Making Pinterest Your Business

Whether you make a point of using Pinterest for your business or to actually make a business out of Pinterest, there is no denying this platform cannot be ignored.

Since Pinterest’s launch in March 2010 it has made a rapid rise to international stardom with over 200 million monthly users, 80% of these users access the platform through a mobile device. It is estimated there are over 100 billion ideas on Pinterest. Given these statistics, you might think that it would be impossible to make an impression as a newcomer to this platform, but it is precisely because of these statistics that a newcomer can flourish.

People use Pinterest differently to other platforms; they purposely search for, and save content. It is not a platform that people go to when they want to kill time. This means you just need to find the right audience for your product or service; and it doesn’t matter what genre your business is. Yes, there’s no denying there is an awful lot of fashion, lifestyle and recipes but there’s also space for specialist businesses such as funerals or organic lawn care and car mechanics.

The Pinterest algorithm uses something called the Smart Feed, this means your pins can be put in front of an audience whether or not they are your followers. Which is great news because your priority doesn’t have to be building a following, yes you still need and want followers, but it doesn’t have to be your over-riding obsession as it does on other platforms. However, you do need to use the Smart Feed algorithm ‘smartly’ and know what it is looking for and what will make Pinterest put your pins at the top of the feed.

Here are 6 ways you can do this:

#1 Use Original Content

Whilst we all use stock photography from time to time, there is no doubt that Pinterest favours original content and that includes the photographs you use and the subject matter you’re writing about. Pinterest will look at your images and the popularity of the keywords you are using to assess whether your content is what its readers are looking for and Pinterest is looking for pins that are beautiful, inspirational and actionable. You can buy beautiful designs at Creative Market, this helps to save a lot of time when you need to produce multiple pins.

#2 Follow Trends

That doesn’t mean copy – it means look at what is trending, what are influencers producing and then produce your own version. Trending pins might not necessarily be by content, look also at the style and colours being used, the fonts and layouts as it all makes a difference as to whether your pin looks on trend or ‘so last year darling’. No-one wants to be considered old fashioned and that applies to your own pins.

#3 Keep Updating

It’s really important to keep updating your pins, try not to put dates on them i.e. ‘10 Brunch Ideas for 2017’. Believe it or not, people will skip over these, they want up to-date content and so does Pinterest. Old pins that are not being shared will drag you down as well so remove them or update them, check your links – have you moved a page on your website (guilty). A link going to an old outdated or removed link is damaging to your brand so fix it, or Pinterest might interpret this as a spammy site. Pinterest is now allowing you to use hashtags in your posts, go back and add relevant hashtags.

#4 Keyword Optimise

Our old friend SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Pinterest is a search engine – you knew that right? So you must keyword optimise your pins if they are to stand any hope of being found. Ideally use your keywords at least twice within your post and also repeat them in the description, but do not keyword stuff – that is frowned on. Another way to be found in searches is to create a Pinterest board with your keywords, for example: Home Based Business Ideas. If this is your niche you could consider calling your business name something similar. This all helps your pins get found when people search on this topic.

#5 Know your target audience

This one is so important, if the target audience for your product or service is home based Mums, everything you do should be aimed at them. Knowing your customer’s demographic enables you to put relevant content in front of them, that is of interest to them and that they will want to pin.

#6 Don’t forget your Description

You are allowed up to 500 characters for each Board description, why wouldn’t you use it? We’ve already discussed adding your keywords in the description, consider writing a mini story for each of your boards. People read the description before deciding whether it’s worth clicking through to your website or blog and reading more, so make your description interesting and think of your board as your sales page. You can also add hashtags in your description too.

Okay, I hear you say, so how does all this pinning relate to bringing business to your door? That is precisely what Pinterest does. Pinterest is a platform that has been proven to:

• Increase traffic to websites, vitally important when you’re looking to improve your Google ranking;

• Find new customers

• Increase sales;

If you're starting your business Pinterest account from scratch, you need a strategy and tools to help you pin consistently. Boardbooster is a brilliant tool which offers a lot of functions including something called looping pins; from within Boardbooster you can also schedule pins and join Groups and Tribes. A lot of people recommend Tailwind as a scheduling tool and that's fine, but I prefer Later (used to be called latergramme), it's cheaper than Tailwind and allows you to use more platforms for your money. It also has a free programme if you're not yet ready to dive in, you can find out more here.

But what if you want to make Pinterest your business? Well good news for you. This is an emerging industry. Only 12% of business owners feel they are using Pinterest correctly, that means there is a vacuum for people with specialist knowledge of how to use Pinterest to promote a business.

Start a Business as a Pinterest Account Manager is an online course that teaches you how to start a business in the exciting world of this social media platform. A staggering 97% of business owners use social media to promote their businesses but only a few are doing it right. This course shows you the right way. Find out more here.

Get started creating a Pinterest schedule by downloading this free 2018 Pinterest Planner from Pinterest. This Pinterest Planner together with free classes and business resources is an example of the benefits all our students and mastermind group members enjoy.