As a marketer, you’re almost always looking for creative ways to grow brand awareness and generate new business.
It’s common to jump on the various marketing trends like Instagram or automation to do so. One of the overlooked ways to grow your brand is Pinterest.
You might be wondering how a social media channel that people use to find recipes can help you grow your brand. Pinterest is so much more than just a place to find recipes.
There are a lot of ways to leverage Pinterest marketing to reach a new audience. Read on to learn the top Pinterest marketing tips and why Pinterest is the place to grow your brand.
Why Pinterest?
Pinterest is a misunderstood social media channel. You probably think it’s for people trying to figure out how to use their Instant Pot.
While there’s plenty of content for that purpose, you could be missing out on a large opportunity. Pinterest has about 265 million users.
Pinterest isn’t a recipe board. It’s a huge search engine that provides 5% of all referral traffic.
Pinterest pins also have a much longer shelf life compared to other social media channels. One pin that goes viral can drive a consistent stream of traffic for months.
Know Your Brand & Your Audience
In any type of marketing, you need to know the basics of your business. Otherwise, your branding and your messaging will be inconsistent and get lost in the crowd.
Everything starts with your brand. You need to know what your brand stands for and how you want people to feel about your brand.
The second thing you need to know is your audience. You’ll want to know what they’re searching for online related to your industry.
Research the Competition
You’ll also want to see what your competition is doing on Pinterest. This will help you think about ways to set yourself apart from the competition and gain insight as to the keywords and hashtags they use to
You’ll want to note the account name, the number of boards they have, and how often they pin. They may mix their own content and repin other people’s content. You’ll need to note the types of content they pin
Research Keywords
Remember, Pinterest is a search engine. In order for your pins to be found, you need to think like your audience. Ask yourself how they would search for information.
For example, if your business is in retail clothing, you’ll want to see how people search for your products. They may be searching for affordable gym clothes or casual work outfits.
There are two places you can do keyword research. The first is the search bar. Start to enter a phrase related to your industry. Pinterest will auto-populate suggestions.
You can also use the ads panel on Pinterest (as long as you have a business account). Under the Targeting section, you can research keywords to give you more ideas and the search volume of the various keywords.
You’ll want to keep a running spreadsheet of all of the keywords you gather in your research.
Optimize Your Account
Now that you have your foundation set, it’s time to apply what you learned. You’ll want to make sure that your profile is set up for success.
That starts with your profile. You’ll want to ensure that your main keyword appears in the profile description. You also want to make it clear what you offer people.
In the travel business, you may say something like “we help you create the vacation of your dreams – cruises to Spain, Italy, the Caribbean, and more.”
You’ll then want to create boards for your pins related to your topic. Ideally, 15 boards are a great place to start. You want your boards to be completely filled out with descriptions.
Using travel as an example, you can create a board for Cruises, Spain Travel, Italian Vacations, and other destinations you may want to highlight.
Publish Content that Adds Value
The key to Pinterest’s marketing success is content. You can’t just publish anything on your site. It has to add value to the reader and offers something different than everyone else.
You’ll want to take your keywords list and do a little more research. Look at the most popular pins under those searches and read those articles.
Ask yourself why you think those articles and pins are so popular. You’ll then need to figure out an angle that adds value to your audience beyond what’s already out there.
Create High-Quality Pins
When you create your content, you’re going to need to publish high-quality pins that are attractive and consistent with your brand.
You’ll want to create a consistent look by incorporating your logo or watermark on the pins.
It’s also common practice to create 5-10 pins per article, increasing your chances to drive traffic to your site.
Leverage Paid Ads on Pinterest
Once you get your profile set up and your first few pieces of content out, you can add gasoline to the fire by advertising. Using paid ads as part of your Pinterest marketing campaign is a great way to spotlight specific products and services.
You can also use Pinterest ads to drive traffic to your most valuable pieces of content.
Take Advantage of Pinterest Marketing
Businesses must find a way to break through the crowded marketplace to reach new audiences. Pinterest marketing is a great way to reach consumers who are looking for inspiration to improve their lives every day.
They look for products, services, recipes, home improvement, places to see, things to do, and so much more.
You can reach that captive audience to grow your brand by treating Pinterest as a search engine and understanding the core of your brand and what your audience wants.
That foundation allows you to create high-quality content that will drive consistent traffic to your site and drive up brand awareness.
Do you want to know more about using Pinterest marketing in your business? Contact us today.
