Mastering Pinterest Marketing in 5 Easy Steps

If you think Pinterest is solely for bakers and lifestyle bloggers, think again. While it might seem like a space to gather home decor ideas and vegan recipes, it can actually be a pretty powerful tool for business too.

According to research, around 25% of Fortune 100 companies have active Pinterest accounts which squashes the idea that it’s all home baking and pretty decorations.

And it’s easy to see why these Fortune 100 companies are trying their luck with the visual search engine. When 50% of people make a purchase after seeing a promoted pin and a further 67% claim they’ve found a new brand via the network, it seems like an absolute no-brainer.

If you’re ready to tap into the well of possibility that Pinterest offers, buckle up because we’ve got you covered with this handy guide.

First Things First… Define Your Goals

Before you undertake any new marketing strategy, you need to iron out your goals so that you can measure your results and make sure it’s working for you.

So really think about this one. Do you want to use Pinterest to:

• Drive traffic to your site?
• Build awareness of your brand?
• Boost sales?
• Gather reviews?
• Something else entirely?

Pinterest can be leveraged for all of these things and more. Once you’ve got your goal in hand, it’s time to get Pinterest to work its magic.

1. Brand Your Profile

Start by making your metaphorical shop front look good. Thanks to the visual nature of Pinterest, there’s plenty of opportunity to make your profile really eye-catching - but it’s not all about the imagery.

The description on your profile is searchable via Google, so make sure you add in relevant keywords that define your brand. There’s only a limited amount of space and using it wisely can give your profile the best chance possible of appearing high up in search rankings.

Next, you can work on your board covers. Having a memorable brand (which includes consistent colors and fonts) means people are more likely to remember you and come back for more.

To do this, streamline your boards so they have relevant but consistent titles and covers that both stand out and reflect your brand.

The HubSpot Creative profile uses HubSpot's brand colors across their boards.

2. Make it Easy for Others to Pin

Pinterest is a space to share, and the more opportunities people have to see your pins, the more they will show up in search results and on other people’s feeds.

The best way to optimize the chance of your images getting Pinned is to add the option for people to pin every graphic on your site. There are plenty of simple plugins, extensions, and tools that let you do this.

On top of this, you want to make sure your images are the right dimensions so they stand out and grab people’s attention while they’re scrolling. Ideally, they need to be at least 600px wide and have an image aspect ratio of 2:3 to 1:3:5.

3. Use Rich Pins

Pinterest has come a long way since its early days as a digital pinboard. Since then, the crew behind the platform have added in new features that benefit marketers no end.

The ability to create Rich Pins can help consumers take action immediately when they see one of your Pins, whether that’s to quickly provide a review or to buy straight through Pinterest.

Rich Pins include:

• Place Pins, where you can add a location, phone number, and map
• Movie Pins, where you can add reviews and ratings
• Product Pins, where you can add prices and stock availability
• Article Pins, where you can showcase headlines and the author
• Recipe Pins, where you can provide cooking times and ingredients
• App Pins, where you can offer extra information about an app

4. Integrate User-Generated Content

User-generated content is the act of sharing articles, videos, and images that have been published by your customers and audience. According to research by Sprout Social, UGC is more trustworthy and more memorable than content created directly by a brand.

You can make the most of this powerful content strategy on Pinterest by creating collaborative boards where your followers can share photos of themselves and their peers interacting with your brand, product, or service.

Let’s look at Gap as an example.

This mega-brand has a whole board for fashion bloggers to post their Gap outfits on. Starbucks also taps into UGC with a board for its famous white-cup art.

5. Create Your Pinning Strategy

Now you’ve got your profile looking on point and are utilizing all the tools and features Pinterest has to offer, it’s time to work on your pinning strategy.

This includes setting up a schedule for how often you’re going to Pin and the kind of content you want to share with your followers. For example, you might want to alternate between sharing product Pins that people can click-to-buy directly from Pinterest with non-sales content from other bloggers and your followers.

Find a strategy that works for your brand and stick to it - consistency is key when it comes to mastering Pinterest, particularly if you want to see your results improve over time.

Finally, be sure to keep up-to-date on what’s performing well and what could be better (you can easily use Pinterest’s in-built analytics feature here) and tweak your strategy accordingly.

Are You Ready to Add Pinterest to Your Marketing Mix?

Pinterest is often overlooked in favor of more social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but it can be incredibly powerful when leveraged in the right way.

Because it’s technically a search engine with a visual element, it means you are able to show up high in search results for relevant keywords and attract readers, followers, and buyers from even your oldest posts or your most established products.

And, the more you use it, the better it works: if you’re consistently pinning stuff that other people like, your content will start to show up more and more, expanding your reach and tapping into new audiences that are primed and ready to buy.

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