The platform you can’t afford to ignore…
Pinterest is growing. The popular platform hit 175 million active monthly users in April 2017, which has grown considerably since its initial launch back in 2010. This is still a drop in the ocean compared to Facebook with its 1.94 billion active monthly users. Why should you care? You’ve got enough on your plate. Do you really need to worry about more social media?
Honestly? It depends on your marketing goals. Pinterest is a powerful discovery engine, much closer to Google or YouTube than Instagram or Twitter. Users log in to search for content that can help them reach their goals, from making a quick dinner to starting an online business or even for a little creative inspiration. Smart marketers use Pinterest to increase their reach, generate traffic, grow brand awareness and even sell products.
So, if your goal is get your content and products in front of a fresh audience, a smart Pinterest marketing strategy can help you get there. Pinterest has also changed a lot in the last 7 years (and since our last post), so let’s take a look at some NEW ways you try to instantly take your Pinterest game to the next level.
1. Use a business account
The Pinterest team designed a specific type of account to help businesses make the most out of the platform. You can set up a new business account or simply convert your existing one. A business account gives you access to Pinterest analytics but the real winner is the rich pins feature.
Rich pins come in four flavors and allow you to add more detail than traditional pins.
App pins: Do you make great apps for Pinterest users? With this pin, users can download your app without ever leaving Pinterest.
Product pins: These pins are great for eCommerce businesses and anyone that sells online. You can include the price of your product and show the user where he or she can buy it in real time. Businesses can also use Pinterest to post images and photos of customers using their products in creative ways to generate brand awareness and encourage sales.
Recipe pins: Whether you run social media accounts for a food retailer or for your own food blog, recipe pins can be a lifesaver. The pin shows all the ingredients, along with the amount you need and other details such as cooking and prep time. This makes it really easy for users to find exactly what they are looking for. As a content creator you can emphasize just how quick and easy your dish is, and also encourage re-pinning.
Article pins: Great for content marketers, this pin shows the article headline, author, and description. It’s a great way to create curiosity and use your copywriting skills to grab attention and drive traffic.
Rich pins can help you level up your game and capture attention in all the right ways.
2. Optimize it all
Pinterest is a search engine, so why not use it like one? If you want to rank highly and be discovered, you need to optimize your boards and pins for search.
Are your pins the right size?
Be sure to optimize each of your pins! The ideal size for Pinterest is 735 by 1102 pixels. Vertical images tend to get more repins and likes than horizontal images.
Don’t forget about the power of CTAs
Craft a unique description and include a call-to-action for each of your pins. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your CTAs! You can ask the viewer to click on the pin to read the full article, ask for a re-pin or anything else you want to try out. You can also leverage curiosity by hinting at something phenomenal in the article.
Craft a keyword-rich description
Entrepreneur Melyssa Griffin is a master of Pinterest strategy. The platform played a huge role in building her own business. Every part of her profile is optimized to attract the right people. Her board descriptions are particularly interesting. Instead of writing more descriptions, she lists all the long-tail, relevant keywords that fit the board.
Think about how we search Pinterest. You type in a search term in the box and look for the most relevant result. Pinterest pulls it out and presents it to you based on the keywords you used. Users will rarely, if ever, actually read the description. This makes a keyword board description a great way to tell the search engine exactly what this board is about. This is your chance to put all that keyword research to good use and win super relevant traffic!
3. Stick to visually appealing content
Pinterest is a visual platform. Curate content that has strong visual appeal. Remember, not every great blog post is a fit for Pinterest.
Pin and share images that pack an emotional punch or offer clear solutions to an urgent question in the title.
This same logic applies to your board. Organize each board so it stays hyper relevant to its title and description.
4. Be consistent
Curate your boards as if your life depended on it. Each board should have a clear theme that ties in with the title and description.
Think of your board like a blog post. You want a clear, concise, and relevant post that honors the promise you gave in the title.
This same logic applies to your board. Organize each board so it stays hyper relevant to its title and description.
5. Study the competition
Learn from the boards of your direct competitors. What’s working? What isn’t? What are they doing that your shared audience is responding to? Use these tips and adapt them to your own goals and strategy.
6. Work on a collaborative board
Collaboration helps you combine the power of your reach and audience with that of other people. Team up with colleagues in your field and create boards together, bringing your shared expertise to the same drawing “board”.
7. Use promoted pins
Paid social media ads can help you maximize the reach of popular posts and reach a whole new audience quicker than by relying on organic traffic alone.
Pinterest’s promoted pins are their version of Facebook’s promoted posts. They appear in your search feed under relevant keywords, and are a great way to raise awareness about a new product. When used alongside quality organic pins, it’s an effective discovery tool.
Bringing it all together
Don’t develop your Pinterest marketing strategy in a vacuum. An effective digital marketing strategy brings all your mini strategies for different platforms and customer segments together to support your main goals.
Remember that everything you do should be measured against your key goals. There are multiple analytics tools available to measure everything. But, we’ve also got limited time. To increase your overall chance for success, tie your Pinterest strategy to your overall goals and continuously track what’s working, what isn’t, and where you can improve—and use a social media marketing tool to help you.
Not only can you use MavSocial to store all your visual content and assets, making publishing to your favorite social accounts easier, you will also be able to post directly to Pinterest from MavSocial in the not-too-distant future. This new feature is coming soon, so stay tuned!
