.
As you uncover new data, you may find that certain strategies are more effective than others. You may also find that your target market is changing and that you need to adjust your campaigns accordingly.
The most important thing is to stay flexible and be willing to change your approach as needed. The goal is to get the best results possible, so don’t be afraid to experiment.
Summary
By following these tips, you can create a successful Pinterest marketing campaign that will help promote your business and reach new customers. Just remember to be creative, monitor your progress, and adjust your strategy as needed. With a little bit of effort, you can take your business to the next level with Pinterest.