What if I told you there’s a *goldmine* waiting for your business on Pinterest? It’s not just a platform for DIY crafts and recipes; it’s a powerhouse for leads, clients, and sales that can convert your audience (or any audience) on autopilot. ✈️
Pinterest could be the game-changing move your business needs and has been waiting for!
But, oh boy, it can be overwhelming when you don’t know where to start as a beginner.
Let me reassure you that you’re not the only one. There are lots of entrepreneurs out there who are ready to set up a Pinterest marketing profile and strategy – but don’t know how.
In this post, I’m covering all the Pinterest marketing basics you need to get started including:
- Why and how using Pinterest can help you achieve your business goals
- 7 strategic steps you can take to incorporate Pinterest in your marketing strategy
- How you can measure the success of your Pinterest efforts and its impact on your business goals
- Next steps for YOU – if you’re ready to add Pinterest to your marketing strategy and achieve your business goals.
Sounds good? Great, let’s get started with this (perhaps inconvenient) but key truth:
Not utilizing Pinterest may be keeping you from achieving your goals.
When you’re a busy small business owner juggling many tasks, marketing your business can become a constant source of frustration.
You know that marketing is important, but despite all your efforts, you feel like you’re shouting into a void because you see little engagement, minimal website traffic, and zero tangible results.
You’re burned out and feel like the gap between your business goals and your marketing is impossible.
In this vicious cycle of marketing burnout, the impact on your day-to-day life is obvious. The constant effort with minimal return saps your motivation, and your business goals feel farther away than ever.
But it’s possible to reignite the spark and turn this whole thing around.
My client Sarah was able to.
She is a small business owner who decided to give Pinterest a shot after a series of disappointing marketing efforts and was quickly losing hope for her business’ success.
Here’s how Sarah turned everything around.
When Sarah came to me, she was burned out from hustling on social media, second-guessing that her business was a valid endeavor, and was seeking a low-maintenance, hands-off approach to marketing that would help her business get the traction it needed.
However, after working with me to get her Pinterest account set up, the results were amazing! Not only did her website traffic spike, but she also saw a significant uptick in client inquiries and sales!
All because she was able to connect with a broader audience (that actually saw her content) and it opened a brand new door of opportunity for her.
Of course, Sarah’s success goes beyond the numbers; it’s about the newfound energy and motivation she feels about her business. The evergreen loop of engaged customers and growing sales propel her business toward previously unimaginable heights. The sense of accomplishment and relief that comes with achieving her business goals is immeasurable, and she no longer worries about the success of her business.
So…how exactly did she do this? Well, every client and business I work with is different and unique, but some of Sarah’s strategy was based on the following ideas.
Let’s talk about the 7 strategic steps YOU can take to incorporate Pinterest in your marketing strategy.
7 Strategic Steps to Incorporate Pinterest in your Marketing Strategy
Step 1: Create a Business Account
You can start by either converting your personal account into a business account or by creating a new account from scratch. It’s just a matter of determining what’s going to be best for your profile going forward.
Either way, a business account is important because it unlocks valuable features like analytics and advertising tools tailored to business needs. It also unlocks the ability to claim a website and your social media accounts, which are equally important.
There are different times and scenarios when I recommend converting an account versus starting a new one, more to come on this. But, first, let’s weigh the pros and cons of each scenario…
Converting to a business account:
Pros:
If your followers, boards, and pins ARE mostly related to your business niche:
- You can capitalize on the traction you’ve already established
Cons
If your followers, boards, and pins are NOT mostly related to your business niche:
- You’ll have some (labor-intensive) cleaning up and deleting to do
- Your existing boards and pins may confuse Pinterest and impede indexing
Starting a new account:
Pros:
-
- You can be very organized, strategic, and intentional from the start
- You won’t need to clean up your boards or pins
- If you’re a personal user, you can keep your non-business-related content on your personal account
Cons:
-
- You’re starting from scratch and Pinterest will need time to understand what you pin about and index to show your content to the right people. Therefore, your account may grow more slowly (but slow growth can be good growth!).
Here are my recommendations to consider converting your personal account:
If you have any of the following on your personal account…
-
- More than 50 followers in your niche
- More than 25 on-brand pins pointing to your content
- More than 10 on-brand boards that have 20-ish or more pins
AND you’re committed to cleaning up, secreting, deleting, or archiving unrelated boards (consider the volume and labor required to do all the above).
…then consider converting.
If not, start a new account. My opinion is – when in doubt, start a new account.
The same concepts apply if you have an existing business account, but pivoted.
A great thing about Pinterest is unlike Facebook, you can have multiple business and personal accounts if you choose to. You also don’t have to have a personal account to start a business account.
Step 2: Keyword Strategy & Research
Because Pinterest is a search engine, the keywords you use and where you place them are super-duper important! It’s as simple as this – If you use words that your audience isn’t searching for, your content isn’t going to be seen. Then Pinterest isn’t going to work the way you’re expecting it to.
So, you’ll have to do some research to figure out what relevant keywords to use throughout your profile, pin descriptions, and board names. More to come on this!
Step 3: Optimize Your Profile
Craft a compelling business profile by choosing a profile photo. This could be your logo or a headshot (a headshot is preferred).
Your business description (or bio) should be concise (but keyworded). This sets the stage for a professional and cohesive brand presence.
To learn how to fully optimize your profile check out this post: Pinterest Profile Optimization: How to Drive Traffic and Boost Your Brand
Step 4: Create Your Boards
Create boards that are relevant to your target audience and the content that you create. I probably sound like a broken record by now, but everything needs to align with your business goals and appeal to your audience.
Step 5: Create Your Pins & Pin Them to Your Boards
Pinterest is all about eye-catching pins. You will want to invest time into creating high-quality, vertical images that grab your audience’s attention and stop the scroll.
Creating consistent and visually appealing pins attracts more attention and helps you achieve your business goals. More to come below.
Step 6: Create a Consistent Pinning Schedule
Maintaining a regular posting schedule will keep your audience engaged and keep Pinterest showing your content to more of its users. Consistency builds trust not only with your audience but with the platform too. Pinterest loves and encourages fresh content.
Step 7: Monitor Your Analytics
Regularly reviewing your Pinterest analytics is helpful to understand what’s resonating with your audience. This allows you to adjust your strategy based on the performance of your pins, boards, and overall engagement to continually refine your approach.
Now, you might be wondering…
How can you measure the success of Pinterest and its impact on your business goals?
I get it. I do. I’ve been where you are.
Understanding the impact of your Pinterest efforts on your business goals is crucial for refining and optimizing your strategy.
The great news is – there are a few things you can look at to assess this…
First, your Pinterest Analytics. This will provide insights into the performance of your pins and boards. For a beginner, I recommend sticking to the basics and watching metrics such as Impressions, Saves, and Outbound Clicks to gauge the reach and resonance of your content.
It may also be insightful to track each of these metrics for your top 3 performing pins and boards.
Second, your Google Analytics. These analytics will provide insights into things like the referral traffic from Pinterest to your website, track the number of visitors, their behavior on your site, and conversion rates.
This data allows you to assess how well Pinterest is driving meaningful traffic and contributing to your business goals, whether it’s lead generation, product sales, or client acquisition.
Lastly, the growth of your Pinterest following. A growing audience indicates increasing brand awareness and potential for extended reach.
I know you want to achieve your business goals.
You’re tired of shouting into the void of social media and seeing zero tangible results from your efforts. You’re burnt out and tired of worrying about the success and validity of your business.
But…the solution to these seemingly complex problems may be closer than you think. It might be found in Pinterest marketing.
So yes…it’s time to start using Pinterest in your marketing strategy and it’s not too late to start!
Creating a Pinterest business account, developing a keyword strategy, and optimizing your profile are great places to start.
Your journey toward achieving your business goals on this dynamic platform is not just about Pins and boards; it’s about rekindling enthusiasm, fostering engagement, and watching your business thrive. Let Pinterest be the catalyst for your business success – one Pin at a time.
If you’re really ready to be discovered and convert your target audience into leads and sales, I have the perfect next step for you!
Apply to work with me by clicking the button below:
