In the world of social media marketing, Pinterest is an odd duck. Sure, it’s a social platform. Sure, it’s a marketing tool. But Pinterest works differently than the platforms we’ve come to know and love (or, at the very least, begrudgingly use because we know it’s important).
The algorithm is different. The way audiences use the tool is different. The approach you need to take as a marketer needs to be different. Follow these best practices for a stellar Pinterest marketing strategy.
Do Optimize Your Pins.
Strategic keyword integration helps optimize your pins. Scatter keywords throughout the image file names, pin descriptions, board names, and board descriptions.
Do Conduct Regular Analysis.
Pinterest offers a great amount of data within its site for free. Every month or so look over to see your numbers. Pinpoint top performing pins, underperforming pins, and site traffic. Use this to tweak your strategy for the next month.
Do Integrate With Your Other Social Tools.
Let your social tools play off each other. Help your current followers find your account more easily by cross linking them. Every so often, tweet about one of your Pinterest boards to direct traffic to your page. Leverage the audience of one platform to build the audience on another.
Do Showcase Your Products.
Skip the highly promotional “buy this item” pins. These won’t perform well since using sales-y words like buy and sale anger the algorithm.
Take an indirect approach instead. Show ways customers can use your products in their lives. If you sell organic cage free eggs, make a board of all types of recipes using eggs. If you operate a microbrewery, make a board of DIY projects that recycle beer bottles.
Provide knowledge and value like you do with other pins, just integrate your product subtly into the mix.
Don’t Forget to Engage.
Remember the “social” part of “social media!” Make sure you pin posts from other accounts rather than only uploading your own links. It gives your boards the crucial variety and helps you get on the radar of other pages. Who knows, they may return the favor and follow you back.
Don’t Neglect It.
Pinterest requires you to “feed the beast.” The algorithm rewards consistency. It’s better to regularly pin rather than go on a one hour straight pinning spree. Aim for between 5-30 pins a day.
Don’t Use Hashtags.
These not only offer no search engine benefit, they can actually hurt your pin ranking.
Don’t Neglect the Images.
Pinterest is a highly visual platform. Paying attention to your images helps make the difference between a viral pin and an ignore pin.
For an optimized pin, focus on
- Making a tall image with a 2:3 or 4:5 ratio
- Using red/orange colors over blue ones
- Using medium light
- Using more than one dominant color
Don’t Pin Just to Pin.
It’s great to pin often and curate large boards bursting with pins. But it’s only great if these pins are worth pinning by your target audience. It’s easy to pin everything in sight in hopes of building up a Pinterest presence. But this sacrifices quality for quantity, which is not what your business is about.
Pinterest is a valuable asset to your marketing strategy. Using these best practices can help make your Pinterest presence stellar and improve your company’s marketing. If you lack the time to implement these strategies, Alpine Small Business Solutions is here for you! We are happy to offer social media management services for Pinterest (or any other platform). Give us a call or sign up for a free consultation today.