What Pinterest Is.
Pinterest is the ultimate visual discovery engine that has captivated the imagination of millions of users worldwide. From discovering new recipes to home decor and fashion ideas, Pinterest is the go-to platform for finding inspiration on just about anything you can imagine. With billions of Pins, the possibilities are endless and you’ll always find fresh ideas to ignite your creativity.
When you discover Pins you love, save them to boards to keep your ideas organized and easy to find. This feature allows you to curate your own virtual mood board and access your ideas anytime, anywhere.
Why Should You Build a Following on Pinterest?
As of January 2023, Pinterest has a staggering 450 million users and ranks as the 14th largest platform in the world. With such a massive user base, there are plenty of reasons to focus on this social media platform as a creator and business owner:
- Helps you build credibility and authority in your niche: By sharing high-quality, engaging content, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field and gain the trust of your followers.
- Helps you drive rapid growth in website traffic: By sharing pins that link back to your website, you can attract a steady stream of targeted traffic to your site. This can be especially valuable if you’re looking to increase your customer base or generate leads.
- Helps you increase your email subscribers: By offering exclusive content or freebies to your followers, you can entice them to sign up for your email list and stay in touch with your brand.
- It offers free marketing for your business: With a little effort and creativity, you can reach a massive audience without spending a dime on advertising.
- It can increase your income and improve your business’ bottom line: By promoting your products or services on Pinterest, you can drive sales and boost your revenue.
Pinterest’s Best Practices for Success
As Pinterest continues to grow at a rapid pace and its algorithm constantly evolves, it’s more important than ever to employ effective strategies to expand your followers on the platform. Here are some key strategies to consider:
1. Be Active and Consistent
Like any other social platform in the digital industry, being active and consistent is key to success on Pinterest. The more you use the app and engage with others, the more the algorithm will favor you as an active user, resulting in improved organic growth and increased Pinterest ranking.
To be more active and engaging on Pinterest, do this:
Manually Pin Regularly: While it may be tempting to rely on automated tools, manually pinning on a regular basis is crucial for building a loyal following. This can help you stay top-of-mind with your audience and demonstrate your commitment to the platform.
Re-pin from ‘Explore’ and ‘Trending’ Pages: Keep an eye on the ‘Explore’ and ‘Trending’ pages to stay up-to-date with popular pins and trends. Repinning content from these pages can help increase your visibility and attract new followers.
Pin Other People’s Pins Manually: Sharing other people’s content manually can help you build relationships with other users on the platform and increase engagement with your own content.
Follow Relevant Boards: When you come across a ‘Board to Follow’ in your feed, consider following them if their content is relevant to your niche. This can help you discover new ideas and connect with other users in your industry.
2. Look at Trending Topics and Keywords.
Trends on Pinterest can help you decide what content to pin or what your next product should be. The more on trend your content is within your niche the more it will solidify your rank.
One thing to note about Pinterest users is that they love to stay ahead of trends and discover new ideas. You can use Pinterest Trends to weigh certain keywords against each other to see which one will rank higher.
Here are some quick tips to improve your Pinterest SEO:
Use a Keyword Research Tool: Tools like Google Keyword Planner and Ahrefs can help you identify popular keywords within your niche. Compare your results with Pinterest’s Keyword Tool to identify the most relevant keywords for your content.
Be Niche Specific: Use specific, targeted keywords to optimize your content for the right audience. This will increase the likelihood of your content being discovered by users who are looking for exactly what you offer.
Optimize Your Pins, Boards, and Profile: Make sure your Pins, Boards, and Profile are all optimized for search. This includes using relevant keywords in your titles, descriptions, and hashtags, and ensuring your content is visually appealing and well-organized.
3. Use Rich Pins.
Rich Pins are an essential feature of Pinterest that can streamline the user experience and make it easier to discover and engage with content. These specialized pins provide additional information beyond the image, click-through link, and pinner’s description. Currently, there are four types of Rich Pins available:
Article Pins: Article Pins are an excellent option for getting your content noticed. With their unique features, including the headline, author, and story description, Article Pins stand out from other content on the platform and are more easily searchable. This makes them more searchable and helps distinguish them from other content on the platform.
Product Pins: Product Pins are a game-changer for shopping on Pinterest. They display where the product can be purchased, the current price, and a direct link to the product page. The prices of Product Pins update in real-time, ensuring that users have accurate and up-to-date information.
Recipe Pins: Recipe Pins are perfect for food bloggers and chefs. With Recipe Pins, you can share your recipes with the world and make it simple for users to replicate your dishes in their own kitchens.
App Pins: App developers looking to expand their reach and promote their products on Pinterest can benefit greatly from the platform’s latest addition to the Rich Pins family – App Pins. App Pins enable users to download apps directly from Pinterest.
4. Post Quality Content
As one of the most popular social media platforms for visual content, Pinterest requires a unique approach to content creation. Using stock images can detract from the uniqueness and authenticity of your content, and may hinder your ability to gain new followers or generate publicity for your blog. Curating visually striking content will help you gain new followers and generate publicity for your blog.
For video content, create original content that is specific to Pinterest. If you do repurpose content from other social platforms, make sure there are no watermarks to ensure that your content remains original and aligned with Pinterest’s guidelines.
To create compelling video content for Pinterest, you can take advantage of the platform’s latest video editing features. The more you utilize these features, the better your content will rank on the platform.
5. Follow Competitors’ followers
Utilizing your competitors’ followers can be a powerful strategy to generate new followers on Pinterest. Take the time to review their profiles and engagement history to find active users who fit your target audience.
Look for users who are active on Pinterest and have a genuine interest in your niche. Follow a select group of users over time and monitor your results.
6. Use Hashtags
With the recent changes made to the platform, hashtags have become an essential tool for standing out from the crowd.
To use hashtags on Pinterest, simply type the ‘#’ symbol followed by a relevant keyword or phrase. You’ll notice that Pinterest provides popular suggestions for hashtags, based on what users are searching for. Ensure you select these hashtags strategically to ensure that your content is seen by the right people.
7. Create Infographics
Infographics are a highly effective tool in content marketing for several reasons. By leveraging their visual appeal and ability to convey complex information in an easily digestible format, you can create content that stands out in feeds, resonates with your audience, and drives engagement and growth on the platform.
Infographics are effective because they:
- Are more likely to get read than traditional text blog posts.
- Convey information in a visually-appealing way
- Stand out in feeds, making them more likely to be shared and engaged with by users
- Help you capture your audience’s attention and differentiate your content from others.
- Are easy to read and can help break down complex information into digestible, easily understood chunks.
