How to use Pinterest to grow your business
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You’ve probably heard it said that Pinterest is FANTASTIC for driving traffic to your website.
But you might be left wondering HOW and WHY exactly.
Pinterest is first and foremost a search engine
Firstly, Pinterest isn’t merely just another social media platform. It’s actually a search engine. Consider it a visual version of Google is you will.
When I post content on Pinterest for my clients. I’m not simply adding another pretty picture to the platform. I’m curating a very specific image with a very clear call to action, that Pinterest will be able to read and offer up in search results when they think that content is relevant to its users.
I’m also adding optimised keywords that I have extensively researched and a URL destination to the back end of that image, to make it even more likely to be found by my clients ideal customer.
What happens when an ideal client finds my pin?
If and when a user finds an image that is appealing to them, there’s a couple of things they’re likely to do. They can save (repin) the image to one of their boards. Or they can click through to the website that the graphic is linked to.
By saving (or repinning) a pin, they are also sharing it with a wider community and this in turn will make it more likely for your pin to be found in the future.
By clicking through to your website, you’ve experienced some referral traffic straight away. And the beauty of a user finding you this way, is that there would have been something about that pin that intrigued the user. They wanted to find out more about what you have to offer.
This is what we call QUALITY traffic.
Users on Pinterest are normally there with an intention to find a solution to something or with the intention to BUY something.
This means that your potential customer is already primed to take some sort of action and there’s less of a need for the hard sell.
So when a user finds your pin and clicks through to your website, there’s a good chance they will go on to either:
- Buy a product from you
- Sign up to your email list
- Sign up to your Facebook challenge
Whatever the website conversion looks like to you.
So how can we make it more likely that our ideal customers will find us and our pins?
Sign up for a Pinterest business account (which is free) and optimise your profile with Pinterest SEO keywords.
Create at least 10 boards relevant to your niche and optimise the description with SEO keywords.
Create pins that your ideal customer will be attracted to:
- Pinterest is all about high-quality images, so make sure you’re using them.
- Use a program like Canva to create an enticing call to action graphics.
- Make sure you have a relevant URL attached to the pin, so you’re directing traffic to the right page
- Optimise your pins with Pinterest SEO keywords so that they’re more likely to be found
- If you’re in an industry that doesn’t have obvious attractive images, don’t let this put you off. Get creative and create infographics or use stock images to attract your ideal customer.
Remember, Pinterest is a social site. You need to be sociable! Make sure you’re are repinning other peoples content as well as your own!
Follow other users in your industry and users that are your ideal clients.
These are just a few of the ways to start getting QUALITY traffic over to your website. It’s also worth considering working with a Pinterest Strategist (like me) to make sure you’re on the right track and that you have the best strategy in place.
Pinterest is a long game, so it might take a couple of months to start seeing effective results. But Pinterest DOES work and you want to make sure you’re using it to it’s full capacity!
If you’re interested in upping your Pinterest game and you think you might like to work with me, get in touch using the link below.
I look forward to hearing from you!
