How Pinterest Can Generate Sales For Your Creative Business
Guest post by Dörte Januszewski
Pinterest is a brilliant resource and marketing tool but it is often underutilised and not used effectively by creative businesses.
Including Pinterest in your marketing strategy for 2019 needs to be high on your 'to do' list With over 250 million active monthly users there is huge potential to make Pinterest work for your business and reach your target audience.
Understanding what Pinterest actually is
The first thing to understand is that Pinterest isn't a social media platform. It is a visual search engine. People use it like Google, to search for information. Users are on Pinterest to discover, plan, be inspired and BUY! If you have beautiful photographs of your products that use the keywords people are searching for in the description you will be discovered.
People have lost trust in Facebook and although Instagram and Twitter are great for engaging with your community they’re not as good at driving traffic to your website. Pinterest does drive traffic. In one click on your Pin users can land directly on your product page and buy! Also, there is no pressure to comment, reply, like….
Pinterest is the reflective, thoughtful way of slow marketing your creative business.
>> Read how to use Pinterest and Instagram together to market your creative business
How to use Pinterest effectively for your business
Start by doing a little search to see how Pinterest is already working for your business. Type in pinterest.com/source/(insert your website here).com to see who is already pinning your content. You may be pleasantly surprised!
Get Set Up For Pinterest Business
If you are on Pinterest but haven't yet been using it for business the first thing to do is ensure you have the basics set up so you can get the best out of Pinterest for business.
Switch to a business account - then you can benefit from all the below and access analytics and create ads.
Claim your website – this proves to Pinterest you are a real business
Claim your Instagram, YouTube and Etsy accounts to let people know where they can see more from you. ( read more about using Pinterest as an Etsy seller here)
Enable Rich Pins – to give your audience more information including your logo and product price. Enabling Rich Pins ensures that each pin from your site or online store contains the information you want people to see and this can’t be changed!
Optimise Your Profile
- Use a photo of you or your brand logo in your profile picture.
- Your business name needs to include a few keywords about what you sell.
- Make sure you include a keyword description in the ‘About You’ section.
- Include a link to your website or online store.
Create Pinterest boards for your business
The first board you need to create is one that is all about your business. It can be called ‘Best Of….’ Latest from….’ or just the name of your business. This will include only your content. Your products, events, blogposts, news etc. All these pins will direct pinners to your website or online store.
Create Pinterest Boards that relate to your Business where you can pin your products and content from others.
Create beautiful product Pins.
High-quality photographs. Shots that bring your products to life. A beautiful image will capture attention.
Write keyword rich Pin descriptions.
A good description ignites the Pinner's imagination and hooks them in to learn more.
Pin great content from others that fits with your business brand and ethos.
Learn more about why we should share other people’s content on Pinterest
Pin consistently
The best way to do this is by using a scheduling app. Tailwind is easy to use and an authorised Pinterest partner.
Once you have put the time into ensuring your Pinterest Business account is set up so people can find you. Spend an hour a week scheduling your pins, 10-20 a day for 3 - 6 months and you will start to see significant results.
This timeline fits in nicely with the slow marketing ethos.
Slow and steady allows you to find the right people for your business and drive consistent traffic and sales.
For more Pinterest tips to help your creative business visit Social Pow Wow.
Dörte from Lewes Map Store and digital marketing specialist Georgie joined forces to start Social Pow Wow last year.
“My Instagram account is the platform I started on and I love the emphasis on beautiful photography. It’s a wonderful way to showcase our Lewes Map Store products and connect with the lovely, supportive community there. However, it’s Pinterest that has been my biggest surprise. Georgie and I got together to share Pinterest tips and tricks and I started implementing a Pinterest strategy. I was amazed at how much traffic increased to my website after just a few months! It was Pinterest and our successes at driving traffic and sales that motivated us to start Social Pow Wow. We want to show other small businesses how Pinterest could also become their marketing secret weapon! “ ~ Dörte
Read more about Dörte and her creative online business Lewes Map Store here.
Social Pow Wow have just launched part one of their online course ‘Grow Your Creative Business With Pinterest’ and are kindly offering an exclusive 15% discount to our Just A Card Tribe. Just add the promotional code ‘JACPINTEREST15’
A practical step by step guide on how to use Pinterest to successfully drive traffic and increase sales for your creative business. They share their tried and tested strategy secrets and planning nuggets. This is a self-paced course with individual support and feedback. Find out how the course can work for YOU here.