A Guide to Marketing on Pinterest for Beginners
I know what you're thinking—I don't want to deal with another marketing strategy. When it comes to your marketing, you want to prioritize something that brings you a strong ROI (or return on investment), is sustainable, and drives traffic to your offers.
This post covers an overview of marketing on Pinterest and how it could very well become your new favorite strategy!
How is Pinterest used for marketing?
To start, it's important to understand how Pinterest functions as a platform. Once you know the basics of how Pinterest is used for marketing, you'll be able to utilize this powerful tool yourself.
The most important concept to understand is that Pinterest is a visual search engine, not a social media platform. It's more similar to Google than it is to Instagram or TikTok, for example. People use Pinterest to find information, inspiration, or offers that they need.
The goal of Pinterest is to connect users with their desired content, then direct them off of the platform straight to the information they're looking for. In other words, Pinterest wants you to find what you need and then leave the platform. That means that you can receive direct, organic website traffic from your ideal clients!
Pin Components
Before you begin marketing on Pinterest, you have to create a pin. Here are the different components that make up the anatomy of a pin.
Graphic
Pinterest is a visual search engine. If you've ever used the platform, you've seen that images, graphics, and videos pop up when you enter a search query. I highly recommend creating pin graphics in Canva with the title on them. Pinterest has the ability to read the text on your pin graphics, so be sure to add keywords here to boost your SEO (if you’re new to SEO, check out this blog post).
There are a few dimensions you can choose from, but the standard pin dimensions are 1000 x 15000 pixels with a 2:3 aspect ratio. While graphics are most common on the platform, you can also use videos.
Title and Description
Each pin has a title and description tied to it. Prior to writing these, conduct keyword research on the platform to ensure users can discover your content. The best way to do this is with the suggested search feature on the platform. Start typing in your topic, like "Instagram marketing", for example. Then, you'll see a list of suggested keywords people are searching for.
Keep your titles straightforward and to the point, and make sure they're relevant to your content. If you're pinning a blog post, use the heading structure to guide your titles.
Your description should be a brief paragraph expanding on the content. I like to start with a question that draws the user in, followed by a sentence about the topic, and ending with a call-to-action to click through to learn XYZ. Add keywords in your description, too.
Outbound Link
All pins need an outbound link, because again the goal of Pinterest is to drive people off of the platform. Some ideas that you can link are blog posts, YouTube videos, landing pages, products, Instagram posts, and so much more.
Pinterest Marketing Strategy
Now that you understand how marketing on Pinterest works and the key components of a pin, let's walk through a simple Pinterest marketing strategy you can follow in your own business.
Create and optimize your business account.
First, be sure to optimize your account on the platform. I recommend having a business account over a personal one. All of your public content should be relevant to your business, so if you're updating a past account, make any non-relevant boards secret.
Update your profile including a profile photo, bio, link, and title. You'll also want to create specific boards (using keywords!) for each of your pillars in your business. These are what you'll be pinning your content to!
Publish content consistently to pin.
In order to pin consistently, it helps to publish content consistently. If you struggle with this, I highly recommend using a content calendar to batch and manage all your content. You can also check out this blog post for ways to never run out of content ideas.
Blogging is my favorite form of content to put on Pinterest. I publish blog posts 2-4 times per month, so I always have fresh content to add to the platform.
Compile 3-5 graphics, titles, and descriptions for each piece of content.
Once you have your content, create 3-5 unique graphics, titles, and descriptions for each piece of content. This gives you some variety so you can test what works well on the platform. It also will greatly expand your content's shelf life, as Pinterest pins can pick up traction and drive traffic for months or years to come.
Schedule your pins out in Tailwind.
When it comes to scheduling your pins, you can either schedule them manually within Pinterest or use a scheduling software. I highly recommend Tailwind, as it will save you hours of time and schedule according to the best times for your account. Click here to sign up for Tailwind!
Pinterest Course for Beginners
Feeling excited but a little overwhelmed about Pinterest? There's SO MUCH that goes into marketing on Pinterest, that it's hard to cover everything in one blog post.
If you want to learn more from a Pinterest and SEO expert, taking a Pinterest course for beginners is the way to go. The course I recommend is Rank With Pinterest SEO. This course is simple, digestible, and effective—it's how I got 270+ outbound clicks to my website after just a few hours of work!
Click here to learn more and join the Pinterest course, and get 20% off by using code "KARLEY".
