How to Use Pinterest for Your Online Business: A Beginner’s Guide
If you’re looking to leverage the power of visual marketing for your online business, Pinterest is the place to be. With over 250 million monthly active users and a unique opportunity to reach your target audience, it’s no wonder many businesses turn to this popular platform for their marketing needs. This guide will show you how to set up a business account, create eye-catching boards and pins, optimize your content for SEO, and analyze your performance through analytics. By the end of this guide, you’ll be ready to start taking advantage of all that Pinterest offers for your online business!
Exploring Pinterest: What Does It Offer?
We are sure you’ve heard of Pinterest but rest assured you are not alone if you are still a bit fuzzy on what it is and how it works. Pinterest has been around since 2010, with its unique blend of images, videos, and graphics that offer an array of eye-catching visuals to explore. It’s the perfect platform for aspiring entrepreneurs, small business owners, and online marketers who want to promote their products or services.
Pinterest, a visual search engine, offers a unique opportunity for businesses to reach their target audience and promote their products or services. By pinning images, videos, and graphics to digital boards, users can share their content with others and search for inspiration, products, blogs, and more. Since its launch in 2010, Pinterest has become a popular platform for businesses looking to leverage the power of visual marketing.
As a business owner, you can utilize Pinterest to build brand awareness, drive website traffic and sales, find new customers or gain inspiration. According to a recent survey, a staggering 87% of Pinners have made a purchase based on the content they viewed on Pinterest, making it a valuable platform for businesses looking to drive sales.
Getting Started with a Business Account
Setting up an account is the first step in getting started on Pinterest for your business. A business account offers a range of advantages over a personal account, including access to special features and analytics that can help you better understand the success of your campaigns, create custom pins and keep track of followers. Setting up a free business account on Pinterest’s website is easy; you only need an email address, password, and basic business information.
Here are some tips to help you get started:
- Use a clear and professional profile picture, ideally one of your logo or a headshot if you are a solopreneur.
- Craft a compelling bio that accurately describes your business and what you offer.
- Include a link to your website, so users can easily access your products and services.
- Make sure to fill out all of the sections of your profile, including your location, contact information, and business categories.
- Consider adding some sections like ‘Shop’ or ‘Services’ in your profile; this way, users can access your products or services directly.
Start Pinning: Create Eye-Catching Boards and Pins for Maximum Reach
Pinterest boards are like digital pinboards – they give you a place to organize your pins and showcase them in one place. When creating a board, think of it as the virtual equivalent of an actual bulletin board. You can name each board based on the type of content you plan to share on it (e.g., recipes, fashion, travel). When you’re done creating your boards, you can start adding pins to them.
Pins are the individual pieces of content that you share on Pinterest. You can create images (or videos) and write a description for each one. When someone clicks on a pin, they will direct them to either your website or your chosen website.
When crafting your pins, it is vital to keep the content you are sharing in mind. Visuals should be high-quality and capture attention – create custom graphics or find interesting photos to represent your brand. Include a descriptive headline that will help people find your pin in searches and add hashtags to boost reach. Remember to include a link back to either your website or blog so people can learn more about your business.
Once you have created pins and boards, it’s time to get them in front of potential customers. Share your pins on social media, add them to group boards, or use Pinterest Ads if you have a budget to do so. You should also have a strategy in place for pinning content regularly to ensure you’re reaching as many people as possible.
Tips For Making Content That Converts
Creating content that converts on Pinterest is all about creating visuals and headlines that grab attention and make users want to learn more. As you create pins, keep in mind the following tips to ensure they are as effective as possible:
Use attractive visuals
Attractive visuals on Pinterest refer to visually appealing, high-quality images, and relevant to the topic or product you advertise. These images should be well-lit, in focus, and have a clear composition. They should also be eye-catching and interesting, with a strong composition that draws the viewer’s attention to the image’s subject. This can include using contrasting colors, interesting angles, or incorporating text or graphic elements into the image.
Consider the aspect ratio: Aspect ratio is the proportion of the width and height of an image. On Pinterest, portrait images (with a taller aspect ratio) tend to perform better than landscape images (with a wider aspect ratio) because they take up more space on the user’s screen and stand out more.
Use high-resolution images: High-resolution images are crucial for making sure your pins look clear and visually appealing on the platform. If your images are low-resolution, they may appear pixelated or blurry on screens, which can negatively impact user engagement.
Use visually appealing design elements: Incorporating visually appealing design elements such as text overlays, graphics, and infographics can make your pins more attractive and engaging. Additionally, you can use color psychology to choose colors that evoke a certain emotion and make your pins more attractive.
Incorporate your brand’s aesthetic: Make sure that the images you use on Pinterest align with your brand’s aesthetic and overall visual identity. This will help users recognize your brand and build trust.
To create attractive visuals, you can use a variety of tools such as Canva, or Adobe Photoshop or even take pictures with a high-quality camera. You can also hire a professional designer or photographer to create images for you. It’s important to keep in mind that attractive visuals are not only about the image itself but also how it is presented, the composition, how it is lit, and how it aligns with your brand’s aesthetic.
Use relevant keywords
Using relevant keywords is crucial for optimizing your pins for Pinterest SEO and making them more discoverable to users. When creating a pin, be sure to include relevant keywords in the title, description, and hashtags. This will make it easier for users to find your content when searching for specific topics. It’s also important to note that using relevant keywords in your boards’ titles and descriptions can also help to increase visibility.
When selecting keywords, be sure to choose terms that are relevant to your product or service and that have a high search volume. You can use tools such as Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs to research keywords and find the most relevant ones. It’s also important to avoid keyword stuffing, which is the practice of including too many keywords in your pin’s description to improve visibility. This can harm your SEO and make your pins less appealing.
Optimize for mobile devices
Make sure your visuals are optimized for all types of devices so they appear correctly on any device. A large majority of Pinterest users access the platform through mobile devices. Optimizing images for mobile devices ensures that they will be clear and visually appealing on small screens. This will help increase the chances of users engaging with your pins and ultimately driving traffic to your website.
To optimize images for mobile devices, you should make sure that they are of high resolution and that they are properly formatted. Additionally, consider the aspect ratio of your images, as portrait images tend to perform better on mobile devices than landscape images.
It’s also worth noting that, as of 2021, Pinterest has started to use a “mobile-first” approach for indexing Pins and boards, meaning that Pins and boards that look good on mobile will be prioritized over those that are not optimized for mobile.
Utilize calls-to-action
Utilizing calls-to-action, or CTAs is a powerful way to direct users to take specific actions. Whether it’s “Learn more,” “Sign up,” “Download,” or “Shop now,” a well-crafted call-to-action can be the deciding factor in turning a user into a customer.
When creating a pin, it’s crucial to make sure that the call-to-action is clear and direct. This can be accomplished by including it in the description or headline. Also, ensure that the link in the pin leads directly to the relevant page on your website, like a product page, landing page, or sign-up page. Additionally, consider experimenting with different calls to action to determine which resonates most with your audience.
Keep in mind that it’s best to use calls-to-action sparingly and strategically, as too many calls-to-action in one pin or too many pins with calls-to-action can be overwhelming and may decrease the effectiveness of each one.
Post regularly
Consistency is key when it comes to Pinterest marketing. You’ll increase your reach and keep your audience engaged by consistently posting new pins. To maintain a steady flow of content, plan ahead and create an editorial calendar to schedule all your pins for the coming weeks or months. This way, you’ll always have new pins ready to go and will be able to complete all important deadlines. You can use tools such as Tailwind or Buffer to help you manage your pins and create an effective editorial calendar.
In addition to being consistent with your posting schedule, it’s also essential to ensure that your pins stand out and are relevant to the topic you are promoting. To achieve this, mix up your pins’ design, format, and style. And keep an eye on your analytics; this will help you fine-tune your content and create pins that resonate with your audience.
Monitor your performance
Once you have created and posted your pins, monitoring their performance is important. Pinterest provides analytics that show you how each of your pins performs and what kind of engagement it receives. This data can help you determine which types of content work better with your target audience so that you can adjust your future strategies accordingly. Analytics can also help you identify popular topics and trending keywords, so you can create content that resonates with your audience.
Wrapping it Up: Putting Pinterest to Work for Your Business
Using Pinterest for business can be a powerful and effective way to reach new customers and drive traffic to your website. With the tips in this guide, you now have the knowledge and resources necessary to create an effective Pinterest marketing strategy for your business. As always, it’s important to remember that consistency is key — post regularly and pay attention to the performance of your pins, and you’ll soon see the rewards. Good luck!
