Are you thinking about hopping on the Pinterest train? Congratulations, you are about to join the 30%* of the businesses that are already on the platform and benefit from it. Read further to conquer those essential basics immediately!
*Stats as of December 2020
Have you been on Pinterest for a while now, but still think you’re not the most successful when it comes to Pinterest management? Perhaps it is time to take a breath, take a few steps back, and re-think your Pinterest strategy.
I’m asked repeatedly how Pinterest is different from Facebook or Instagram, and what are the most important things you should pay attention to when it comes to Pinterest management. And while there’s a lot of tiny factors that one should take into consideration when developing a unique Pinterest strategy, in the end, it all comes down – believe it or not – to 3 essential things.
Sounds too simple? That’s because it actually is simple!
Do you want to know the biggest secret of Pinterest management?
Hold on tight now.
The biggest secret of Pinterest marketing is … that there is no secret.
GASP. (I know, right?!)
Nope, not the slightest.
Don’t believe the all self-proclaimed gurus who are trying to convince you that they found the secret to the “Pinterest algorithm” or that only they know how to really conquer the platform.
Pinterest marketing can be tricky. You need to put knowledge, energy, and time into it (er – or hire me to do it), but if you stick to these 3 things, you should be on the way to success.
THE 3 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF PINTEREST MANAGEMENT
PINTEREST SEO
As opposed to Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest is not a social media platform, though it resembles one in some of its features – followers being one of them.
Your followers are indeed more likely to see your pins on their news feed, which means there’s a higher chance they will engage with your pins (or that perhaps that incredibly magical unicorn called “a viral pin” happens).
However, while Pinterest might be a distant cousin of FB & IG, it belongs to a whole other family – it is a visual SEARCH ENGINE.
Y’know – something like Google images.
And the one mistake I keep seeing is entrepreneurs not treating is as such and focusing their Pinterest management strategy on the numbers that are not important.
People don’t come on Pinterest just to and scroll through hundreds of cute puppy photos (although we’ve all been down THAT black hole).
They come to SEARCH for inspiration and ideas – to decorate or renovate their home, find new outfits or workout plans, plan their travels or weddings, cook delicious meals, throw a party, change their mindset, …the list goes on and on. But most importantly, they come to buy. In fact, more than half of 400 million people who use Pinterest each month come to the platform to shop.
Now, this is where you come in with Pinterest SEO (Search Engine Optimization). By utilizing the right keywords and terms used by pinners when searching for specific content, you can get your content in front of their eyes.
So, it is vital to make sure that your Pinterest profile is fully optimized and that you fill in all text components that go with your pin. This helps Pinterest index your content and show it to the pinners who are searching for it.
PIN DESIGN
Ok, we agreed on the fact that Pinterest is a search engine. Now let’s focus on something else that describes my absolute favorite platform.
Pinterest is a VISUAL search engine, and, as such, prioritizes high-quality, visually appealing content. Why? Well, because we all want to see pretty things, obviously! 😉
When scrolling through the feed, pinners are presented with hundreds of similar pins about a particular topic, and it only takes a fraction of a second to decide which pin they may save for later or click on (which is your ultimate goal!).
If you were presented with these two pins below – which one are you more likely to click?
Therefore, a beautiful and catchy pin design is an essential component of any successful pin!
From correct pin sizes and colors to quality photos, fonts and pin text – everything adds up to a final result – a good-looking pin that will easily catch attention.
PRO TIP: Although most of the search on Pinterest is not brand-related, pinners may eventually recognize your (valuable) content among other pins and are more likely to engage with your brand if your pin design style is consistent. Yay!
My absolute favorite (and insanely user-friendly) tool for creating pin designs is Canva. You’ll find a bunch of video tutorials on YouTube that will help you master the program. Another one (that I personally don’t use) is PicMonkey, and Photoshop is a solid option for pin design, too (but it is slightly more advanced software, so keep that in mind if you’re a beginner).
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Is design not your cup of tea, and you’re struggling with creating beautiful pins? You can grab these FREE Pinterest Canva Templates that will help you create unique designs faster!
–> Learn all about fresh pins on Pinterest here!
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CONSISTENCY
When it comes to consistency, Pinterest does act in the same way that socials do.
Without consistent pinning and providing fresh, relevant content regularly, Pinterest will unfortunately not prioritize your pins, and the growth of your account will be slower.
Ideally, you’d want to be on the platform every day or even a couple of times per day to pin (but for far less time than on social media platforms!).
This may sound overwhelming as a busy entrepreneur, you surely don’t have so much time for Pinterest management only. But no worries – several different tools help you save time when it comes to pinning;
Pinterest itself has a scheduling tool that enables you to schedule up to 30 pins (two weeks in advance), and the other tool I couldn’t imagine myself living without is Tailwind.
Tailwind is an official partner from Pinterest and a Scheduler and Analytics Tools for Pinterest (and for Instagram since recently). Besides scheduling an unlimited number of pins, it helps you post at the best times and grow with the use of Tailwind Communities. It also provides an in-depth insight into your Pinterest analytics, which is super important to help you create the right kind of content and develop a strategy that will work!
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New to Tailwind? Their basic plan (with 100 slots to schedule/month) is entirely free! But if you’re serious about Pinterest marketing, you’ll probably want to upgrade over time. If you register through this link, you’ll receive a $15 credit for your Plus Plan!
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See how simple it is? 😉 Tell me, which one of these three essential elements of Pinterest management do you most struggle with?
