Grow your brand with Pinterest

As part of our brand storytelling series we wanted to explore the world of Pinterest, so we invited Claire Coupland, an Online Growth Specialist and Mentor, to tell us more. Claire offers online courses, one to one mentoring and strategic advice and support, and here she shares hints and tips on how you can grow your brand with Pinterest.

When you think of Pinterest, do you think of it as another social media platform? Or as a place to plan your next DIY project? Whilst it isn’t technically a social media platform (it’s classed as a search engine), it’s a great place to go to find inspiration.

Pinterest has over 400 million worldwide users every month. Many people use it to find products and ideas for trips, recipes and life projects. And 83% of users go on to purchase after visiting Pinterest for inspiration. It’s a powerhouse in the world of small business marketing; it has a huge active audience, it helps you find customers, and it’s free!

Pinterest and brand awareness

One of the big plus points for Pinterest is that it exposes you to new people and helps you tell your brand story whilst you sleep. A pin is evergreen, meaning that years after it’s published it can still be seen, found and shared.

Where other marketing efforts can have as little as 18 minutes’ worth of exposure time (I’m looking at you, Twitter), Pinterest will keep pushing your content long after it’s pinned.

Pinterest rewards you for incentivising people to leave their platform and visit your website. The more link clicks you get the more the algorithm shares your content and so on. I’m still amazed by this and it’s one of the reasons I recommend Pinterest to businesses.

Pinterest equals growth

Bloggers have been using Pinterest for years, knowing that it’s an excellent way to get traffic to your website. Traffic volume is a key factor in growing your website and therefore your online business, and it directly impacts the way you show up in search results on Google. The more traffic your site receives, the more highly Google ranks it, making it more likely to show up in search results.

Is Pinterest for your business?

Yes. Any business can thrive on Pinterest. And if you sell products or offer a service, it can help you find and grow your audience. Businesses in the wedding, travel, DIY and food industries can do especially well and Pinners actively use the platform to buy products and services.

In its 2020 report, Pinterest shared that content relating to travel and hospitality (weddings in particular) was amongst the most popular during the pandemic. That usage has remained steady and people are searching for inspiring, uplifting content and stories.

What can you pin?

Blog posts are among the best performing content and it’s helpful to pin advice-based or ‘how-to’ posts. Pinners go to find solutions so answering their questions will make them more likely to use your pin. You can also create posts about your products and services, such as guides and tips. ’10 ways to…’ pins do particularly well, and are popular in Google searches, especially if it includes a numbered list.

Recipes are huge on Pinterest and Pinners love original ideas. So if you’re in the food/restaurant industry, for example, writing recipe blogs and pinning them could be a great thing for your website traffic. Vegan, vegetarian and healthy recipes are especially loved.

Podcast episodes are also extremely popular. The term ‘motivational podcasts’ is searched for more than 5 million times on Pinterest each month! Pinners are looking for podcasts, so if you have one, pinning it might get you more listeners.

The same goes for videos, with video pins now outperforming normal pins. So if you have animation or video content on your website, Youtube or Vimeo, pinning these links will help people discover you.

Did you know that your products can also be pinned? With links for customers to buy them on your website, it makes the process of selling on Pinterest simple. Shopping has been introduced in the USA and there is talk of it launching in the UK. In the meantime, you can add your products in the form of a normal pin with a link, taking the shopper to the correct page on your shop or Etsy store.

How to optimise Pinterest for business

Ensure you have a business account set up. This is easily done in settings and gives you access to lots of useful analytics, so you can see what’s working for you and what to change.

You can also claim your website. This involves adding a bit of code to your website header to create a link between Pinterest and your website.

And I would also recommend using a scheduler. It saves time and if it’s good can tell you the optimum time to pin. My favourite is Tailwind. It’s affiliated with Pinterest, meaning it works in tandem with Pinterest to ensure users know how to get the most from the platform.

Think about how your content aligns with your ideal customer. There is no point pinning things that don’t appeal to them as, yes, you might get the traffic, but we want both traffic and the right audience.

Put Pinterest to work for your business

If you haven’t used Pinterest for your business yet, I hope you think about doing it soon. It’s an amazing tool that helps businesses reach a much wider audience and grow their website traffic. Adding Pinterest to your marketing plan can help you tell your story and grow your business.

*About Claire Coupland*

Claire Coupland helps business owners achieve growth and attract their ideal customers through digital marketing. As well as offering online courses, one to one mentoring and strategic advice, she hosts the Moxie Brand Academy Podcast. Claire has shared a wealth of valuable resources on her website, which you can download here.