Starting off as a digital corkboard of inspiration in 2010, Pinterest has grown massively and now has over 110 million monthly users. It’s commonly mistaken as just another social media network, but as ‘the world’s catalog of ideas’, Pinterest is so much more.

Similarly to Google, it’s a platform of discovery, but this searchable databank is curated by humans. Astonishingly, 75% of Pinterest’s content derives from brands and businesses, which means Pinterest should be careful considered when putting together your strategy. We’ve put together a miniature guide on how your company can achieve your marketing objectives through a few simple steps.

Pin It! (Better)
First things first, let’s get to grips with all things Pins.

“Pins are visual bookmarks. Each Pin you see on Pinterest links back to the site it came from, so you can learn more—like how to make it or where to buy it.” - Pinterest

Pinterest is full of high-quality pictures, so you don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb with low-quality images and always keep your audience in mind. Pins that are vertically-orientated have a much better impact when using a mobile. When it comes to the description, it should be relevant and inspiring. Don’t crowd the image with too much text, and anything you do write should be timeless, as the best thing about Pins is that they last forever.
With the dos and don’ts out of the way, the next thing to do is explore Pinterest’s growing collection of different types of Pins to see which works best for you and your business.

Rich Pins- These Pins are rich with information. They benefit the Pinner with extra, relevant details, but benefit the business by ensuring their brand is always tied to the Pin.

Promoted Pins- Think regular Pins that are promoted to more people. These are paid for and can help you increase website traffic, boost engagement and amplify awareness.

Buyable Pins- Pinterest is a big influencer on purchase decisions, so the obvious direction was to allow Pinners to buy directly through Pinterest. If you’re a consumer product company, these types of Pins are a no brainer, delivering extra revenue for the brand.

Work Together
Step two is all about Pin boards. Pinner’s may not judge a book by its cover, but they’ll definitely judge a board by its Pins. So there are a few things you can do to make sure your boards are the best in the business.
• Add a little oomph- Your boards should show off your brand’s personality, with a captivating cover Pin that makes Pinners want to see more.
• Keep it real- Don’t be afraid to add a bit of flare to your board name and description, but make sure it’s clear as this will help you appear in searches!
• Best kept secret- Secrets boards are hard to keep, but you don’t have to keep them hidden forever. You can use them as a pre-launch tool for a specific campaign, brand or tool ready for the big day.
The best boards aren’t always created alone though. You’re stronger together, so never rule out board collaborations, especially when your brands visions and offerings align. Take Homepolish for example. They created a guest board with Etsy which turned out to be one of their best-performing boards.

Explore, Report, Repeat
The hard work doesn’t stop with inspiring Pins and alluring boards, in fact the most important part is probably this third step. If you’re a marketer you’ll know how important data and analysis can be, so Pinterest is no exception to this. Luckily for you, with a business profile you gain access to Pinterest’s analytics platform, which can give you a whole new take on the way you work.

Pay Attention
When it comes to analysing the data, look into everything, the smallest of details will always matter. Discover what Pins are working well, understand your audience’s habits, and keep track of how well the ‘save it’ Pin on your website and emails are performing.

Take a Risk
Everything you discover should ultimately feed into your strategy. There’s no point following a set plan if what you thought would work, actually doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to act on your insights and take a leap of faith, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Keep Learning
Pinterest is forever spicing things up, so never assume things are always going to stay the same. Take their upcoming video feature for example. Businesses will be able to distribute video content with featured Pins to make it much easier to take action there and then, increasing sales without visiting the website!

Happy Pinning!

 

 

By Bethany Webb, Digital Marketing Executive at Blue Digital.

PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.

comments powered by Disqus