How to Use Pinterest Effectively in your Marketing: A step-by-step guide

How to connect with your audience

Welcome to the enchanting world of Pinterest, where creativity and visual storytelling reign supreme. If you're looking to elevate your marketing game, Pinterest is a goldmine waiting to be explored. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a Pinterest newbie, this guide will show you how to use Pinterest effectively in your marketing strategy. 

What is Pinterest?

Hold up Wile E. Coyote! Before we go chasing after Road Runner — or, you know, delving into the nitty-gritty of Pinterest marketing — let’s start with the basics: what exactly is Pinterest?

Pinterest doubles up as a search engine and social media platform, based on the concept of virtual discovery. Unlike other social networks, where text-based content dominates, Pinterest has always put images and the stories they tell first.

Users create and curate virtual pinboards, where they collect images – aka ‘pins’ – on various interests and ideas. Every pin can link to websites, articles, and products, or simply serve as inspiration.

Pinterest isn’t just a space to save all the food pics you couldn’t share on the ‘gram, it’s a dynamic platform for discovering and sharing ideas, products, and services. Think of it as a digital scrapbook, a mood board where you and your employees can explore, bookmark, and share content that inspires, and resonates with, them.

Why is Pinterest the perfect marketing tool?

Now we’re not chasing our own tail wondering what Pinterest is, let’s go dig up the yard for all the reasons why it’s the perfect marketing tool you’re not using.

1. Visual appeal drives engagement

We humans are inherently visual creatures. We eat with our eyes, and we buy with them too. Pinterest capitalises on that. The platform is one big visual stimulation, made for grabbing someone’s attention in seconds. Pins are like miniature billboards standing out in the digital crowd, so showcasing products on the social platform can be like shining a giant spotlight on them, like you’re the Pixar lamp or something.

2. Highly-targeted audiences

Targeting audiences has had us all tied up in knots. Before you go tearing your hair out though, Pinterest lets you target your audience with precision. You can tailor your content to specific demographics, interests and behaviours, ensuring that your pins are seen by the right people at the right time. Targeting your audience like Phil Taylor targeted dartboard’s will significantly improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

3. Extend your content’s lifespan

Social media posts can often be swallowed up by algorithms, lost to the timeline and never seen again. On Pinterest, your content lives like Benjamin Button. Pins can generate traffic and engagement for months, even years, after they’re first pinned. The platform’s evergreen qualities make it valuable for long-term marketing strategies, rather than short-term social media fixes.

4. Educate and inspire

Pinterest is a little like your Netflix library and your University rolled into one: it’s inspirational and educational. Users will actively seek out ideas, information, and solutions. So, by providing valuable and informative content, you can position your brand as a trusted source of knowledge within your niche.

5. Rich analytics, advertising, and e-commerce integration

Pinterest’s business accounts are a treasure trove for your deep-sea data-divers. You can track the performance of your pins, measuring ROI to finetune your strategy based on real-time, data-driven insights. Promoted pins enable you to amplify your reach and engagement through paid advertising campaigns, which if you’ve got products to sell, is perfect.

Seamlessly integrating with e-commerce platforms, Pinterest lets would-be customers shop directly from your pins. It’s a lucrative sales channel if used right, creating shoppable pins that lead new customers directly to your products, streamlining the path to purchase.

6. Boost your SEO

Pinterest isn’t just a social platform; it’s a living, breathing search engine too. Pins can rank in search engine result pages (SERPs), helping drive organic traffic to your website. Optimising your pins with relevant keywords can improve your visibility not just on Pinterest, but in traditional search engines like Google and Bing.

How to use Pinterest in your marketing effectively

Unless you’ve bounced off to watch some TikTok’s or make a cuppa, you’ll have by now realised Pinterest is far more than just a virtual version of your bedroom walls.

It’s a dynamic and versatile marketing tool that can elevate your brand’s visibility, engagement, and conversion rates. It’s visual appeal, audience targeting, and long-lasting content make it invaluable for your business. But hang on, how do you use it effectively?

Keep reading for our step-by-step guide to implementing Pinterest into your marketing strategies effectively.

Step 1 — Set up a Pinterest Business account

Before you can start pinning your way to marketing success, the long and winding road starts with everyone’s favourite activity: admin. You’ll need to sign up for a Pinterest Business account — just like when Harry first got the Marauder’s Map, you’ll gain access to valuable analytics and advertising options essential for effective Pinterest marketing. Just follow the prompts — don’t worry Ron Weasley, not the spiders — and fill in your business details.

Step 2 — Define your target audience 

Us marketers aren’t mind readers, as much as we try to be. Conducting thorough audience research to understand your target demographic, and their wants and needs, will help you on your way to marketing greatness. And Pinterest Analytics can keep you pinning in the right places, helping you identify what resonates with your audience.

Heads up — although women have always outranked men on Pinterest, both Gen Z and men are becoming some of the platform’s fastest-growing demographics, up 40% year over year.

Step 3 — Create eye-catching pins

Our office dogs are the heart and soul of our campaigns; pins are the heart and soul of Pinterest marketing strategies. There’s over 445 million monthly active users on Pinterest, so as cliché as it sounds, you need to stand out from the crowd.

Crafting visually stunning and informative pins will help your brand shine brighter. Think high-quality images, catchy headlines, and clear branding — these are the secret ingredients for success, just like KFC’s 11 herbs and spices.

Oh, and before we forget, people watch nearly one billion videos a day on Pinterest. You probably wouldn’t think a place to pin your products was one for video, but it is. There’s even Pinterest Premiere, a set of ad packages to bolster the targeting and reach of videos. So you’ll want to bear that in mind when it comes to brainstorming content.

Step 4 — Optimise your pin descriptions

What’s the point in posting all these pins if only you, your team, and someone’s nan from the office below sees them? Writing compelling pin descriptions is your ticket to discoverability on Pinterest. It’s a little like copywriting for SEO — use relevant keywords, and provide context to engage your audience.

And don’t forget to add a call-to-action to encourage potential customers to pull the trigger and click on your content. 75% of weekly Pinterest users say they’re always shopping, so why not do an Artful Dodger and pick a pocket or two.

Step 5 — Create relevant boards

If posting pins is level one, creating relevant boards for your followers is level two. Organising your pins into themed boards that resonate with both your audience’s interests and your brand’s values will be a big boost to your profile’s discoverability. Whether it’s a collection of case studies, a bunch of products you’re proud of, or pictures of this year’s team lunches, make sure each board tells a captivating story and aligns with your brand.

Step 6 — Collaborate and engage

Buddying up is always better than going it alone. Collaborate with influencers and fellow pinners by inviting them to contribute to your boards. Engagement is key on Pinterest to keeping your brand front-of-mind, so make sure you like, comment, and repin content from others in your niche, too. Think of Pinterest as a village allotment — everyone should come together to reap rewards you all sew.

Step 7 — Schedule pins consistently

If curiosity killed the cat, consistency gives it life. Take advantage of Pinterest’s scheduling tools to keep your pins posting regularly during peak engagement times. This not only helps maintain a steady flow of fresh content, but it keeps you front and centre.

Don’t say we don’t spoil you: here’s the best times to post on Pinterest currently:

• Mondays from 2-4pm and 8-11pm
• Saturdays from 2-4am and 8-11pm
• Sundays from 8-11am

These times have the highest engagement, but it’s worth remembering every business is different — so just because McDonald’s customers are munching on fry-shaped pins on Saturday night, doesn’t mean your customers will be, too. Conduct A/B testing, do some data diving in your analytics, and make the most of the scheduler to stay on top of your audience.

Step 8 — Boost your appeal with rich pins

Here’s one for the SEO nerds. Using code, rich pins pull all that metadata you’ve worked tirelessly to create from any pages you link to. 93% of Pinterest users plan purchases through the platform, so rich pins provide potential customers with all the need-to-know info.

Just like the seasons, rich pins come in four forms, designed to support different types of content:

1. App pins allow direct downloads.
2. Article pins highlight headlines, descriptions, and authors.
3. Product pins deliver real-time info on things like availability and pricing.
4. Recipe pins show ingredients, serving sizes, and key cooking info.

It’s easy enough to set up, too. Just follow these steps:

1. Head to the ‘Rich Pin Validator’ and enter a link to any page on your website — just don’t choose your homepage.
2. Click the ‘Validate’ button
3. Click on ‘apply now’ — you’ll receive a pop-up with your sites HTML tags.
4. Click on ‘apply again’ — and wait for Pinterest to approve.

Pin responsibly

In less time than it took you to cook a pizza, you’ve now learnt the basics on using Pinterest effectively in your brand’s marketing strategy. Now, it’s your turn to play. Just remember — pin responsibly. If there’s one thing the internet doesn’t need, it’s boards that aren’t inspirational.

If you still need a helping hand boosting your brand’s online presence, get in touch with us today.