Pinterest is arguably one of the most underutilized social media tools for brand marketing for companies. The image sharing social platform is no longer just a bride-to-be or interior decorators’ paradise; you’ll now find anything from career advice to fashion to travel destinations that will help with whatever need or query you may have.
What many people don’t know, or forget, is that Pinterest acts as its own search engine, and once a Pin is placed on the social platform, it stays there forever. Using keywords, people can then find your pins – no matter how old they are.
While it may seem overwhelming at first to get started on a new platform, rest assured that Pinterest requires very little maintenance. We’ve put together some simple hacks for you to start utilizing the platform and expand your brand reach in no time.
Brand your profile
The first thing you should be doing on the platform is branding your profile. While there are certain limitations on Pinterest in terms of what you can change on your profile page, there are a few ways to make it your own. First, use your brand name, or as close to your brand name as possible, so people can easily find you. Next make sure to also include your website URL, a short bio, and your logo as the profile picture.
Finally, you should create cover images for all your dedicated boards. Using a platform like Canva, you can easily create graphics that match your brand. Having distinctive board cover photos will also help people to better recognize your page when they visit. Not to mention, they are much more aesthetically pleasing for the Type A in all of us.
Set up as a business
Once you’ve built your profile, make sure to set yourself up as a business. Converting your account to a business profile doesn’t aesthetically change anything to your page but it does give you access to analytics and statistics.
Using these analytics, you can figure out what pins work with your audience and what doesn’t. This will help you to determine what category or type of pins you should be focusing on, and what verbiage converts the best. If one pin gets a lot of impressions but few clicks, you may want to consider redesigning the pin to make it more appealing, or consider changing the language to ensure higher clicks.
Join group boards
One of the best ways to build your audience and expand your outreach is to join a group board. Essentially how this works is one person creates a board on, let’s say, “Career Advice” and asks others to join. That board will not only reach the audience of the person who started the board but also the audiences of everyone who is listed as a contributor. Every Pin you make to that board now has the potential to be seen by thousands more.
One of the best resources for finding Pinterest group boards is PinGroupie. This website allows you to search for boards that are related to your niche. Generally, the owner of the board will list an email or tell you how to get in touch with them to join. Don’t be afraid to private message the board owner if they don’t have clear instructions listed.
Pin consistently
Like any social media platform, you need to be active to grow your audience. Where Pinterest does differ is the time you need to invest on the platform. A great tool we use at Workopolis is Tailwind. You can schedule pins as far in advance as you’d like and the platform automatically chooses the best time for your pins to be released to your audience.
Don’t be afraid to save a pin multiple times on different boards as well. This will help that specific pin get more exposure, as people in your audience may sometimes only be following one of your boards, as opposed to them all.
As with any social media platform, before getting started, do your due diligence to make sure it makes sense for you to join. Also, take this as fair warning: it’s very easy to get sucked into the Pinterest wormhole. Set yourself a time limit on the platform, or you may find yourself with far more DIY and food projects than you’d care to admit.
See also:
Choosing the right social media platform for your business
How to use Pinterest as a business
5 free social media management tools to help you save time
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