5 Things For Pinterest Marketing Success

So you're thinking about using Pinterest Marketing to grow your business. 

EXCELLENT idea! I think Pinterest is one of the most underutilized platforms for businesses.  Some people don't even realize you can use it for business.  YES, you can and YES, you should!

Pinterest is a search engine so pinners are flocking to the platform looking for answers to their questions and to get their problems solved.  What does your content do?  It solves problems and answers questions! See how that works out? 

Pinners are open to discovery.  They want to be inspired.  They are searching and pinning for ways to improve their life.  They're not doom scrolling! 

Before you start your exciting journey, here are 5 (with a bonus 6th nice to have) things you should have to set a strong foundation.

Clear Goals and a Plan

What are you hoping to get out of using Pinterest marketing?  Do you want to send traffic to your website?  Do you want to grow your email list?  Are you looking for more brand awareness?  Maybe you want to sell out your course.  Having a clear end goal in mind will help set up your strategy and also give you a yardstick to measure against.

A Pinterest Business Account

Setting up a business account lets you claim your domain, see your analytics and research the trends.  All things you want.  Plus if you ever want to run ads, you'll need to be a business account.

Claiming your domain has many benefits.  First of all, people know it's a real website that will lead them to a real place on the Internet.  Second, your profile picture is going to pop up next to any pins with your domain.  Third, Pinterest loves claimed domains! 

Analytics lets you see how your strategy is working, where you need to pivot and to see the stats on individual pins.  You can see what pins and boards performed the best, do A/B testing on things like colors or fonts and track conversions. 

A note on analytics:  please don't start stressing out over them in the first 30 days.  Be more focused on getting your feet under you.  Pinterest is just learning about your business, it takes time to grow!

Trends is such a neat feature.  It lets you see what pinners are looking for at any given time in the year.  Do you have seasonal content?  Trends will let you know when the searches are starting.  Pinners are planners and they start early sometimes even 90 days in advance.  It's better to be too early than too late on your pins! 

Targeted Keywords

This is a time consuming process but also the most important step.  Think of Pinterest as the garage, pins as the vehicle and keywords as the gas.  You could have 10,000 impressions and if they're in front of 10,000 of the wrong people they won't mean squat.  Do not skip this step! 

You can find keywords in three places:

• The search bar 
• In ads manager
• Trends

Sometimes your keyword won't show up - maybe you're super niched.  It either won't auto populate in the search bar or isn't found in trends or ads manager.  That's ok! You can still use it but don't make it your main focus keyword.

The best place to start with this is to think:  what is my ideal audience typing into the search bar?  Think like them, not necessarily like you!

Eye Catching Pins

I'm not a graphic designer by any stretch of the imagination but I do genuinely enjoy creating pins.  You don't need them to be award winning works of art but you do need to follow some guidelines:

• If you're using photos, make sure they're clear and well lit.
• Use easy to read fonts! Fonts are so fun, they're my favorite but some are so darn hard to read.  Especially on smaller mobile screens! 
• You can use your branded colors or play with different palettes.  Just be sure the focus of the pin stands out.  
• Include a call to action! What do you want the pinner to do?  Save the pin?  Click through to the post?  Buy now?  Make it easy for them.

Analytics will come into play here, too.  You can A/B test or see what's resonating the best with your audience.  Then you can build off that pin design.  

Consistency

What's consistent?  You're going to read different opinions on this.  Some people swear by 5 pins a day, people see success with one a day.  People see success with three pins a week! My answer is that consistency is what you can keep up with.  If you want more than what you're capable of, maybe it's time to hire someone.

Don't burn yourself out by pinning multiple pins a day (which can actually hurt you depending) and then abandon the account after 2 weeks.  You have a business to run, other things to do, take it at your own pace.  You can always build from there when you get into the groove.

Your pin schedule will also depend on how much content you have.  If you're working with a smaller content bank, start slow and make sure you're creating new pins each time.  

Thirty pins a day is not feasible for most people.  Even a manager! And it's also more likely to land you in spam jail.  Focus on quality pins in a schedule that works for you.

Your Own Website

This is my 6th nice to have.  Pinterest loves sending to your domain.  It thinks it's super cool.  I think it's super cool, as well.  If every third party platform crumbles into the sea, your website is something you own.  You have control over it.  Sure it can go down but then you're in the drivers seat.  Have you ever tried contacting someone at Meta?  You're more likely to win the lottery.  

I'm going to take it a step further - 6.5 if you will.  Having a blog is such a great way to connect deeper with your audience.  It allows you to show your stuff, establish your brand voice and get people into your world.  If you're selling a high ticket item, people won't buy unless they trust you and you're vibing.  Blogs are a great way to establish this vibe.  You can read more in my post on Why Your Business Needs a Blog.

Are you ready to dive into Pinterest marketing but still need some help?  I am here for you! Send an email and we'll set up a plan!