Using Social Media is important when you have a business. It can be tough though as there’s so much to learn. Pinterest is often overlooked by e-commmerce store owners, however it can be your most powerful tool. These are our top tips for using Pinterest for businesses, which should give you a good starting point to progress from.
Create a Pinterest Business Account
The very first step to using Pinterest for businesses is to create a business account. Using your logo as your profile picture will work really well as it instantly tells users who you are. Try to keep your name the same as your business, and/or the same as it is on other social media sites, this just means people will be able to find you easily. Also make sure to include keywords in the ‘about me’ section as this will help with your SEO. Always include a link to your website so users can go straight to it.
Claim your Website
This is something that I would recommend everyone do. It is really easy and just requires you to simply copy a line of code onto your website. Once you’ve done it, you’ll be able to see what images have been pinned from your website onto Pinterest. It also adds your logo to pins directly from your website, which is perfect for letting people know where the image came from. Another reason it’s great is because it can boost your pins ranking in search results. It basically shows that you are a trusted and reliable source.
Create Boards
When your start pinning things on Pinterest, make sure you create a variety of boards to pin them to. This will allow you to organise the different pins, and makes it super easy for users to find your pins because you’ve categorised them! Having different category boards also means that people can follow the boards that suit their needs, rather than following all of your content which may not be relevant to them. You will be able to name your boards and give them a description. Try to get some keywords in these because it can really help you out in searches.
Add a Save Button
A save button is a button for Pinterest, which you can add to your website. It’s really handy because it allows your website visitors to pin things directly from your site onto Pinterest without any hassle. If they see somthing they like, they can pin it and go back to it later.
Be Consistent
Consistency is one of the most important things when it comes to using Pinterest for businesses. Consistency is more important than quantity. Try posting once per day to start with, bearing in mind that evening and weekends are some of the best times to post. The stand-out thing about Pinterest is that once a post is out there, it doesn’t just disappear after a couple of hours, it sticks around. They have a unique algorithm that basically recycles your pins over and over again so they continue to get exposure as time goes on. If you have holiday/event specific content you want to post, Pinterest recommend posting this 45 days in advance to make sure that your pins have had long enough to gain exposure.
Be Visual
Pinterest is one of the most visual social media platforms, so make sure you use high quality images for posts. If your are posting product pictures, lifestyle images are best as they perform better than others. Use a ratio of 2:3 for your images, or 600×900 pixels as this is the optimum size for posts. You also need to make sure that they are optimised for small screens as 80% of users use the app on mobile.
Putting a small amount of text over an image can make it more successful, however treat it like a title, not a description. Try to include your logo on all your own content, but avoid the bottom right corner when possible as it can get hidden by icons. Another useful thing to try is creating multiple pins of the same content but with different images as different things appeal to different people.
Take Care of Descriptions
Now you have your visuals down, you need to make sure you have a good description to go with it. Make sure that you tell people exactly what your offering if they click through to your website. It’s no good having a description that doesn’t match the image that your using. Make sure you include keywords in a natural way without keyword stuffing. Re-read your descriptions, or get someone else to take a look at them to make sure they all make sense. Including your brand name in the first line can increase brand awareness by 2X.
When possible, (and logical) include a link on each pin, just make sure that it isn’t broken and that it’s the correct one for the content you are posting.
Be Part of the Community
Just like other social media sites, it is important to be part of the community and get involved. One way to do this is follow other people/companies, as well as boards. This not only builds relationships, but it is great for your own content as you then have easy access to content that you can repin (making sure to give credit). You can also comment on pins, and make sure to respond to comments people leave on yours. Another thing to try is making a group board, which you can then invite people to collaborate with you on, this might be colleagues, or just pinners that you find interesting. This board is shared by all collaborators, and it can prove to be very useful and interesting.
Rich Pins
If you have products, blogs or recipes, these should be made as rich pins. These products/blogs/recipes will automatically update when you update the original post on your website. This makes it really easy for you and means you don’t need to worry about out of date information.
Promoted Pins
You can and should advertise on Pinterest, just like you would Facebook or Instagram, as the audience is definitely there. It means you can reach more people and you have the ability to target specific keywords/searches. It will of course say on the pin that it is sponsored, but if someone repins it, they do so with an organic version.
Analyse and Improve
Pinterest, like most other social media platforms, has its own set of built in analytics. You can see things such as audience traits, interests, views and engagement rates etc. You will be able to see the boards that you pins have been repinned onto. This can help you improve your strategy as you can learn about how users use and interpret your content.
So there you have it, our tips for using Pinterest for businesses. These will help you get your account up and running, and help to build your followers too. Of course your don’t have to do any of these things, but we would highly recommend them! The most important thing to remember is you want to accurately represent your brand. Using Pinterest for businesses could really help your business and increase sales, so give it a try.