How to Market on Pinterest

Pinterest is not just a social media platform; it’s a visual search engine that can significantly impact your business’s success.
With its unique features and engaged user base, Pinterest offers businesses an opportunity to attract attention, drive sales, and build strong relationships with their target audience.
In this post, Dolma will explore how to effectively use Pinterest to make it easier for your audience to find and purchase your products.

Table of Contents

Why Market on Pinterest
Understanding Pinterest Marketing Basics
How to Use Pinterest for Marketing
How to Measure Pinterest Marketing Success
Conclusion

Let’s dive in and explore each of these sections in detail to unlock the full potential of Pinterest for your marketing strategy.

Why Market on Pinterest

Increased Website Traffic: Pinterest is a powerful social media marketing tool that can drive more traffic to your website. With over 100 million monthly active users, mostly females, Pinterest provides a platform to attract a large audience and direct them to your website.

Brand Awareness: By utilizing Pinterest for marketing, businesses can increase brand awareness. The platform allows you to showcase your products or services visually, helping to build recognition and familiarity with your brand.

Targeting U.S. Female Customers: Pinterest is particularly popular among U.S. female customers. If your target audience aligns with this demographic, Pinterest can be an effective platform to reach and engage with them.

E-commerce Potential: In addition, Pinterest has a “shop” section where businesses can showcase their products for sale. Over 90% of Pinterest users are actively searching for inspiration to buy.

Global Presence: Pinterest is expanding its presence globally and is available in over 20 languages. This provides businesses with the opportunity to reach a wider international audience and tap into new markets.

Understanding Pinterest Marketing Basics

Pinterest is not just a social media platform; it is also a powerful search engine. Users, or “pinners,” can discover and save visual content called “pins” on their boards. Pins can be images or videos that users can search for, save, and click on.

As a business, it’s essential to understand the key terms associated with Pinterest:

Pin: An image or video uploaded to Pinterest and saved to user boards.
Repin: A re-post of a pin by another user.
Pinner: An individual or business user who adds pins.
Follow: When a user subscribes to another user’s profile or board.
Board: A collection of pins on a specific topic or theme.
Feed: The personalized mainstream of pins a user sees when they log into Pinterest.
Lens: A visual search feature on Pinterest that provides pins similar to what a user captures with the lens camera.

By understanding these terms, you can effectively navigate the Pinterest platform and engage with your target audience.

How to Use Pinterest for Marketing

Explore the ultimate step-by-step guide to leverage Pinterest for your marketing efforts. Discover powerful Pinterest marketing strategies to drive more traffic and sales.

Step 1: Creating a Pinterest Business Account

To leverage Pinterest for your business, you need to create a dedicated business account. You have two options: create a brand-new Pinterest for Business account or convert an existing personal account to a business profile.

If you don’t have a personal Pinterest account or want a separate account for your business, follow these steps to create a brand-new business profile:

Go to the Pinterest for Business page.
Click the “Sign Up” button in the upper-right corner.
Fill out the necessary details about your business.
Click on the “Create Account” button.

If you already have a personal Pinterest account registered to your business email, you can upgrade it to a business account for free.

Here’s how:

Log in to your profile.
Click the drop-down arrow icon in the upper-right corner.
Select the “Convert to Business” option under the “Your Accounts” section.
You will be prompted to get a free business account; click on the “Upgrade” button.
Fill out your business information.

By creating a Pinterest business account, you gain access to additional features and analytics that can help you effectively market your products or services.

Step 2: Optimizing Your Pinterest Profile

Your Pinterest profile is an opportunity to showcase your brand and engage with your audience. It’s important to optimize every element of your profile to reflect your brand identity.

Here are some key elements to consider:

Profile Picture: Use a square profile picture of at least 165 x 165 pixels, such as your company logo or a professional headshot.

Cover Photo: Choose an eye-catching horizontal image that represents your brand’s style (800 x 450 pixels).

Description: Craft a short and meaningful description that defines your brand.

Website URL: Make it easy for followers to visit your website or online store.

Pinterest Boards: Curate and organize pins in different categories to tell your brand story effectively.

By optimizing your Pinterest profile, you can create a cohesive and appealing representation of your brand.

Step 3: Developing a Strategy for Pinterest Marketing

Before diving into Pinterest marketing, it’s crucial to develop a strategy tailored to your business goals. A well-defined content strategy will guide you in creating and promoting content that resonates with your target audience.

Here are some key steps to develop your Pinterest marketing strategy:

Set Your Goals: Clearly define your marketing goals on Pinterest. Whether it’s gaining followers, driving website traffic, or increasing sales, knowing your objectives will guide your content creation.

Understand Your Target Audience: Research and understand your target audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviors. This knowledge will help you create content that resonates with them.

Analyze Your Competition: Study other brands and influencers in your industry to gain inspiration and differentiate your approach. Look for successful content types and strategies that you can adapt to suit your brand.

Create a Content Calendar: Determine your posting frequency, content themes, and the dates you plan to publish your content. This will help you stay consistent and maintain a cohesive presence on Pinterest.

By developing a solid Pinterest marketing strategy, you can effectively engage with your audience and achieve your business goals.

Step 4: Posting Compelling Content on Pinterest

On Pinterest, visual content is key. To effectively market your business, you need to create compelling pins that capture the attention of your audience.

Here are some tips for creating engaging content on Pinterest:

Use High-Quality Images and Videos: Pinterest is a visual platform, so it’s essential to use high-quality images and videos for your pins. Optimize your images for Pinterest’s vertical format (2:3 aspect ratio) and consider adding text overlays to make your pins stand out.

Create Informative Pin Descriptions: Craft pin descriptions that include relevant keywords and accurately describe your content. This will make your pins more discoverable and help users understand what your pins are about.

Showcase Your Brand’s Look and Personality: Use Pinterest boards to tell your brand’s story and showcase your products or services. Create a cohesive and visually appealing representation of your brand to captivate your audience. By posting compelling content on Pinterest, you can attract and engage with your target audience effectively.

Promoting Your Content on Pinterest: While organic reach on Pinterest is valuable, you can also amplify your content’s reach by promoting it. Here are some strategies to promote your content on Pinterest:
- Pinterest Ads: Consider using Pinterest ads, such as promoted pins or shopping ads, to reach a wider audience. These paid advertising options can help you boost brand awareness, increase engagement, and drive traffic to your website.
- Share Pins on Other Social Media Platforms: Cross-promote your pins on other social media platforms and in email campaigns to increase visibility and engagement. This will help drive traffic to your Pinterest content and attract new followers.

By promoting your content on Pinterest, you can extend your reach and maximize the impact of your marketing efforts.

Step 5: Using Pinterest Ads to Boost Your Marketing Efforts

Pinterest ads provide a powerful way to reach your target audience and drive conversions. By utilizing Pinterest’s advertising options, you can create brand awareness, boost engagement, and drive traffic to your website.

Here’s how pricing works for different advertising objectives:

Brand Awareness: Use Pinterest ads to introduce your brand to new audiences. Ad costs for reach are based on the CPM (cost-per-mille) for impressions, which ranges from $2 to $5 for every 1,000 impressions.

Boost Engagement: If you want to encourage users to interact with your pins, you can pay to boost engagement. Users engage by clicking on your pins or repinning them. The average cost-per-engagement (CPE) for this type of ad ranges from 10 cents to $1.50 per engagement.

Drive Web Traffic: Use Pinterest ads to drive traffic to your website. You pay for the CPC (cost-per-click) for this type of ad, which ranges from $0.10 to $1.50 per click.

In addition to these pricing options, you can also segment your audience based on their behavior, interests, or similarity to your existing customer segments. By utilizing Pinterest ads effectively, you can enhance your marketing efforts and achieve your desired business outcomes.

Step 6: Pinterest Marketing and Advertising Tips

To make the most of your Pinterest marketing efforts, consider the following tips:

Include Key Search Terms in Pin Descriptions: Optimize your pin descriptions by including relevant keywords and hashtags that users might search for. This will improve the discoverability of your content.

Create a Shop to Sell Directly on Pinterest: Take advantage of Pinterest’s shopping features by setting up a Pinterest Shop. This allows users to browse and purchase products directly on Pinterest, increasing your chances of driving sales.

Give People a Reason to Visit Your Website: Use compelling visuals and enticing descriptions to encourage users to click through to your website. Whether it’s showcasing special offers or providing additional information, make sure your pins drive traffic to your website.

Add Pinterest Save Buttons to Your Website: Make it easy for users to save your content by adding Pinterest save buttons to your website. This allows visitors to bookmark your products or blog posts, increasing visibility and engagement.

Optimize Your Pins with Pinterest Trends Tool: Utilize the Pinterest Trends Tool to identify popular search terms and optimize your pin titles and descriptions accordingly. This will help you stay relevant and reach a larger audience.

Track Your Performance with Pinterest Analytics: Leverage Pinterest Analytics to gain insights into your content’s performance. Monitor metrics such as impressions, clicks, and engagement to refine your Pinterest marketing strategy.

Use Apps to Streamline Posting & Performance Tracking: Explore third-party apps like Sprout Social and Later to schedule and track your Pinterest posts. These apps can help you save time and analyze your performance more efficiently.

By following these tips, you can maximize the effectiveness of your Pinterest marketing efforts and achieve your business objectives.

Step 7: Tracking Performance with Pinterest Analytics

Pinterest offers robust analytics tools to track the performance of your content and gain valuable insights. With Pinterest Analytics, you can monitor metrics such as impressions, clicks, saves, and engagement.

Here’s how you can leverage Pinterest Analytics to track your performance:

Analyze Your Top Pins: Identify your most successful pins and understand what resonates with your audience. This will help you replicate successful content in future campaigns.

Track Referral Traffic: Measure the traffic driven to your website from Pinterest. This will help you understand the impact of your Pinterest marketing on your website’s performance.

Monitor Audience Engagement: Pay attention to metrics such as saves, comments, and clicks to gauge how users are interacting with your content. This will help you refine your content strategy and improve engagement.

Discover Your Audience Demographics: Gain insights into your audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviors. Use this information to tailor your content and marketing efforts to better resonate with your target audience.

By regularly monitoring your performance with Pinterest Analytics, you can optimize your marketing strategy and achieve better results.

How to Measure Pinterest Marketing Success

Measuring the success of your Pinterest marketing efforts is crucial to understanding the effectiveness of your strategies and making informed decisions for future campaigns.

Here are five key metrics to consider:

Strategic Keyword Usage: Utilize Pinterest’s search bar to identify popular keywords and see if your pins are ranking well. To gauge the effectiveness of your pins, track the number of impressions and engagements they receive based on specific keywords.

Consistency in Pinning: Track the number of pins you pin every day or week and the engagement levels they generate. Consistent pinning keeps your audience engaged and can increase your visibility and reach.

Joining Group Boards: Track your pins’ performance and engagement on group boards. The increase in followers repins, and click-throughs that result from participating in group boards can be measured.

Creating Visually Appealing Pins: Measure the engagement metrics such as clicks, saves, and comments that your visually appealing pins receive. Test different designs, colors, and formats to identify what resonates best with your audience.

Tracking Campaign Performance: Utilize Pinterest’s analytics tools to track the performance of your overall marketing campaigns. Monitor metrics such as impressions, clicks, saves, and engagement rates for your pins. Analyze how these metrics change over time and compare them to your campaign goals.

By paying attention to these key metrics and continuously analyzing your Pinterest marketing efforts, you can gain valuable insights into the success of your campaigns and optimize your strategies accordingly.

Conclusion

Pinterest offers small businesses a unique platform to showcase their products, connect with their target audience, and drive engagement.
By following the steps outlined in this comprehensive guide, you can effectively market your business on Pinterest and achieve your marketing goals.
With careful planning and execution, Pinterest can become a valuable asset in your overall marketing strategy.

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