Pinterest: that hyper-personalised social network whereby users create their own virtual world by pinning DIY ideas, hair goals and overly stylised photos of food. A digital dream board, if you will. But how can brands capitalise on all the fun, and making sure they stand out from the rest?
How Pinteresting, it seems we’ve got just the answers you seek:
Create good content
The most organic way to get people to like your stuff is by creating good stuff. Simple, right? Wrong. Many brands make the mistake of making content that isn’t easy on the eye, or written with great copy – the two benchmarks of what Pinterest is all about. Make sure your pins provide value. Double points if you can compose and edit photos beautifully.
It helps if you do your research: are you targeting a particular group of people? Scour Pinterest to see what type of content they are repinning. Create the type of content that they’re already repinning and you’re on the money.
Change up your timing
Don’t post things at the same old time every day. Do you ever wonder if you could be reaching more of your desired audience if you posted more pins, and did it at a different time? Your suspicions could be right. Try changing it up to expose your brand to different segments of the Pinterest population. As a general rule, Saturdays, afternoons and evenings are your best bets to reach more people.
Keywords, keywords, keywords
Where do we start? Basically, keywords make sure your pins get found. Or don’t. It all depends on the name of your original photo upload, the keywords in your pin description and the keywords in the origin URL. Increase your searchability on Pinterest by making sure to always include general, highly searchable terms. Pinners often forget to name the original photo file with relevant keywords – a simple mistake, but it isn’t worth making.
Repins – the stuff of life
As a general rule on Pinterest, as your number of repins decreases, your pin will most likely get demoted down the page when users are searching for a specific term. With popular words, the amount of repins that a pin has received shoots it up to the top. As many-a-pinner will attest, this is essentially the equivalent of being a celebrity.
A good way to keep the limelight on you is to create content that isn’t time-, product- or news-based. This increases the chances of your pins staying at the top of search results pages. Another way to do this is to strike up a partnership with another brand, agreeing to repin each other’s content on a regular basis.
You’re not a robot, so don’t act like one
Following on from the previous point, be sure to foster a Pinterest community by interacting with followers. Create a community board on your account that allows followers the chance to post their own pictures to the board.
Integrate your social media channels
Got followers on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? Take advantage of that. Unless they’re social media sleuths (like us!) or super interested in your brand, they most likely don’t even know that you have a Pinterest. Increase your exposure by posting about it and letting everyone know that, hey, you’re on Pinterest too.
Consider a time-oriented theme
New season around the corner? How about holidays, or simply a new month? By creating themed Pinterest boards, you are connecting with what users are currently experiencing. Binding content to user experience works better than stale old pins with no relevance. Create a connect with your followers.
Don’t push your products so much
Continuously peddling your products online in an unsubtle way is the equivalent of a pushy salesperson in real life. Sure, it’s fine to let your consumers know about something, but not to the point where they immediately distrust your brand upon posting. Consistently salesy posts won’t win you any followers. Create Pinterest content that doesn’t come off so desperate: think beautiful photos, useful tips and helpful how-to’s. Remember: provide value.
Get in touch to find out how your business can get started on Pinterest.