The Dos and Don’ts of Pinterest Marketing
When you first start a business Pinterest account, it seems like you’re wasting a lot of time. Though widely considered a social network, Pinterest functions more like a search engine. You know, like Google. That means content is less time-sensitive: what you pin today could be discovered today… or one year from now. And that’s not easy to grasp, when we’re so used to the instant gratification of post likes or video views.
When you work with Pinterest, you’re in it for the long run. You probably won’t see results from the beginning. But it only takes one popular pin to drive traffic to your website for ages. I’ve worked on so many Pinterest accounts, and - although sometimes slow - the results have always impressed me. My clients, too.
There’s plenty of clickbait and dead links on Pinterest, but there’s also a lot of valuable information that people return to again and again. No wonder it’s such a popular platform! I’ve rounded up a few dos and don’ts of Pinterest marketing, meant to help you waste less time and see more results:
The Dos and Don’ts of Pinterest Marketing
Stay relevant to your niche. I know you have a Pinterest board for recipes you’ll never make. But, unless your niche is food related, go ahead and make that board secret. Archive it if you’re not using it again. The same goes for group boards with your friends or anything else that’s off-topic.
Go for vertical images, video + stories. Vertical images have always been favored by Pinterest, although the occasional horizontal pin has been known to make waves. Videos tend to get more attention than images, but Pinterest’s favorite feature is now Stories. If you have the Stories option available on your account (it still hasn’t rolled out everywhere yet), it could be the best thing that’s ever happened to your Pinterest! 2023 update: Pinterest Stories are now called Pinterest Ideas and they’re indeed the most popular feature atm.
Mix evergreen + seasonal content. Pins can resurface years after they’ve been originally posted, just as long as the content is still relevant. However, searches for certain keywords will go up at certain times of the year (think holidays or fashion trends), so try to mix both evergreen and seasonal pins for best results.
Repurpose content. Especially if you have a blog, reusing and repurposing content is your secret weapon. All you need is a new image or graphic, and you’re done. You can also resize your best Instagram posts to fit the Pinterest ratio (2:3 compared to Instagram’s 3:4).
Bulk create your pins. It’s never been easier to bulk create visual content! You can use Canva templates or design your own in Photoshop, then upload them all at once and save yourself tons of time. You’ll thank yourself on the days you feel uninspired. You can even design directly in Tailwind*, if you’re using it to schedule pins, and get help generating captions all in the same app.
Bulk schedule your pins. Pinning 20 pins today and 5 more next week doesn’t make Pinterest happy. The platform loves consistency. You can schedule your pins by uploading images directly to Pinterest, but this option is not particularly intuitive and easy to use. The alternative I swear by is Tailwind*, a scheduler you can use to schedule pins at custom, high-engagement times. You can get a free trial month here* and thank me later.
Don’t spam. Pinterest loves fresh pins, especially when you yourself pin from your website. I know it’s exciting, but don’t pin your latest blog post to all your boards at once, flooding people’s feed. Space out your pins and fill in the spaces with other people’s content. Quality over quantity.
Don’t be self-centered. Yes, you’re here to promote yourself. But surely, there are other accounts that inspire you! Mix up your own content with other people’s content, using Tailwind Communities*, for example. Be social.
Don’t go crazy on group boards. Group boards can work, but most of the time they don’t. Visit your boards’ analytics and leave those with little to no engagement. If you decide to stay in a group board, share as much as you add, it’s only fair.
Don’t waste too much time on your profile. Don’t get me wrong, having a keyword-rich bio, a good profile image, and a pleasing aesthetic is what Pinterest success is all about. But that doesn’t mean you should be obsessing about matching cover photos and the spelling of your board titles.
Don’t be afraid to delegate/outsource. You know your business best, so you’re the most suitable person to promote it. However, you may be lacking the 1) time or 2) experience to market your brand on Pinterest. Normalize hiring Pinterest experts :)
Interested in learning more about Pinterest? Here are the answers to Pinterest FAQ I got from my clients.
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