7 Easy Steps for Pinterest Beginners

Pinterest has become the new belle of the ball, having taken it’s place as one of the most visited sites on the planet. While people might be flocking by the millions to this site every day, finding a way to be visible can be somewhat elusive, especially for Pinterest beginners. If you’re interested in tapping into this marketer’s goldmine to share your products and services, the recipe is simple:

 

Create brand awareness with eye-catching images and intriguing descriptions.

 

Easy… right?

 

The truth is, many businesses are struggling to build a successful Pinterest strategy that optimizes this amazing resource. Below are seven tips and tricks that will get you pointed in the right direction, helping you to make this visual marketing tool one of your strongest resources for driving traffic to your site.

Note: Pin scheduler Traffic Wonker has sadly gone out of business, but owner and CEO Andy Fling has given me permission to share his useful Pinterest research and other information on my site. I jumped at the chance as Andy is the smartest guy I know when it comes to Pinterest!

How to Use Pinterest for Beginners

 

1) Learn the Language

Every social media site has a language all its own. Begin by learning a few of the terms:

• Pin – A picture or graphic image that has been added to Pinterest.
• Save – A copy of the original pin that is repeated on another board.
• Board – A themed virtual bulletin board that provides you with the means to organize your pins.
• SmartFeed – A collection of pins from the people, boards and interests that you follow. It also includes Promoted Pins and Picked for You pins based on your interests. Your SmartFeed isn’t always chronological, but it’s often representative of what people you’re following are currently pinning.

 

2) Share Great Content

You might have read that subtitle and said, “Duh,” but you’d be surprised how many people share boring stuff.

The most popular pins appear at the top of the Pinterest search results. It’s a good place to start looking for pins to share. Then check the accounts of top pinners. If they have pinned the same pin a few times on their board it’s probably working well for them. Adding quality pins like these to your boards will encourage other pinners to follow you, knowing that you’re likely to share more great pins – including your product/content pins.

 

Pins at the top of the Pinterest search results will certainly be saved again – and this time it will be to your benefit.

3) Pinterest Beginners – Learn Your Audience

Keep your boards focused on things that your audience might be interested in sharing with others. Doing so will make the whole world your marketing team – and they’ll be doing it for free!

If Pinterest started as a place to pin images of your favorite recipes or hobbies, consider creating a new account for your business. Every pin on your business profile should serve the needs of your potential customer.

4) Optimize Your Profile and Boards

Many Pinterest beginners have launched their profile and filled their boards with wonderful images and products that will rarely be seen because they failed to optimize their boards for search.  That’s a very common mistake for Pinterest beginners.  They start throwing stuff out there without having a solid Pinterest strategy to build upon.

Pinterest says pin descriptions are the most important thing, but they also look at board descriptions for additional information about the pin. Writing a keyword-rich board description that describes the contents of your board and intrigues your visitors will help your pins perform best.  Here’s a great post on Pinterest Board Descriptions.

 

Pinterest is really more of a search engine than a social media site. Learning everything you can about SEO (search engine optimization) will give you an edge over the competition.

5) Share Quality Images

Since Pinterest is a visual marketing tool, quality images are a must. If you’re not a photographer, stock photo websites like iStockPhoto are a great resource. Need help making your pins look great? Check out our 10 Design Tools for Pinterest Images post to learn about tools that can make designing ridiculously easy.

 

6) Analytics: Know Your Numbers

Knowing what’s working and what’s not can help you adjust your marketing plan for greater success. The following free tools can help.

1) Pinterest Analytics – Pinterest Analytics helps you discover what people are engaging with the most and which boards have the most saved and clicked pins. This information can help you know which pins to schedule more often and cross-promote on your other boards and group boards.

2) Google Analytics – Pinterest Analytics is limited in the amount of data that it provides about our pins. Where Pinterest Analytics leave off Google Analytics keeps going, providing stats on every pin that’s driving traffic to your blog.

7) Stay Active

Pinterest rewards pinners that stay active on the site. The great thing is that it doesn’t have to be you. You can get the same reward if you’re automating pin posts with a pin scheduler.  My favorite scheduler is Tailwind – you might give them a try.

 

It’s that easy – even for Pinterest beginners.  Building a great Pinterest strategy can make all the difference in the world.

 

 

by Andy Fling
Founder and CEO of TrafficWonker.com

Here are some other posts from Andy that you might enjoy:

25 Growth Secrets for Pinterest

Use Pinterest Analytics to Rock Your Marketing

7 Ways to Go Viral on Pinterest

Pinterest Strategy Planner

 

 

Blogging resources I highly recommend for YOU:

SiteGround

I have four sites hosted through SiteGround and I've used them for years.  They're cheap and their customer service is AMAZING - very fast, very helpful.  Learn more about SiteGround HERE.

Legal Templates

You are required by law to have a certain package of legalese on your blog.  You need to have copyright notices, privacy policies, and various other terms and conditions to protect yourself from being sued.  The package I recommend is created by Amira Law - a lawyer who specializes in all aspects of blogging and internet business legalities.  Learn more about these Legal Templates HERE.

Pinterest Strategy Planner

My Pinterest Strategy Planner is a terrific tool to help you build a complete Pinterest strategy to grow your traffic.  Shows you how to plan out your keywords, set up your boards correctly, choose which pinners to Follow, come up with your brand standards and so much more!  It's little a little self-paced course, but it's a lot cheaper than most courses and you can work at your own pace and track your progress in the included spreadsheets.  Order your Pinterest Strategy Planner HERE.

Pinterest Strategy Session 

I've got 8 years of experience as a Pinterest Manager.  I do a personalized Pinterest Strategy Session where I go over your Pinterest and Tailwind accounts with a 30-point checklist.  Then set up a Zoom call with you to give you TONS of suggestions to help you create a strategy that will get you the Pinterest traffic you deserve.  Order your Pinterest Strategy Session HERE.

Hire Me as Your Pinterest Manager

I retired after 30 years at Wells Fargo as a Financial Analyst.  Now I run my own company as a Pinterest Manager for other high-level bloggers.  I use my years of experience on their behalf to grow their traffic.  I can also set up Email lists, automations and build pop-ups for your site.  Or I can build you a simple WordPress website.  To learn more - go HERE.