Pinterest marketing is an incredible tool that every online business should be using as part of their brand and business growth strategy. It isn’t only a DIY resource, it is a powerful tool for search engine optimization for your online business.
Pinterest marketing is search engine optimization at its best. Using a Pinterest marketing strategy helps to drive traffic to your website so that you can attract more clients.
Where does Pinterest fit into your overarching brand marketing strategy?
Kate describes Pinterest as similar to Google and YouTube. It is a content element. People use Pinterest as a place to seek answers to their problems. They do not care about you, they care about the benefit they can find by solving their problem. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are platforms where people go to get to know you.
Think of Pinterest as a bicycle wheel with the spokes going out. You are identifying with cold users who aren’t interested in your brand yet, they are interested in what you have to offer. You have to approach Pinterest differently than how you approach Instagram or other social platforms.
Pinterest is a long-game approach to brand marketing, like Google and YouTube. You must make the decision to invest in Pinterest for one to two years and the momentum will build like snowballs.
Understand your “why” for using Pinterest Marketing
Why do you want to use Pinterest? Are you interested in driving traffic to your website? Do you want to grow your email list? Or, to get more sales of your products?
Patience is key when using Pinterest marketing because it can take a minimum of 90 days and sometimes up to 6 to 9 months for a pin to gain traction. But don’t delete old pins because you never know when they might surface in the algorithm.
How to effectively map out a Pinterest marketing strategy
- First and foremost, optimize your business account. Have clear identifying factors and a clear definition of who you are and what you do. You do not need to put your URL in your description.
- Create your boards – using keywords and key phrases. Pinterest boards are like silos of what your content is about. Boards should have a succinct title with less than 4 words.
- Create pins to send traffic to your website. The content on your website will be used for pin creation. Use the same keywords on Pinterest that you use on your website.
- Write blog posts and share information on Pinterest to then drive traffic to the blog post.
- Have a call to action at the end of the blog post – for example, download a free lead magnet to grow your email list and take cold leads to warm leads.
- Use keywords in the description of the board and in the pin descriptions.
- Add text to Pinterest images because people don’t read below the image as they do on Instagram or Facebook. They only have a snapshot of the image. People are primed to move off of Pinterest, unlike Instagram or Facebook which want people to stay on the platform.
Where to find keywords on Pinterest
- Use the search bar on Pinterest, which will give you both keywords and key phrases.
- Pinterest trends – trends.pinterest.com – see what keywords are trending and the volume of searches for each keyword/keyphrase. You can break out trends by country, US, UK, and Canada.
How much content should you include in a Pinterest pin?
The pin title is limited to 160 characters while the description is limited to 500 characters. Kate recommends two to three sentences but sometimes only does one keyword power-packed sentence. Not keyword stuffed, but very natural sounding, like sending a text to a friend.
On the pin itself, the text should be quick and pop, like billboard advertising. People should be able to read it in less than a second.
One of the best ways to become a good marketer on Pinterest is to browse the app and see what resonates with you.
Ask a question and intrigue your followers to click. However, in interior design or fashion, it’s best not to put text on the image to avoid it getting in the way.
How often should you cross-post on your Pinterest boards?
The frequency and timing of cross-posting your pins from one board to another are dependent on the number of pins you have. You want to avoid pinning the same thing back to back. You want your profile to have a variety of posts and content. Idea pins will fold into what users see on your profile, and Pinterest will give favor to the idea pins and show them to your viewers first.
It is safe to say that you can cross-post in a week to two weeks. However, for holiday content, you should post it 45 days in advance.
How many Pinterest pins should you post a day?
This number is fluid and dependent on the number of pieces of content you have. It is better to do 5 to 7 good pins than more pins that aren’t of good quality.
Things that make a difference on Pinterest
- Keyword use
- Images
- Niche
compare your numbers to your niche and never to the other niches.
How many hashtags should you use on Pinterest?
The answer is zero. Users on Pinterest do not use hashtags and they do not search by hashtags. They may substitute a keyword for a hashtag, but they don’t use hashtags.
What are idea pins on Pinterest?
Idea pins are a hybrid between an Instagram story and a reel and a TiK Tok. Idea pins are micro-content and are broken out into slides. People don’t click from an idea pin to your website. The call to action on an idea pin is to go to your profile where they can access your website URL. Idea pins are supplemental micro-content once or twice a week. Think of idea pins as supplements to regular pins. They allow you to connect with the pinner in a different search.
Pinterest is testing the addition of URLs on idea pins. At the present time, however, they do not endorse putting the URL in the list for ideal pins.
The call to action on an idea pin is for the viewer to follow you. In the analytics of your idea pin, you can see how many clicks to your profile occurred and how many followers you gained. From your profile, they will click through to your website. Therefore your website must have a very clear search option so that the user can find the content they are looking for easily.
Using keywords for idea pins
You can use up to 20 keywords on idea pins. That is key for reaching your audience and it’s always good to do what’s best from an SEO perspective.
What are share threads on Pinterest?
The share thread idea began when people thought that they could artificially boost engagement. But the problem is that if you aren’t in the same niche, it doesn’t work. Content on boards must make sense. The only time that share threads work is when users are in alignment, for example, food bloggers.
Should you consider Pinterest ads?
Pinterest ads complement Facebook and Instagram ads. There are two things to consider with Pinterest ads:
- They take a long time to optimize, 4 to 6 weeks. Optimization of a Facebook or Instagram ad takes approximately an hour. Don’t make changes to a Pinterest ad for at least two weeks. And, you need to have a strategic goal for the Pinterest ads. The goals should be that you a) want to grow your email list, b) drive to conversion or c) make a sale. Never do Pinterest ads for affiliate sales or to drive traffic. They are not truly measurable.
- Pinterest is good for the top of funnel and bottom of the funnel. It doesn’t satisfy the middle piece. Pinterest is used to increase brand awareness. Pinterest is a cold leads generator. You can do standard pin ads, ideal pin ads, and video ads, but you’ll spend about $25 to $50 a day trying to warm up the pixel over the 4 to 6-week optimization period. The Pinterest ads dashboard is much simpler than the Facebook ads dashboard.
Should you name your images for additional SEO on Pinterest?
When creating images for Pinterest it is a good idea to name the image to improve SEO. Kate said it is not certain whether or not it makes a difference for Pinterest.
Should you schedule Pinterest pins and what platform is the best scheduler?
Pinterest is very API friendly. They endorse Later, Tailwind, Planoly, Buffer, and Hootsuite. Use the scheduling tool that you feel works best for you. Simple Pin Media supports Tailwind and Planoly. Planoly has some new features like idea pin planning tools and research tools.
What Pinterest analytics should you monitor?
Pinterest has nine points of data that you can look at. Some of the numbers are arbitrary. Kate never looks at the monthly follower views. Look at saves and clicks. Saves signal future intent. An impression means that your pin came across the screen at some point even if the user didn’t see it. Look at analytics once a month, not daily.
Listen to episode 160 with Rachel Ngom to learn more about using Pinterest for your brand marketing.
About Kate Ahl
Kate Ahl is the owner and founder of Simple Pin Media, a Pinterest management and marketing agency. Her company has worked with over 1000 Pinterest accounts over the last 8+ years. Their goal is to help business owners understand how to leverage the platform to grow their email list, find cold leads, and make more sales. Kate is a Pinterest speaker, teacher, podcaster, and strategist.
Connect with and learn more from Kate and the Simple Pin Media Team:
Learn more about how you can build a solid foundation for long-term brand and business success, including the use of Pinterest, by downloading this free eBook.
