Normally, we run monthly topics on MBC, and in June I planned to focus on SEO. However, social media is such a big subject and more so, extremely important, even for your SEO. So I decided to extend the "Get Social" series on this blog until we cover all major social media platforms you should be using for your business. I hope you are happy with this decision. Either way, you can let me know in the comments.
The star of this week is Pinterest. There's no way we can talk about successful online business marketing and not include Pinterest in it. I'm glad a lot of you, who follow me on Facebook, realise that, because you have voted overwhelmingly to learn more about this channel. Here I am, responding to the vox populi*.
*Latin for "the voice of the people"
Who Needs a Pinterest Account
I know I practically said every entrepreneur needs a Pinterest account, but some need it more than others. If you fall in any of the below categories and you don't yet have an account, I'm gonna need you to create one right now.
Bloggers
Travel Agents
Event Planners
Hair Stylists/Beauticians/Make up artists
Craft Makers
Food and Drinks
Beauty, Fashion and Health Brands
Home Services (Cleaning, Repairs, Interior Design, etc.)
Digital Marketers
Coaches
Who is on Pinterest
The majority of Pinterest users are female, above the age of 30, high earners and also high spenders. It is exactly why you want to get on the platform and market your products and services. Male users (although still a small number in comparison to women) are rapidly increasing. Pinterest seems to be one of the fastest growing social networks, even though it has been around for a good number of years.
People who go on the platform are interested in answers and solutions. They want to get ideas and inspiration. So you need to alter your mindset when you create content for Pinterest. On other social networks you strive to be current. That's why you do live videos and interact with others real time. Those networks are built for the present. On Pinterest you need to create content for the future. Someone is planning their wedding - they need to get ideas about the reception table setting. Another person wants to go on a beach holiday - what are the best places to visit, good hotels to stay in? You can apply this approach to almost any industry.
What Makes a Good Account on Pinterest
If you are going to be using Pinterest for business (which you are since you are reading this article), you will need a business account. If you already have a personal one you can easily switch to Business. This will allow you to see analytics of your activity and promote pins.
Start by uploading a good profile picture. Like on other social networks, it's best this to be your logo. If you are a coach or an influencer, you can put a photograph of yourself. Your profile description should be concise but convey an emotional message. Add your location and a link to your website or blog.
Next Steps
Now that your account is set you need to start populating it with good boards and pins. It's important to have a variety of well organised boards. They should relate to what you offer and similar interests. You can create sections within the boards to make them even more structured. Choose a featured board (your best one) to sit at the top of your profile.
What is a Good Pin
A good pin has several features:
it is vertical
it is relevant to what you do
it captures the attention
it has keywords in the description (Pinterest is just another search engine)
it provides value
What is a Rich Pin
Rich pins provide more information about the product or service. For example, price, product description and so on. If you are marketing your blog, insert an excerpt from it as a description.
To help you with the creation of good pins use Canva or Stencil. There are numerous templates on these platforms that you can edit and adapt to your brand.
Who to Follow
For you to grow your account you will have to start following others. You should follow these types of accounts:
similar to yours
the accounts your competitors follow
the accounts that engage the most with your content
For the last group you should create a board that is not necessarily related to your business but would accommodate their content when you re-pin it.
How to Get Traffic to Your Site
Pinterest growth is done mainly by group boards and promoted pins. The first one is organic, free growth. The second is paid advertisement. The more followers you have and the more people you reach, the more your traffic is going to increase.
How do Group Boards Work
Pinterest group boards are very similar to Facebook business groups where entrepreneurs exchange website visits, page and post likes and shares. Every group board has its rules. Most require a pinner to use a 4:1 ratio. This means, if they post one pin in the group board they need to re-pin 4. Some also have restrictions on how many pins per day a member can post.
Find good group boards that would be beneficial for your business and ask to join. You can search for your best match at PinGroupie. Follow the rules once approved. The more a pin is shared, the more people see it. If they click on a rich pin, it will take them to your website or blog and that's how your traffic can go over the roof.
Promoting Pins
You can also pay for your pins to be promoted and reach a bigger audience. If you are planning to do that you may want to try ViralWoot. Apart from promotion, it also has good scheduling and automation features. Speaking of scheduling and automation…
Using Tailwind
Tailwind is the best integrated scheduling platform for Pinterest. Actually, it is so much more!
Tailwind provides detailed analytics reports on your account and pins, which helps you identify your best content and create more of it. You can have a schedule for the whole week or even month. Some of the new features include pinning from Instagram. This could be perfect for those of you who are keen Instagram users, but just getting started on Pinterest. The major benefit of using Tailwind is Tailwind Tribes. These are communities of like-minded entrepreneurs and content creators who help each other in increasing their reach. (Remember, this means more traffic to your website.)
For bloggers and small businesses there is a free trial, which is not time restricted, but you can use it to post only 100 pins. So, this may last a month, or 6 months if you don't use it to schedule and send pins that often. Also you can join up to 5 Tribes for free. The Plus plan is $15 a month or $120 if you pay yearly.
For larger organisations, the trial lasts only 14 days and if you are interested in continuing using the benefits of Tailwind, someone from the team will contact you with a quote.
Don't be overwhelmed if you haven't been using Pinterest so far and it feels like something outside of your comfort zone. I am still trying to apply my knowledge of Pinterest and it's taking me a lot of time to get where I want to be on the platform. It's important to push ourselves out of our comfort zone to allow us to grow. Don't worry too much about quick results. As with everything else we talked about over the past month, consistency and determination are your strongest weapons for success. In the meantime, if you need some help or just a tap on the back for job well done, give me a shout.
