Sometimes overlooked in favor of other social media platforms, Pinterest can in fact be a powerful marketing tool for SMBs. Pinterest marketing should be an integral part of any social media marketing strategy, as pins actually have more outreach than any other social media post and tweet. They're saved and shared more than the posts on other platforms, while, compared to a Facebook post, the life of a pin is 16,000 times longer! It also has 100 times the diversity in spreading online compared to a tweet.
In short, Pinterest marketing should never be underestimated!
Not convinced yet? 50 percent of people purchase a product after reading a pin and 67 percent claim that they found a new brand that interests them. In 2018, Pinterest was responsible for 65 percent of the sales done through social media. This, in short, is the power of Pinterest marketing!
Statistically, there are 85 million Pinterest users in the United States alone. Global brands like Apple, WalMart, Exxon Mobil and over 500 other major companies have realized the importance of Pinterest marketing to grasp the attention of 265 million Pinterest users worldwide. So, why not make your own company a part of this?
Here’s a closer look at how to market on Pinterest and some useful Pinterest marketing tips for your own business!
How Does Pinterest Marketing Work?
Pinterest is a great social media marketing tool and uses visual content displayed as pins for users to share amongst themselves.
Businesses can leverage Pinterest for their digital marketing efforts by producing a steady stream of content for users to pin and share, creating a digital ecosystem for brands to boost their awareness to new audiences and keep current users interested and engaged in their company.
The visual nature of pins make it simple for brands to attract attention from consumers, while the links to websites can help to further build brand awareness and boost potentially boost sales. Similarly, blogs can be linked to attention-grabbing images and videos, further boosting followership.
The social channel’s layout is quite similar to Instagram - however, the main difference is that you can link each pin back to a website, while links can only be embedded in Ads on Instagram or the description of the feed. Users usually save the pin they like for remembrance or inspiration. You can save a pin to visit the brand again or to read a blog post afterward. The life of a pin is much longer than posts on other social channels, so when the user revisits it, they’ll still be able to access the saved pin.
Pins are saved in boards and users can create similar or diversified boards to save pins of other people or brands they like and also add new ones to their account. Users will also be notified when their pins get saved by another user, indicating their popularity.
Overall, Pinterest marketing can be a great way for businesses to build brand awareness quickly, reach new audiences, keep current followers interested and engaged and even promote new products and services!
Before using Pinterest for business marketing, be sure to understand the following:
- Boards are the Pinterest holders, where similar content is placed as pins.
- Secret Boards are the boards nobody but you can see and pin. You can invite other people specifically to see and save a pin on the board.
- Group Boards, as the name implies, are boards where more than one user can pin.
- The pin is the visual content that’s displayed on the board. It can have backlinks to a website, blog, product page or other form of content.
- Repin is a feature of Pinterest where you can save and pin someone else’s content to your board. Others can do the same from your profile.
How to Market on Pinterest
Using Pinterest for business advertising efforts requires solid knowledge of how to market on Pinterest. Here’s how to do just that!
1. Make a Pinterest Business Account
The first step is to sign up for a business account. If you already have a Pinterest account, you can get a business profile for free. You must take the following steps for both new signups and having an already existing account to get a business account:
First, you'll have to sign up for a new account by confirming your email address. You can also do that with your Facebook or Twitter account. If you already have a Pinterest account, you can make a business profile for free. The next step will be choosing the name of your business account. You should always make it relevant to the industry or the niche that your business belongs to.
After choosing a name, you’ll be prompted to link your website to your account. Make sure that the address you give is correct. To be sure of that, copy and paste the web link from the address bar of the browser window of your website. Next, you’ll be asked if you want to link your Instagram, Etsy or YouTube account to your Pinterest. If you do in fact have these for your business, you should always link them to boost your digital marketing efforts.
You’ll then be asked to choose your genre from the many options displayed in pictures to make it easier for you to understand. Now, the final part is that you claim your website. This is the part where you turn on the analytics for your account, which is very important for your performance monitoring and evaluation. It takes around 24 hours to have your website claimed, though Pinterest does this easily via email.
2. Create a Pinterest SEO Strategy
SEO helps your account to get noticed by the search engines.
For Google to find your account, Pinterest SEO is a must. Pinterest lets you choose to select an option where search engines like Google cannot find your profile. As a private account, you might want that for privacy reasons, but as a business, you need customers to be able to find you!
Always select “no” for that option to become visible. To do that, go to your account settings and toggle off Search Privacy.
After this, draw up a general SEO strategy that includes deciding which topics to pin, creating a content calendar and coming up with KPIs to aim for.
3. Profile Your Audience
You can select your audience by creating a customer profile.
This will help you focus on the audience that responds to you. It’s also useful for selecting pin content and deciding the schedule for pinning.
This profiling is done based on the interests of your audience and the habits they display. For example, what interests your audience, what they like to watch or read and the like are all taken into account. This can help you to decide about the content you need to publish to get their attention. Habits can help you to schedule your pinning, such as when your audience shops, what holidays they celebrate and the like. Other very important aspects of the customer profile are age, gender and buying power.
4. Start Creating Boards
The next thing you need to do is to create your first 10 boards.
Create boards that will be according to your business’ industry and target audience. Pick a memorable name for your board, write a catchy description and, crucially, upload crisp, interesting images to represent the board.
You should also set up a pinning schedule to pin your content and repin others’ content as well. When you pin, keep in mind the importance of timely pinning. Instead of sharing all the content as well, try to pin a couple of times a day. To space things out more evenly.
5. Launch a Pinterest Advertising Campaign
This is a good option to boost your brand awareness quickly. Like other platforms, you’ll have to pay to put your ads on Pinterest, though the benefits can certainly be worth it! The advertisements should contain an image, description and the link to your blog or website.
Pinterest advertising is an option you can choose from your settings menu anytime. You can easily establish an advertising campaign budget and also define when and how often you want your ads to be displayed. This is a part of Pinterest eCommerce marketing that’s most beneficial if you want to market your business on Pinterest to as broad of an audience as possible.
How Can I Use Pinterest for Marketing?
Making your business account to start marketing on Pinterest is one thing, but doing it effectively is another.
Don’t take Pinterest social media marketing lightly - you need to consider different Pinterest marketing strategies to promote your eCommerce business on Pinterest. To that end, here are 12 Pinterest marketing tips to keep in mind for your business!
1. Use Keywords
Keywords are very important, as your Pinterest SEO strategy depends on them greatly. Research and use relevant, high-volume keywords in both your board names and descriptions to make it easier for both search engines like Google and Pinterest users to find your business.
2. Schedule and Organize Your Pins
Always make a Pinterest content calendar to stay organized and efficient. Decide which pins to publish at what time and arrange your content accordingly. You can use secret boards to save content for future use, like saving drafts to be published later.
3. Pin Consistently
Pin consistently and regularly.
If you pin 10 times one day and then forget to for a whole week, you won’t get your desired Pinterest marketing results. Do it regularly and stick to that routine. It’s generally a good idea not to overdo it when it comes to pinning too. An average of around five pins a day and spread throughout the day could work as a general rule of thumb for most SMBs who’ve just started using Pinterest for business marketing.
4. Use Eye-Catching Images
Pinterest, more than most other social media channels, is all about visual content, so it’s critical that your visuals are interesting and eye-catching. If possible, try to use a graphic designer to create professional-looking, crisp images that have the correct dimensions for Pinterest for the best results possible.
5. Link Your Pins
The purpose of Pinterest marketing, ultimately, is to get people to visit your website or blog. Be sure to link your pins to your website to drive traffic and sales!
6. Use Rich Pins
Rich pins are enhanced or specialized pins that use your website’s metadata to give additional information about the pin. These are especially great for blogs and website links and can include strong CTAs to help drive additional site traffic, such as “Read More Blog Posts”.
7. Post Relevant Content
The content you put on your boards should be relevant to the title and description of the board.
For the best Pinterest content marketing results, be sure to always post what’s most relevant for your audience where it makes the most sense on your Pinterest page.
8. Create Collaborative Boards
Collaborative boards are a more practical approach to interact with more people.
You can share pins on these boards, creating a strong sense of community. However, be very careful which boards you join, as their content will be reflected in your profile. In short, never associate yourself with content that puts your company in a negative light!
9. Use Save Buttons
Get save buttons for your websites.
You can get add Pinterest buttons for your website, even if you don’t have one for your browser. These buttons make it easier for people to pin your content. They also lets you reach out to a diversified audience and spread content more quickly and efficiently.
10. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Great Written Content
Images are very important for your pins and boards, but written content is equally powerful. The description and details in your pins should always be just as engaging, interesting and compelling as the visuals!
11. Use Analytics
Use analytics to improve your content and high-level marketing strategy.
You can evaluate which content of the pins is most successful and popular, which board is driving traffic to your website and other data that can help determine your Pinterest marketing strategy.
Using Pinterest analytics, you can see which content gets more repins and where to focus your efforts. Analytics is always a helpful way of judging your performance and direction, plus you can catch your marketing mistakes in-time and adjust your strategy quickly.
12. Try Out Buyable Pins
Buyable pins are the major contributors of conversions.
They let visitors make a purchase directly from a pin. They’re a great way to promote your Pinterest eCommerce efforts, as visitors can purchase the products directly from the pin that displays them. All in all, buyable pins are a fantastic way to monetize your Pinterest marketing efforts efficiently!
Pinterest Marketing: Reach New Customers Today!
Pinterest marketing is a fun and effective way to promote your company. Using Pinterest for business marketing can be a very cost-effective way to build brand awareness, reach new audiences worldwide, engage with customers and even boost sales.
Try out these Pinterest marketing tips today to see how they can boost your business!