Pinterest is a content curation tool. It is a place where businesses can go to collect ideas and content to share across social media, and this is how I started. But as always, it’s not about what you want to get out of the platform as a business. Key to a business’ success on the platform is understanding the behavior of their followers. This blog goes through some key technical tips & then digs into pinner behavior.

Watch my video from Blab about Pinterest.

In the US, 93% of users use Pinterest to plan their purchases & 96% of customers use the platform for research. Now, I am also one of these people who use the platform for research, particularly if the item is mainly American. For Australian readers, I would hazard the point that unless you can sell to the US I recommend using the platform for content curation as there are only 320 000 Australian Pinterest users.

There are three practical things you need to do first when establishing your Business Pinterest account.

Set up a business account

This is a 3 step process. Many people hesitate to set these up, feeling that they will then need to have their own account for their own purposes. This needn’t be the case. Having a business account then allows you to access the Pinterest Analytics. Having analytics is important not only so you can see what is popular, but also who is pinning from your site & how that’s being used. You can then use this information to develop more content or find more content around that item/subject.

Verifying your site

To see who is pinning from your site, your website will need to be verified. While for some this can mean a small change to the code (and a cost), for others using WordPress, the simplest way is to use their plug-in.

Setting up your Bio

These are the 160 characters you have to make an impression on people coming to your profile. It should include keywords for prospective customers & it can contain a link. You need to understand your followers’ search behavior &  this is discussed below.

Keywords

The use of meaningful keywords can not be underestimated in Pinterest. These are the terms used by individuals to look for information, this is their search behavior. Don’t forget that pins are also indexed to Google, so I recommend using the Google Trends & Adwords tools to work out what is best for your pins (don’t forget to look at your analytics).

I also encourage you to change the keywords when you repin or pin from sites. You can not guarantee that other businesses will use optomised keywords or that they will be suitable for your audience.

Images

Clear images are essential for Pinterest. I suggest using tools like Canva to create correctly sized images for your site, which will then be easily transferable to Pinterest. Make sure you include your logo in your images, you never know when it will go viral.

Make sure you use one of your images (if relevant) as the board cover for your boards. This free real estate is great for your marketing, but remember it must be appealing to your audience.

While Infographics can rule Pinterest, do not make them so long that people are constantly scrolling to get to the end of the information. In the main, you will lose readers once an image hits 2 pages. Be mindful that many users are on mobile devices and long infographics do not render well on smaller screens. You should look at your

Behavioral considerations

If I could shout one thing, it’s to remind businesses that there is a person on the other side of the screen. It is up to you to meet their needs and meet them where they are, not for them to step up to you and ask how you can help them.

People use Pinterest for 2 main reasons: to Inspire & to Aspire. To succeed on Pinterest you need to do both. Your content needs to help them where they are. It needs to be useful. It needs to answer a problem.

Long weekends and holiday weekends are high traffic times for pinners. As too are big sporting events. During this time businesses should be actively pinning & repinning to encourage activity on their boards and to attract new followers.

While content is the key consideration for pinning, you can use group boards to expand your reach. I would encourage you not just to choose active pinners & boards, but also be active on the boards.

Don’t worry if you come across something relevant to your business that you want to keep, but not share. You can have secret boards for those gems. These pins are hidden from prying eyes & competitors, so it’s handy for product research, client avatars, & future projects.

Other considerations

Rich pins

Rich pins are where key content has been pulled from the pinned webpage and displayed in the Pin description. Recipes are a great example. Read more…

Promoted Pins

Promoted pins allow business page owners in the US  to promote (similar to promoted Facebook posts) to Pinners. Read more…

Buyable Pins

Buyable pins are pins where a button has been added to link the viewer off to directly purchase an item. It is only available to the US and only on iphone & ipad. Read more…

 

  • Thank you Kara for this valuable blab/blog. Pinterest can be a bit boggling for service based business. However, with this explanation an I feel a lot more confident of wanting to include Pinterest within my marketing strategy.

  • Thank you Kara for this valuable blab/blog. Pinterest can be a bit boggling for service based business. However, with this explanation I feel a lot more confident to include Pinterest within my marketing strategy.

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