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
Leave a Reply