9 Steps to Make Pinterest Work for Your Brand

Pinterest is often overlooked by companies working on their social media strategies because it isn’t as talked about as the industry giants, but it can be extremely beneficial for those in the travel, health, remodeling, or decorating markets. Even if you aren’t in those specific niches, Pinterest has over 100 million active users all looking to be informed and entertained. Pinterest is the number two source of social media sourced website traffic. As an inbound marketer, can your company afford not to participate on this social network? Put yourself out there!

#1 Verify Your Business Account

This may seem obvious, but this is skipped far too often. Just like with Google Places, you actually need to verify that you own your business and your account represents a real brand. To verify your website, go to Pinterest settings and click “confirm website.” The steps are broken down here if you need help. Once your business is verified, you will be given full access to Pinterest business analytics, rich pins and promoted posts. The most exciting part about verifying your Pinterest for Business account is that when someone shares anything from your website, the pin automatically gets tagged with your logo.

#2 Add a “Pin It” Button

One easy way of letting people know about your presence and products on Pinterest is to add a button to your blogs. Adding a “Pin It” button encourages your readers and customers to pin your products on Pinterest and this increases your business visibility. Then, hopefully, they will visit you on Pinterest and Pin some your other posts for their followers to see.

#3 Pin Your Own Content

As you’re writing blogs for your company, Pin them just like you would Tweet them on Twitter. Always remember, you want your users to find out more about your business, services and products. Your followers want to see your original content and this could include new ideas, services and innovations that relate to your business. For good ROI, consistently pin content that links back to your email opt-in page, website, or product page.

#4 Write Strong Pin Captions

Pinterest has an in-site search engine, so well-written captions will help you get found by those looking for your type of products. Keep in mind that many people now browse on a mobile device and for Pinterest users using their phones, they will only be able to see up to four lines of text for your description. Keep it short, but impactful!

#5 Clearly State Products and Prices

Remember to include your service or product price when pinning to make it easy for users to immediately tell how much something costs. Pinterest is a social site, so you don’t want to be overly pushy in your sales tactics but you don’t want to lose a sale because someone didn’t know how to purchase- or even that they could make a purchase.

#6 Consider Using “Buy It’ Pins

Last year, Pinterest introduced Pins that allow users to make purchases directly from the site without going to your website in between. Checkout happens within the actual desktop site or within the Pinterest app for mobile shoppers. And don’t worry- Pinterest does not take any commissions from the sales!

#7 Pin a Variety of Subjects

We’ve given you this advice with regards to other social media platforms and it applies to Pinterest as well. Not all of your Pins need to be about you and your products. Your followers have a wide variety of interests, so why only present them with a few subjects? This is a great way to be found by users at the top of the funnel who aren’t yet aware that they want or need your company.

#8 Pin Others’ Pins

Do you retweet and favorite other people’s Tweets or only post your own content on Twitter? Pinterest, just like Twitter, requires engagement with other users to really be used to it's fullest. With that in mind, Pin content from other users as long as it is what your audience will find valuable.

#9 Monitor Analytics

Social media has moved way beyond just entertainment. Don’t just Pin away and hope it’s working; check your Pinterest analytics. It will easy tell you how much traffic your website is getting from Pinterest. You can also see which Pins and boards that are getting the most attention from the Clicks and Re-pins.

Pinterest drives more traffic than LinkedIn, Reddit, and Twitter combined! If you’re not on Pinterest yet, now is the time to make your presence known. Impulse Creative is there! If you’re worried about how to get started or keep your engagement rates high, download our free eBook Mastering Social Media for Business today.