How to Use Pinterest for Business
Pinterest is a social media platform where you can publish and share photographs, images, videos, and gifs. This channel is organized into thematic bulletin boards where you can save (pin) and share images that are visible to everyone on the Internet, from other boards or ones created by the users themselves.
Thanks to the bulletin boards, users can connect to each other and find content based on their favorite themes or by typing a keyword on the platform’s internal search engine.
Pinterest can be connected to other social networks like Facebook and Twitter. In addition, by installing a browser extension you can pin any web image without saving it first to your own media files.
In fact, the pin-it-button allows you to save it directly on a Pinterest bulletin board, keeping a link to the site of origin. It’s features like these that make Pinterest for business viable, especially for an eCommerce website.
One of the most important elements of Pinterest is that by clicking on an image saved on the bulletin board it is possible to access an external site. For example, you can photograph the products of an eCommerce website, create message boards by theme (perhaps related to those in the product catalog) and link the photographs to the relevant product sheets.
Pinterest can be a fantastic medium to use to generate eCommerce sales. It’s a very visual platform and your pins can get re-pinned (shared) by others users which can make them go viral.
Pinterest is actually great for eCommerce, and Pinterest claims that 93% of Pinners use Pinterest to plan purchases.
We aren’t saying that you should advertise on Pinterest, as we believe there are plenty of free methods to drive traffic and sales. But, the numbers below are still related to you using Pinterest for business because they’re an indication of how its user base behaves.
How to Use Pinterest for Business: Getting Started
Create a profile that is consistent with your company, remember that you must be recognizable on all the channels you use. Introduce a profile photo of the company logo and add a description, without forgetting to also write the reference to the official website. This social network must contribute to the creation of your brand identity.
First, head on over to https://business.pinterest.com and sign up for an account.
If you have already created a normal Pinterest account, you can convert it to a business account here.
Follow the prompts and create your account.
Next, verify your email address and complete your profile. Make sure you fill everything out and it is properly branded for your website.
You will need to verify your website as well.
Pinterest Board Strategies
You should have at least 3 boards on Pinterest but more would be better depending on your niche. Remember, not all of these boards are designed for commercial purposes; they can also drive highly targeted and qualified traffic to your website.
Every board you create should be titled according to what it’s about. Think if you were to search for a board containing that type of content, what keywords would you type into the search box? This is how you should name your boards, not board1, board2, etc.
So if, for example, you have an interior design website you can create a bulletin board for each room, “Bedroom decor ideas” or “Kitchen decor ideas”. If you sell abroad you can create twin bulletin boards or inserting pins and linking them to the respective board produced in a foreign language.
Before you start creating boards and pinning things, it’s important that you install the Pinterest toolbar on your web browser and pin images through there. This way, you generate a link back to your website, which is what you want when you’re posting the products that you sell. In addition, if someone re-pins them, those links back to your website will be contained in those re-pins, which can really have a snowball effect over time.
One should be a board dedicated to just the products you sell on your eCommerce website.
Why?
Pinterest has implemented a virtual shopping cart similar to the ones found in every eCommerce portal. Users will be able to fill it with products that they gradually meet in their navigation between the pins.
When they are ready for check-out, they conclude their purchases, and everything they will have included in the cart will be there waiting for them.
The positive aspect of this feature is that users will now be able to include items from different merchants in the same cart; they will not, therefore, have the obligation to conclude purchases in each store separately.
It will therefore not be like shopping in different stores inside a shopping mall, but it will look more like using different departments in the same department store. In addition to this, users will be able to access the cart or check out from any device. For example, they can start shopping from smartphones while traveling by train and finish it at home from the computer.
Another board should be dedicated to your blog posts because you’re crazy not to have a content marketing strategy. You can create additional boards for different types of content you create if you really want to.
Next, you’re going to want to create multiple boards within your niche, dedicated to certain sub-genres of your niche. These boards we are going to call “Fan Boards”, and the basic premise is that they essentially act as a fan account, showcasing great images related to this genre.
Example:
Let’s go back to the interior design example we gave before.
In this situation, you would create a board just for the products/services you sell and a separate board to share your blog posts and other forms of content you’ve created.
Next, you want to create fan boards for multiple sub-genres related to interior design. The content that you post here will be popular and viral content from other boards. This is the most effective strategy for you to get your pins shared and go viral themselves.
You can create separate fan boards for Bedroom Interior Design, Bathroom Interior Design, Living Room Interior Design, etc.
Look for the most popular pins related to this and re-pin them onto your boards. Additionally, look for some images you can use which you think the audience would love as well.
You can find the most popular pins using Repinned.net, which is free to use. Just make sure you check every pin carefully so you don’t link to a competitors website!
You can also see what tags these popular pins have used, and then use them for your own pins in future.
Re-pinning the most popular pins from other boards can be incredibly effective. Not everyone has seen those pins before, so even though you re-pinned them it could still be new content from someone.
It’s also a great way to get more followers on Pinterest, as these boards consist of already proven pieces of content which users love. Posting your own content in addition can then cause your content to go viral because of the knock-on effect from the popular re-pins.
Pinterest Pin Strategies
Each pin you make gives you an opportunity to get a visitor to your website. So, each pin you make should have some thought and planning put into it.
You need a description for every pin that you create. A simple line will not suffice, and it should be captivating and tell the user what your pin is about.
You can also use hashtags on Pinterest and should include between 2 – 5 popular and relevant ones per pin. This platform is similar but different to Instagram, so what works on IG doesn’t necessarily work on Pinterest.
Pinterest prefers what we just mentioned, whereas IG can get away with shorter descriptions and a lot of hashtags.
You can also take advantage of something called Rich Pins.
These enable you to create specially designed pins for products, recipes, articles, and apps.
Not only is this great for design purposes, but it’s also very specific to what the user is browsing. This means your product pins could result in more sales than a standard pin showcasing a product as the user may actually be browsing for something to buy.
You should also install a “Pin it” button on your website so that your visitors can easily share your images. If your website is using Shopify or WordPress, then you can do this for Shopify or install this plugin for WordPress.
Pinterest Group Board Strategy
Another Pinterest strategy you can try is using group boards.
As the name implies, these are boards where multiple people can pin things instead of just you.
There are two strategies you can try with group boards:
Joining other groups and posting
Creating your own groups and allow posting
Both options are great, but must be done right.
When you join other groups, you should not spam. Share valuable content that the followers would want to see.
After you have spent some time doing this, try repinning some of your best content that generated the most repins. You can find some Pinterest boards in your niche using Pingroupie, which is free.
When you create your own group, you can control who is allowed to post in it. This enables you to filter out other companies trying to capitalize on your board and to keep the content the way you want it.
Let others post to this board, as they could share great content which brings you more followers and website visitors. It’s important that you don’t spam these boards with commercial posts either, and only sprinkle one in every so often. No one is going to want to follow your group board if it just promotes your products all the time.
Pinterest for Business Tips
Add a description to each image you place on the social network and if the product is on sale also enter the price.
Do you know that almost 85% of Pinterest searches are from mobile? This is why it is essential that your site is mobile friendly and guarantees an excellent user experience for those who visit Pinterest on your eCommerce site.
Remember that every image you place on Pinterest must be of excellent quality, and must be clear and be able to intrigue the viewer.
Create a good description for every pin you make. This is where you describe what your pin is about and include a few related hashtags, around 2 – 5 is enough.
Each photo of your product must have a link to the related product on your website and you should be using the product Rich Pins for this.
Pinterest can be a bit of a long game, but once your pins and boards pick up some traction you can really enjoy the results.
This is why it’s important to have multiple boards which are specifically categorized to certain niches so you can segment the followers accordingly.
You should also utilize the three different types of Pinterest strategies listed above with boards, group boards, and pins. Also, using a social media scheduler can greatly increase your productivity and automate the process for you, so this may be something to consider as well.