How to use Pinterest for Business - Set Up and Strategy

Learn how to use Pinterest for business and you'll be able to increase your website traffic and build brand awareness. Pinterest may feel like just another social media platform, but it's actually a search engine. It's built entirely different from Instagram and Facebook. Optimizing your Pinterest profile for business can bring in new clients and customers, as well as increase your website traffic. Before establishing a strategy for Pinterest it's important to understand how it's being used and how that translates in your own business.

How is Pinterest Different from other platforms?

What makes it so much different is how users interact on Pinterest. Unlike other platforms, people don't use Pinterest just to follow people they know or like, they use it to search for specific things. The search function is truly what differentiates it the most. I've found that the life of a pin is much longer than a post on other platforms. If I post something on Instagram or Facebook, it may get traction for 24-48hrs. However, on Pinterest I have pins I've uploaded years ago that people are still repining. The life of a pin can be 1-3 years or even longer!

Top 3 Reasons to Use Pinterest for Your Small Business

• It's a visual search engine

• Content performs for much longer than other platforms

• Pinterest gives you the ability to link your website and other websites directly to each pin (this is great for SEO!)

How to Use Pinterest for Business

Step 1:

Setting Up Your Pinterest Account Strategically

If you have a personal account, you can create a business account that's attached to it or convert your personal to a business account. Having a business account gives you access to so many more features that help you grow your account and your business. Make sure the profile photo is a high quality image of you or your brand's logo. (I always use a 500 px X 500 px size blank template in Canva, upload the logo, then save the image and title it the brand name. This gives the image a title for search engines, great for building brand awareness.) Avoid using selfies, we're not trying to build ourselves up, we're trying to build our brand! Make sure the description under your profile photo includes your brand name and clearly explains who you are, what you do, and what your business has to offer your viewers and potential customers. Don't forget to link your website's home page on your profile too.

Step 2:

Setting Up Your Pinterest Boards

I would suggest starting with 5 boards. Before choosing your first 5 boards, think about the type of content people would search to find that information. As a brand designer and web designer, I started with the following boards:

-Web Design Inspiration

-Branding Inspiration

-Logo Design Inspiration

-Color Palette Inspiration

-Marketing Tips for Small Business Owners

-Business Card Inspiration

See photo below or check out my Pinterest here.

I chose these boards since they would be a great place to post my own content as well as pin other creator's content. As you start pinning content, you'll come up with so many more ideas for boards. It's important to keep the top 6, the main type of content you want users to find. Saving other creator's content along with your own creates a well rounded profile, plus it increases view count on your profile. (Your profile must be set up as a business account to see the view count.)

Step 3:

What to Know Before You Start Pinning on Pinterest

When pinning content on Pinterest it's important to remember that this platform prioritizes users that are uploading their own content, as well as saving other user's pins. Remember the 80/20 rule. If you upload 2 of your own pins, be sure to save 8 pins from other creators. Don't just pin random posts, make sure you're saving content that actually relates to your niche and the boards you're adding them to. This will help the algorithm understand the type of searches you want to show up for most.

You can upload your own pins or save photos from other websites directly to your own Pinterest boards. Before you upload something to Pinterest, do a little market research by searching for that type of content. Look at what comes up in the search bar. This will show you relevant keywords you could use in your pin's description and title to show up higher in Pinterest search results. Pinterest also prioritizes users that are on the platform regularly. Just like any other platform, consistency is really important if you want to generate consistent traffic to your website.

This is definitely enough to get you started. If you're looking to get more ideas or a better understanding of Pinterest, I would highlight suggest Skillshare. It's an online learning platform with courses on this as well as many other marketing and business tools. Ohn Mar Win's course on Skillshare specifically, is a great course to take your Pinterest strategy to the next level. Click here to get Skillshare for free for your first 30 days!

How to Create Eye Catching Pinterest Pins

Step 1: Login to Canva, Click Create, then select social media and the Pinterest size pin. If you don’t see that you can also just choose ‘custom size’ and then set the size to 1000px X 1500px

Step 2: (For Using Templates) By selecting the correct size, you’ll get access to templates to the left that you can tweak and swap out for your own branding! Simply click a template you like and it will display it on the canvas.

Step 3: (For creating a simple custom design. This is sometimes faster than trying to make a template work for you.) To create a quick simple design yourself, set the background to black, then go into elements and find the frame option. Make sure the frame covers the entire black background. Grab a free photo from Canva or upload your own. Then turn the transparency down so your black background comes through. Add some text and your logo and here’s the result! Bonus points for including your website at the bottom. Google’s bots can read text on photos, so adding the site link is great for brand building.

How to Post Pinterest Pins

Step 1: Make sure to change the image name to your brand name before uploading to Pinterest. This sets the image title and makes the image more discoverable for search engines - aka SEO! (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization)

Step 2: Login to Pinterest, Click Business Hub, then select “Create Pin”

Step 3: Upload your image, add a title (make sure to include the topic as well as the brand name in your title. For example if I was posting a pin about web design I would title it "Web Design | Create and Collab" since web design is the topic and Create and Collab is my brand name. If you want to get even more strategic, start researching what people are searching around your topic and use a searchable term within the title), Add a description (you can just copy content from your website), make sure to include the brand name in the description, adding keywords if they're relevant, make sure to link to your website or social profile if you don't have a website yet, add that pin to a relevant board (optional), if you find tags that are relevant add them, if not skip. Either schedule the pin to post or hit publish to post immediately. That’s it!

SEO TIP: Posting a pin with a link to a new blog post or new page on your website is great for SEO. It will increase the chance of the page being indexed. (The term "Indexed" simply means Google chose to add the page to their search index, making the content more discoverable for users. Learn more about how to get your website indexed.)

Frequently Asked Pinterest Questions

How often should I post on Pinterest?

It's best to use the 80/20 rule for this. For ever 2 pins you upload, save 8 pins from other creators. Once a day would be incredible, but think quality over quantity!

What are the best times to post on Pinterest?

Since Pinterest pins tends to perform at a much longer rate (think 1-3 years) than Instagram or Facebook (24/48hrs), I've found that the timing of when a pin is first posted doesn't matter as much. The pins that end up gaining the most traction, don't get traction because they were posted at a specific time. They get traction because users engage with it and the title and description have keywords that users are already searching for.

Should I post similar content or a variety of content on Pinterest?

Refer to the section above about boards for this. Once you've come up with at least 5 boards that relate to your services, products, or niche, start creating content that relate to those topics. Then save pins from other creator's that relate to those boards as well. The more focused you can get in your posting and pinning strategy, the easier it will be for Pinterest algorithms to understand the focus and prioritize you in search results.

Should I post the same content as other platforms or different?

Pinterest posts perform best when they're sized according to the Pinterest platform. Pinterest says a post sized at 1000 x 1500 pixels is optimal. This doesn't mean it has to be entirely new though. If you have a graphic you created with Canva for another platform, you can resize it to the Pinterest dimensions and use to post. I never recommend cross posting the same content across every single platform, because this means most people will just follow you on their favorite platform and ignore the rest. If they know you're creating different content for each platform it gives them a reason to follow you on all of them! However, I've owned my business for almost a decade now and still do not post on all platforms. If you're a large company and can afford a social media manager that covers all platforms in different ways, that's great! If you're just getting started and run your business all by yourself, it's more than okay to cross post everything on every platform, but again, don't overwhelm yourself. Choose 1-2 platforms to start with and once you're consistent on those, then add another. It's important to have realistic expectations of yourself to avoid burn out.

What's the best way to use Pinterest for Business for Beginners?

A: Ohn Mar Win's Skillshare course includes an amazing 14 day challenge. Here's how it goes:

1. Profile Picture & Description

2. Label boards descriptively and put best 9 boards at the top

3. Create pins with 2:3 ratio if possible

4. Add description and use several keywords

5. Pin from your website or IG

6. Try to pin at least 10 pins a day with 2 of them being your own

7. Pin other content at least once a day for 14 days

8. Take screenshots every few days to see if that 'monthly viewers' figure shifts

Once a lot of this is completed, all you'll have to do is pin 8 posts from other creators and uploading 2 of your own pins each day. When saving pins remember, you can pin from websites and Instagram too! There are also ways to schedule your pins to automate this a bit more! Do what works for your schedule and your business.