We’ve all found ourselves in an endless scroll through Pinterest. The never ending pins, helpful tips, and aesthetic images just keep us wanting more! You may even be a victim of purchasing something that caught your eye on Pinterest. With so many marketing opportunities, don’t you think it’s time to jump on the Pinterest marketing bandwagon?

Pinterest is essentially a visual search engine, containing a multitude of images, graphics, links, and inspiration for just about anything.

Did you know that 50% of U.S. pinners frequently shop on Pinterest? That’s half of U.S. users! It’s safe to say that Pinterest is much more than just a place to browse recipes and home decor ideas.

Pinterest is a gold mine for companies with a visual component such as photos, videos, or graphics. Studies also show 55% of users use the app primarily to search images of new products. The platform is also said to be highly effective at driving traffic to websites.

So, how can your business use Pinterest marketing as a tool to increase brand recognition and conversions? The best way to get started with Pinterest is to develop a Pinterest marketing plan that works for your business. We’re here to show you how!

Pinterest marketing- what is Pinterest?

Users organize their favorite content by pinning it to boards with a common theme. This allows other users to explore new content similar to their interests and likes.

Pinterest is unique because it’s basically a search engine that individuals and companies can use for social purposes. That being said, you can consider Pinterest as both a social media marketing platform and a search engine.

You start on Pinterest by creating a personal account and start sharing content. You’re also able to upload your own content straight from your computer or mobile device.

Remember, engagement is also important on Pinterest. Once you have your account setup, use the opportunity to follow the boards of your followers and competitors. Like, share, and comment on other people’s pins. This is also your chance to use your pins to share links to your website or blog.

In case you didn’t know, Pinterest also offers business accounts. A business account gives you access to Pinterest Analytics as well as other tools including a visual search tool, a native video player, and the option to run Pinterest ads if you want to, making it a suitable platform to market your business.

Pinterest marketing- why should I market my business on Pinterest?

Plenty of businesses skip out on using Pinterest for their social media marketing strategy. That’s a huge loss!

In fact, Pinterest has over 459 million monthly active users. Imagine how many people you’ll missed out on if you skip out on promoting your business on Pinterest entirely. If those numbers don’t convince you, here are a slew of compelling reasons for you to start marketing on Pinterest.

Converts browsers into buyers

Pinterest differs from most social media platforms in that it limits the number of stages between discovery to conversion. This means that Pinterest users turn into leads or purchases quicker compared to other social media platforms.

Keep up with the competition

Two-thirds of Pins on Pinterest are from businesses. This means it’s used by big companies, small brands, your competitors, and, most notably, your future clients.

Drives traffic

Pins help people find your brand and your products, and since each pin links back to the original source, the opportunity for increasing traffic to your website or other platforms is enormous. It’s no surprise that using Pinterest is one of the most successful drop shipping strategies.

Engage with your customers

It allows you to interact with new and existing customers and obtain useful insights into their lifestyles, likes, and dislikes.

Get inbound links

On Pinterest, each pin has a link to the image’s original source. According to John Jantsch, links built through images are some of the best links you can acquire when it comes to actual engagement. With Pinterest’s increasing success, you may be able to get some very useful inbound links. Though these links are nofollow, any connection that directs visitors back to your website is always helpful.

Gain market insight

Pinterest is a fantastic platform for discovering new trends. Pinterest allows you to learn what people like to share, from advertising to fashion, and more. This allows you to learn what’s popular right now and use that knowledge in your own promotions and products.

Good for SEO

Pinterest is a strong tool for speeding up Google’s ranks and making you discoverable on search engines.

Content lasts longer

Pins last a lifetime, unlike Facebook posts or Tweets. Over time, they’re searched for, located, and re-pinned. Unlike other social media sites, Pinterest content does not disappear.

Boosts brand awareness

One of the most common reasons people use Pinterest is to find new ideas. People love to discover and exchange new ideas. This indicates that Pinterest has a high potential for discovering a new brand, design, or product.

Builds your brand reputation

It strengthens and expands your brand’s name. It’s the ideal platform for visually telling consumers who you are and what you’re about. You get to design boards that represent your brand identity, and you’re constantly appearing on your followers’ homepages.

Pinterest is common among women, especially mothers

Women make up more than two-thirds of Pinterest’s user base. In the United States, eight out of ten mothers use the site. Women are often the main decision-makers when it comes to purchasing household goods and services.

Users of Pinterest use the platform to shop

Pinterest is used by 84% of weekly consumers to help them determine what to purchase. According to Pinterest, 55% of pinners are searching for specific products. 83% of weekly consumers have made a purchase after seeing content from brands on Pinterest.

Pinterest Marketing- how to use Pinterest for business

Pinterest isn’t a hard platform to use, in fact it’s fairly easy to navigate and explore. Here are a few things you can do on Pinterest:

Make a board

Pins are organized and categorized on boards. People use Pinterest to compile home decor ideas, holiday destinations, fashion inspo, and to curate their ultimate wish lists. Boards allow users to organize their pins in a logical and attractive manner. Additionally, boards may be divided into divisions to structure them further.

Save or post pins

Pins are ideas, photographs, products, recipes, and everything else that users find online and save to their visually appealing boards. Users may make their own pins or re-pin others’ pins and organize them on their own boards.

Follow other users

Users can follow other users to see what they pin and the boards they create.

Discover

The homepage and feed is where you can find what your followers are up to. It’s also where you will find content Pinterest curates for you depending on your own pins and boards. Users will also browse for keywords to find inspiration, re-pin, and discover new users to follow.

Link

Pins can link directly to a website. This means users that click on pins are taken straight to the blogs, product pages, and websites that are linked to the pin.

Pinterest Marketing- how to set up a business account on Pinterest

Setting up a business profile on Pinterest is quite simple. You can set up your Pinterest business account in three ways. You can either create a new business account, convert your personal Pinterest account into a business account, or add a business profile to your personal account. The steps to setting your business account are pretty much the same for the three ways. Here’s how:

STEP 1: Head on to Pinterest

Enter your email address, create a new password, and click Create Account. If you already have a personal account you need to log out before doing this.

STEP 2: Add your company name after you’ve chosen your language and location

STEP 3: Choose business description

Then choose the best definition for your company and provide a link to your website.

STEP 4: Connect/link your Instagram, YouTube, and/or Etsy accounts

This implies that pins from these sites are credited to your business. You’ll be able to track relevant analytics as well.

STEP 5: Do you plan on running ads?

Let them know!

STEP 6: Make changes to your profile

Tap the arrow icon beside your name on the business hub dashboard to get there. You will want to change your profile name because it is based on your email address.

Include a profile picture that reflects your company’s image. The image should be 165 x 165 pixels in size. Try to incorporate a few keywords into the about line. To save, click Done.

STEP 7: Claim your website

Claiming your website means you’ll be able to keep track of your website analytics. Your profile picture and follow button will appear in any pins that lead back to a claimed account. As a result, you’ll get more exposure and, hopefully, more followers.

Pinterest marketing- getting started on Pinterest

Now that you have your Pinterest business account, it’s time to get started on Pinterest! Don’t be afraid to experiment and explore on the site.

STEP 1: Create your first board

Go to your profile profile, click the plus icon then click Create a Board. Make a title that is descriptive. Then, on your profile, locate the board and press the pencil symbol. Proceed to add a description for the board, but make sure to include keywords! The next step is to select a category for your board. This step is beneficial for SEO. Lastly, choose a suitable cover picture.

STEP 2: Publish your first pin

Click the plus sign in the upper right corner of your dashboard. Then proceed to create a pin. Include a title and a brief description. Be sure to include keywords and hashtags that are relevant to the pin. Make sure to add a destination link. Check to see if it works and if it matches the content of the pin.

Next, upload a photo or a video. In the pin editor, you can crop, add logos, and text. Make sure you’re working with a high-resolution file. Lastly, select the board you want to add it to and hit Publish.

STEP 3: Add a Pinterest tag to your post

If you wish to advertise on Pinterest, make sure your website has the Pinterest Tag. Adding the Pinterest tag will enable you to track conversions and see what people do on your website after encountering your pins.

Pinterest terms

Pinterest, like every other social media platform, has its own jargon. Here are some terms you need to learn in order to properly market your business on Pinterest.

Pins

Posts on Pinterest are called pins. Pins may contain an image or video, as well as text and a link to the original source.

Pinner

An individual who uses Pinterest is referred to as a “pinner”.

Re-pins

Re-pins occur whenever someone pins a post to one of their boards that they did not make.

Promoted pins

Promoted pins are standard pins that businesses have paid to advertise. These pins have a “Promoted” tag and appear in the home feed and search results. Video pins, carousels, and app pins can all be promoted.

Rich pins

Rich pins offer additional details about the pin, such as the product price. Product pins, article pins, recipe pins, and app pins are the four types of pins available.

Shop the look pins

Businesses should use Shop the Look pins to add product tags. This allows pinners to shop the look by clicking on the white dots on the pin. Shop the Look advertisements are still being carried out around the platform.

Source links

A source link connects a pin to the website where it originally came from.

Boards

Pinterest boards are similar to mood boards except that they are digital. They’re used to organize pins into groups based on a common theme or subject.

Group boards

They’re pretty much boards more than one person can add pins to.

Secret boards

Only the creator and invited collaborators have access to a secret board. You’ll see a lock icon next to the board name when you make one. These are helpful for preparations that you don’t want to share publicly.

Protected boards

Only advertisers have access to protected boards, which house promoted pins. These boards’ pins are visible throughout Pinterest, but they do not appear on profile pages.

Save button

The save button is a Pinterest browser plugin for search engines like Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Pinners can save your products on their Pinterest boards if you add it on your website.

Audience insights

Audience Insights is a feature in Pinterest business accounts. It basically provides analytics.

Pinterest lens

Pinterest Lens is a camera app that lets users take a snapshot of something and search for similar material on the web. It’s available for Android and Apple devices.

Pincodes

Pincodes are similar to QR codes and are considered Pinterest’s equivalent of Snapcodes. This can be scanned digitally or printed on packages and displays, and they will connect to your profile board.

Pinterest marketing- Pinterest demographic

Pinterest statistics are an essential part of both on and off-platform marketing campaigns. They assist marketers and business owners in understanding Pinterest users and identifying trending content.

To help you understand the Pinterest demographic, we’ve listed a few statistics that might be helpful to you.

60% of Pinterest users are women

Throughout the years, female users have consistently outranked males on Pinterest. However, Pinterest statistics show that men are one of the fastest-growing demographics on the site. Male pinners are expected to rise by almost 50% by 2020.

The demographic breakdown of their promotional audience is a bit different. Pinterest’s self-service advertisement tools classified 77.1% of its audience as female, 14.5% as male, and the rest as unspecified as of January 2021.

Pinterest also saw a 4,000% rise in gender transition searches in 2019.

There’s an increase in Gen Z users

Gen Z grew the most on Pinterest from 2019 to 2020. It’s possible to say that Gen Z’s don’t spend all of their time on Instagram or TikTok. Meanwhile, the number of millennial pinners increased by 35% in 2020.

Females aged 25 to 34 makeup 30.4% of Pinterest’s ad audience

When it comes to Pinterest’s ad audience, women aged 25 to 34 outnumber men and non-binary users of all ages.

82% of Pinterest users use the platform on mobile

Pinterest has seen a 3% decrease in mobile users within the last year.

Pinterest marketing- how to grow your Pinterest following

You always have the option to manually search and follow accounts on Pinterest, but that’s time consuming and too stressful. If you want a more efficient way to grow your Pinterest following, use the methods mentioned below:

• Use your other social media accounts to promote your Pinterest site.
• Follow accounts you think will reciprocate your follow.
• Keep an eye on what the competitors are doing to develop their following and pick up on their strategies.
• Use keywords and hashtags in your pins.
• Work with influencers and ask them to re-post some of your pins to get the interest of their fans.
• Run Pinterest ads.

Pinterest marketing strategy

Now that you know the fundamentals and have set up your Pinterest business account, it’s time to develop a goal-driven Pinterest marketing plan. The Pinterest marketing strategies we’ve listed below are applicable to businesses of all sizes and industries. If you’re just starting a new business, this applies to you, too!

Pinterest marketing- get branded!

Start your Pinterest marketing strategy by branding your profile. This will help you establish your brand’s presence on the platform and make your brand easily identifiable. Every social media site has its own set of customization options that allow you to personalize your page. Here are a few ways you can brand and customize your Pinterest profile:

Choose a profile photo

Begin by uploading a profile photo that accurately represents your brand. This can be your logo or a professional headshot of yours. Make sure you use a high resolution photo that’s 165 x 165 pixels in size.

Upload a cover photo or a cover board

Pinterest encourages users to create a cover board that appears at the top of their profile and displays pins from that board. Although the pins themselves aren’t clickable, there is a link to the board in the corner of the cover design.

This is the ideal spot for a branded board for the company’s pins, posts, product images, and other content. Make sure you use a cover board that best represents and complements your brand.

If you look at Fenty’s cover board you immediately know they’re a cosmetic brand that caters to a diverse demographic.

Add your bio

We’ve all seen bios whether it be on Instagram or Twitter. This feature is present on almost all social media platforms. It’s a fun and short way to introduce yourself to your followers. When it comes to your bio, it’s important to stay consistent as a brand. This means it’s better to have the same bio across all of your brand’s social accounts.

Like most social media platforms, Pinterest has a 160 character limit for one bio. This makes it even more important to be mindful of what you’re writing since it’s one of the first things your followers see when they open your profile.

Make sure it’s concise and packs a punch. It should be a bio worth remembering.

Link & verify your website

Verify your website. This is how you can get Pinterest analytics for your website and enable the rich pins feature, which provides additional information about your link that specifies whether it’s a post, a product, or anything else.

Pinterest will supply you with a code snippet to put on your website in order to test it. There are also WordPress plugins that can help you.

Choose your category

By choosing a category for your pins, your pins and boards will become more discoverable to people searching for content related to your business. Users may use Pinterest to browse for individual topics in the search bar, or just go to the “Categories” portion on every profile to see all content relevant to the subject they’re looking for. Travel, health and fitness, and fashion are among the most common Pinterest categories.

Establish a content strategy

Pinterest is largely composed of visual content like photographs and videos. Some examples of content that performs well on the site include product pins, lead magnets, infographics, and blog posts. Make sure to share content that stands out visually to help promote your brand and sell your products/services. Let’s take a look!

Product pins

If you run a store or an ecommerce business, you should be posting quality and attractive product photos as pins.

Pinterest is a big shopping search driver, with 72% of pinners claiming they are compelled to buy even though they aren’t searching for something in particular.

Beautiful product images can help ecommerce businesses capture customers’ attention and encourage this kind of spontaneous buying motivation.

Lead magnet

Another effective content strategy on Pinterest is to create stunning vertical graphics to advertise your lead magnets. Make sure your lead magnet’s design is eye-catching and encourages users to save the pin or download what you’re promoting.

Infographics

Sharing useful information using infographics is another excellent way to market your business. These contain data visualizations, graphics, and other tools for visually communicating data and other information.

Pinterest is an excellent site for promoting infographics because they are usually vertical and long form in design.

Blog posts

If your business posts blogs regularly, try posting your blog post graphics on Pinterest. These should feature visually enticing images or graphic designs, as well as large text that pinners can quickly read as they click through their feed.

Captivate your audience with visually striking content

As previously mentioned, visuals rule Pinterest. A Pinterest survey shows 85% of pinners value visuals over text. So, what should you do to improve your Pinterest content game? Here are some tips:

• Use imagery that is vertically oriented: Pinners use their phones 85% of the time. To avoid having your picture truncated, strive for a 2:3 aspect ratio and the best possible resolution.
• Opt for descriptive copy: Inform people about what they’re seeing and entice them to read more.
• Overlay your text: Consider using a headline that reaffirms your point.
• Brand your pins: Add your business’ logo to ensure that your brand isn’t overlooked when your pins get re-pinned.
• Tell a story by sharing photographs and videos of your items in use: This way people can visualize themselves using your products.
• Post branded images without people in them: These kinds of pins get 23% more pins on Pinterest than those with people in them.
• Create and post branded videos: 75% of Pinterest users claim they’ll stream branded videos on things they’re interested in.
• Avoid using too much white space: Images with 30% less blank space in the background are more likely to be pinned.
• Post consistently: Share new content on Pinterest on a regular basis. This is how you can boost the quality of your profile and increase the chances of Pinterest sharing your posts in search results. Try creating a simple content calendar you can follow to know when and what to post ahead of time.

Use keywords!

Including keywords in your profile, pins, and boards will increase the chances of appearing in users’ feeds.  Users hunt for particular niches using keywords and phrases on Pinterest.

For example, if you sell sneakers you could use keywords and phrases like “sustainable sneakers” and “sneakers for spring” in your profile and pins. When a person searches for one of those keywords, your profile and pins will appear in their news feeds organically.

Here’s where you can insert keywords on Pinterest to reach more users:

• Profile
• Bio
• Pin captions or descriptions
• Image-Alt-Text
• Board titles
• Board descriptions

If you decide to pay for Pinterest ads, you can also use the platform’s keyword targeting feature to help you hit your target demographic with your ads.

Engage with users!

Joining and building community or group boards is another perfect Pinterest marketing strategy for getting your content out there. Pinterest lets users invite others to add to a board, which is an excellent way to expose content to new viewers. Look for popular pinners in your niche to see if they have any industry-related group boards.

Aside from joining community or group boards, you can also follow, re-pin, or comment on other users’ posts. You can maintain personal relationships with other Pinterest users by following and interacting with them and their accounts. This style of engagement has the ability to create a sense of loyalty in your followers, causing them to return to your profile for inspiration, suggestions, and product purchases.

Here are other ways your Pinterest marketing strategy can help you develop deep and enduring relationships with your target audience:

• Follow new profiles of users who express or demonstrate an interest related to your business, products, and the content you publish. You can do that by looking up keywords and hashtags, or by looking at who follows your existing followers.
• Like, comment, and re-pin the content your followers post or repost.
• Publish creative and engaging posts that provide value to your audience.
• Personalize your followers’ experience on your profile and make them feel understood by responding to the comments your followers leave on your content.

Promote your pins and Pinterest account on other social media platforms

To increase your odds of being viewed and followed, share you pins on other social media platforms. Give your business’ Pinterest account a shoutout on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. Your followers on other platforms will quickly hear about your Pinterest account and how they can see more of your content. Besides that, claiming your account will give you access to analytics and information on pins, allowing you to see other networks your community is involved in.

Also, link your Pinterest account to your Facebook and Google profiles to make it easier to connect and find contacts, post content across networks, log in faster across both accounts, and back up your profile in case you miss or forget your password.

Pinterest marketing- track & analyze your progress

If you’re spending time and money on Pinterest ads, you’ll want to make sure your ads are actually boosting your company’s conversions and brand recognition.

You’ll need to review the progress of your Pinterest marketing efforts in order to keep track of your referral traffic, engagements, generated leads, and any other data that’s valuable to you. Pinterest Analytics is the simplest way to do this.

Pinterest Analytics gives you access to four different types of data:

• Metrics that apply to your entire profile.
• Information about how many users save and re-pin your content.
• Platform metrics to track whether users engage with your content on a desktop or mobile device.
• Data on your most successful pins.

What are you waiting for?

Pinterest is a powerful marketing platform that will help you increase brand recognition, conversions, sales, and organically strengthen relationships with your target audience. All you have to do is follow the Pinterest marketing strategies mentioned above to help you succeed as a business on this platform.

So, create a business account on Pinterest and start making creative and entertaining content to market to your clients and followers.

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