It’s time to step up your Pinterest marketing game. With over 450 million active users per month, it runs with the big dogs right beside Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
In fact, the number of active users on Pinterest is more than Twitter and Snapchat combined.
Although women are a large part of Pinterest, it’s not just for millennial women looking for wedding dresses or moms looking for furniture ideas.
Even if your business doesn’t target moms and millennial women, you might still find many prospective customers through effective Pinterest marketing. Here I’ve put together everything you need to know about Pinterest marketing 2021 to take your business to the next level.
Table of Contents
Why Should You Use Pinterest Marketing in 2021?
Pinterest is unlike any other social media platform. Many marketers believe that it’s an anomaly. But that’s a good thing. What makes Pinterest different also makes it better on many fronts. Here’s why:
Pinterest Users Are Looking to Make a Purchase
Try thinking about the last time you used Pinterest. There’s a good chance you went there to look for ideas on something you want to buy. Compare that to the last time you used Facebook or Instagram. You probably wanted to distract yourself and look at memes.
As it turns out, you’re not the only one. Two out of three people on Pinterest use it to discover new products, services, or ideas.
About 90% of users go on Pinterest with the intention of making a purchase in the future.
That intention matters because it makes Pinterest marketing very efficient at converting visitors into customers. Pinterest users say that they spend 25% of their time on the platform shopping. Therefore, it may become a gold mine of leads for you.
Josh Davis, a marketing expert, says that Pinterest works because it gives consumers a direct path to purchase. You have a desire for an item, you go to Pinterest to get ideas, you see a picture of that item, and then you’re only a few clicks away from being on an online store to buy it.
Pinterest Is Great for Driving Traffic to Your Site
Another factor that helps with lead generation is that it’s very easy for users to find your website through the platform. Pinterest is all about images and each image links back to your site.
You can also get a lot of inbound links through the platform. It’s no wonder that Pinterest marketing can drive a massive amount of traffic to your website.
I believe there’s no other social network on the internet that can beat a good Pinterest marketing strategy for turning eyeballs into clicks, leads, and finally, sales.
Perhaps the high engagement on Pinterest is because we, as humans, love visuals. And guess what? Pinterest has found the perfect way to take advantage of it.
Pins Stick Around for a Longer Time – This is Why Pinterest Marketing is Great!
What’s also very interesting about Pinterest is that pins have a greater marketing lifespan than posts on other social media platforms. For example:
Facebook posts have an average half-life of 30 minutes.
Tweets are more short-lived with a half-life of 18 minutes.
Instagram posts are relatively more impressive at 19 hours.
But Pinterest Pins just knock it out of the park with an average half-life of 3.5 months.
Another thing that marketers on other social media platforms worry about is overwhelming their audience. If you post too much, you risk losing your audience. However, that rule doesn’t apply to Pinterest.
You can post as much as you want here. No one will get annoyed and your account won’t get blocked. That’s how Pinterest can work wonders for brand exposure and help you reach a larger audience.
A Walk Through Pinterest Platform
If you want to use Pinterest marketing for your business but don’t know where to start, I’m here to help you out. Let’s take a look at some Pinterest lingo:
- A post on the platform is called a pin. It can be an image, video, or text
- A board is a collection of pins, usually based on one theme
- Boards can be Secret, Group, or Protected
- A RePin is someone else’s pin you post to your board
- Promoted pins are the ones that businesses pay to promote
- Rich pins give more information on the pin, like prices or an associated app
- Shop the Look pins have product tags
- A Save Button on your website helps users save your products as pins
- The Pinterest Lens allows users to take a picture and find related content on the platform
- Audience Insight provides analytics to business accounts
- Pincodes are QR codes that link back to your board on Pinterest
A Step-By-Step Guide to Using Pinterest
Now that you know the essential Pinterest lingo, you can make an account and prepare for a smashing Pinterest marketing strategy.
Step 1: Go to the Pinterest Business site and click on ‘Sign Up.’ Enter your email and you can have a free business account.
Step 2: If you want to link your personal account to a business account, select ‘Settings’ at the top right corner of the menu. Click on ‘Account Settings’ and then ‘Account Changes.’ Next, click on ‘Get Started’ and then hit the ‘Create A Linked Business Account’ button.
Step 3: Type in your business name, fill in the details about your business and provide a link to your website.
Step 4: Link your Instagram, YouTube, and Etsy accounts. This will attribute the pins on these sites to you and help you track analytics.
Step 5: Add a picture or logo that represents your brand (165 x 165 pixels).
Step 6: Complete your profile by writing a bio. A useful tip is to use keywords to help people find you on Pinterest. Once you’re done, click the “Done” button.
Step 7: Use the + sign in the top left corner to create a board. Decide on an appropriate title and include relevant keywords in the description to boost SEO.
Step 8: Go to your dashboard and click the + sign to create a pin. Add a suitable title and write a description with both keywords and hashtags. This will make it easier for both Google and people on Pinterest to find you.
Make sure to add the destination link to your pin and upload an image or video. Select the board you want to add and hit ‘Publish.’
Tips to Leverage Pinterest Marketing In the Best Way Possible
Pinterest marketing is fun but if you don’t know how to do it right, it won’t work for you. A good Pinterest marketing strategy is not as straightforward as posting a bulk of pins everyday. You need to know the right tips and tricks to use Pinterest more effectively, get your pins more exposure, and put your business on the fast track to success, that’s all needed.
Content Is King
Pinterest is all about visuals, but it doesn’t mean that you should not pay attention to copy. Both your copy and your image or video should work in synergy with each other to make compelling content.
When you’re creating content on Pinterest, it would help if you align it with the environment of the platform. Pinterest is a positive and inspiring space. You should try keeping that in mind when you plan out your Pinterest marketing strategy.
Don’t Forget About SEO
Many people don’t realize that Pinterest is like a visual search engine. People discover your content on Pinterest through relevant keywords. That’s why it’s important to make SEO a significant part of your Pinterest marketing strategy.
You should add keywords relevant to your brand everywhere on Pinterest. Include them in the description for all of your pins in the boards and on your profile. Hashtags are also crucial as they help Pinterest users discover you. If you want better results, you can also use keywords as hashtags.
Another way to improve your Pinterest marketing strategy in terms of SEO is to use Rich pins because they allow you to write more details for your pin and you can add more keywords in there.
You should even add a relevant keyword to your name on Pinterest. Your name on this platform shouldn’t be treated like it is on other platforms. Your name is also how people can discover you if it contains a popular keyword that they’re likely to search for.
Along with this, take time to thoughtfully write out the copy for your pin instead of stringing together a list of keywords and hashtags. The ideal Pinterest marketing should entice the viewer and inspire them to buy your product by including an effective Call To Action.
Pay Close Attention to Quality
You must add high-quality images and videos to your pins. Pinterest is a platform where copy will not compensate for low-quality visuals. If your images and visuals are of poor quality, your brand risks losing credibility in the eyes of Pinterest users.
There is also an ideal size for images on Pinterest. They should be vertical with the optimal aspect ratio of 2:3; 600 pixels wide and 900 pixels high.
This is important because most people use Pinterest on their mobile devices. In fact, about 85% of those people search on Pinterest via mobile. So taking smartphones and other mobile devices into consideration should be an essential part of Pinterest marketing game.
Post Consistently
All digital marketers know posting irregularly is bad for business. The same rule applies to Pinterest marketing. After all, your competitors on Pinterest won’t stop pinning everyday.
The ideal number of pins that you can post every day is about 10 to 25 pins. Although it’s quite a lot to manage, this could be an effective way to expand your outreach in a short time.
Make Sure to Claim Your Website
Claiming your website is always an advantage because Pinterest gives more importance to pins that are created by website owners. Not only this, if you claim your website, it also gives you access to more analytics that can improve your Pinterest marketing strategy.
For the same reasons, it’s also better to create content for Pinterest from your website.
Another useful tip would be including a CTA on your website that encourages people to pin your posts.
Have a Content Calendar
Planning is something that Pinterest users love doing. As a matter of fact, it’s the reason that many of them go on the platform in the first place. They want to search for ideas to plan for Thanksgiving dinners, Halloween costumes, Valentine’s day, birthday parties, baby showers, moving to a new apartment, hosting a reunion, and so much more.
What that means for your Pinterest marketing strategy is that you need to plan even earlier. Plan ahead of seasons and holidays.
Tailor your content around upcoming events beforehand so that you can have content ready when the right time comes for it.
Create Niche Boards
You can pick different categories for boards on Pinterest. Once you do that, it’s also a good idea to base each board you have on a specific niche. You may not know this but this would be highly effective for building an authority for your brand.
Pinterest users are also not likely to stick around on your board if it has haphazard posts on different topics. Besides that, it’s also helpful when you curate your Pinterest board according to one kind of aesthetic. For example, you can pick a color theme for your board and make sure all of your pins adhere to that.
Success Stories of Brands Leveraging Pinterest Marketing
One of the best ways to learn something is to analyze examples. Here are some stellar examples that you can learn from to apply in your own Pinterest marketing strategy.
- Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market has thousands of followers on Pinterest. Their pins are aesthetically pleasing and they can take amazing pictures of their food. If you notice, you see that they attach their logo to each image which is another good marketing practice. Other than this, they also use rich pins wisely with a lot of details, and of course, keywords.
Anyway, the real strength of Whole Foods Market comes from their understanding of the Pinterest platform. They post a lot of recipes which is a Pinterest favorite. But not only that, they also post content on nutrition, sustainability, seasons, holidays, and DIY.
They use Pinterest to sell their products and lead people to their website. But that’s not their only goal, they also want to educate people on important issues and use Pinterest to showcase the values of their brand.
They check many boxes for a good marketing strategy. Their content is recognizable, pleasing to look at, communicates their values, and makes the consumer feel good about themselves when they make a purchase.
- Birchbox
Birchbox is another brand that’s smashing its Pinterest marketing strategy. It’s a beauty brand that makes sure to represent its brand values on the platform. Just by having a look at their pins, you can tell that this brand values diversity, inclusivity, sustainability, and transparency.
The brand targets women and makes sure that every kind of woman going through their platform can see a reflection of herself on it. The influencers on the platform include women of almost all ages, ethnicities, sizes, etc.
The content on Birchbox’s Pinterest is inspirational and features many different topics such as recipes, fitness, DIY, makeover, skincare, etc. They also have a lot of inspirational quotes and reminders along with helpful infographics.
Birchbox is hitting the nail on the head, inspiring people through their posts, communicating the strong values it has, and making consumers feel good when they buy their products.
Is Pinterest Marketing Worth Trying?
Pinterest marketing is definitely worth trying in 2021 as it’s one of its kind. It’s a social network where people already come looking for products and services.
As compared to the other social media platforms, it would drive more traffic if you stick to it. And that’s extremely helpful for eCommerce stores.
This is not the end. Along with consistent traffic, Pinterest can also help you build authority. Users trust Pinterest because of its positive and inspirational atmosphere. If they’re landing your website just because they saw your pin on Pinterest, they’re more likely to trust your brand.
Finally, the posts of Pinterest have a huge marketing life. They’re easy to repin, tweet, and share on other social media handles. This can greatly improve your brand exposure.
This platform can do many things for you that other social networks can’t. That’s why you should polish your Pinterest marketing strategy this year.
