While most businesses owners do not think that Pinterest is a viable source of traffic for their business, I believe Pinterest can be a profitable driver of traffic for almost all types of businesses.
The number one issue for most businesses online is traffic. Pinterest offers the unique ability to easily create, share and engage with people on the platform. Leveraging these traits as part of your marketing stack will be viable over the long run, if treated in the correct light.
Pinterest, if used correctly, can be used to generate traffic and sales just like any other platform. The reason you should add Pinterest to your content and product distribution model is because of the fact that Pinterest is designed to be a search engine and community platform. This is unique mix of attributes which no other platform out there has.
Why use Pinterest for Marketing At All
When speaking to business owners, the last place they expect me to recommend to distribute their content and products is Pinterest. They see Pinterest as not popular, not appealing and not a place that they would consider as a platform to spend their time. In these discussions, I propose that they run a test on Pinterest for 30 days to see whether or not the platform suites their needs or if there are people on Pinterest who become customers or fans.
The Pinterest Marketing Strategy
Below is a summarized version of the most important aspects of our recommended Pinterest Marketing Strategy.
Great Content That is Visually Stimulating
Since you are probably already creating great looking images for your blog, YouTube videos and Instagram, why not create an image for Pinterest too. If you use Canva, All you need to do is resize the image and make a few minor edits to create the image. Pinterest says that the optimal image should be in a 2:3 ratio, i.e. vertical.
Quick tip: Sizing images for your Pins - A quick review of the importance of using Pinterest’s recommended aspect ratio and image sizing when creating a Pin.
Pinterest SEO
I mentioned before that Pinterest is in fact a search engine. The search bar in the app is one of the most prominent features of the platform on both web and mobile versions. Search allows people to quickly find what they are looking for and also discover phrases or ideas which Pinterest suggests to them. Much like when you search on Google, the search suggestions on Pinterest is a big part of why the platform is so successful. In fact, I and many other bloggers and marketers recommend using Pinterest search to research topics to find suggestions on what to include in their content.
Here are some of the SEO trigger points available to us in Pinterest.
- Pin Title
- Pin Description
- Board Name
- Board Description
- Linked Page Title, Description, Main Text
- Search Queries that frequently lead to clicks on that Pin
- Name of objects detected in an image
- OCR – optical character recognition
- Lexical Expansion – similar words and phrases
Every area of Pinterest can be used to reference keywords in your niche. Pinterest will read these reference points and rank your posts higher in search results thereby generating traffic and sales for your business.
Pinterest Boards
Pinterest Boards are Collection points for content. Each board should be organized to group similar pieces of content muck like you would place all your socks in the same drawer. Pin your own content as well as other people’s pins to these boards to create a common space for people searching for topics to find a collection of posts related to the same topic.
Community
You may think that pinning other people’s post is counter productive, but you also create great content that is engaging and helpful. Your pins will also be shared to similar boards in a similar way.
In fact there are platforms like Tailwind (Get a Free Month of Tailwind Plus!) that have built their platform around this concept. They use the term ‘tribe’ to curate members of the platform, pinning similar content. Tailwind Tribes give you a place to easy find and schedule pins by other people on the platform which can be shared to your boards. This is a powerful strategy as most business owners who are serious about Pinterest are using Tailwind to curate and publish their own content on Pinterest.
Specific to product sales and seasonal discounts, pinning a post in group boards that will be shared by people who resonate with your brand and product will generate sales for your business. The trick is layer your product promotions into the feed which seems organic, natural and engaging. Focus on the benefits and value that your products bring to people on Pinterest and create content which talks about the product, rather than says BUY BUY BUY.
Pinterest Business Account
I recommend creating or converting your Pinterest account to a Pinterest business account. It allows you to see more detailed stats of your pins performance as well as advertise on the platform. I have not delved into the advertising aspect of Pinterest, but much like Facebook and Google Ads, there are a ton of options including targeting interests and keywords within the platform.
This post however, focuses more on the organic and social aspects of Pinterest.
What Are The Benefits of Using Pinterest for Marketing
Fast Results
Business in general can be a slow and methodical grind. Sometimes it’s nice to see results that are fast and Pinterest can deliver results for your business. Like all things in life, what you put in is what you get out. If you optimize your account, pin content regularly and share other people’s content on the platform you will gain traction.
Pinterest Video
Pinterest Video is a major addition to the platform. Introduction of video on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn has boosted engagement on these platforms that exponentially helped them grow. I expect similar for publishers on Pinterest using video. Again, if you already publish video content, add Pinterest to your round up of distribution channels.
Why?
Because video on Pinterest is new, and while other people are still figuring out what content to post, you should be posting already. Video brings a fresh, eye catching experience to the platform. It’s a way to stand out.
Pinterest Is NOT Saturated
Unlike other social platforms, Pinterest does not have a firehose issue. While there may be certain niches which are huge and hard to get into, if you have positioned your business and offering in a way that is fresh and unique then you are carving your way into the platform. People who resonate with your fresh and unique outlook will appreciate the fact that you showed up.
It is much easier to stand out on Pinterest than it is on other platforms. Because of the nature of Pinterest as a search engine and community, done well, your pins and boards will be found by people on the platform. Unlike Google, ranking posts on Pinterest does not take ages. You just need to get creative with your images and keyword terms.
Conclusion
Most people’s reluctance to using Pinterest comes down to their lack of understanding of how the platform works and whether the platform may even be a right fit for their business. I suggest that before you reserve judgment, give Pinterest a 30 day trial run using the steps and methods mentioned above and see how it cans generate traffic and sales for your business.
Top Recommended Tools
Note: Links on this post are affiliate links. I may receive a commission if you decide to sign up for the tools recommended. If you know me, I only recommend the best solutions for your business.
In 2014 after reading Tim Ferris’s book “The Four Hour Work Week” he set a 100 day goal to be self sufficient and to leave his home country and start traveling the world. He since lives in Bangkok running a 6 figure marketing consultancy working with clients in Singapore, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and the United States and other areas in the world.
