If you have the type of business that lends itself in any way to Pinterest, you can’t afford to ignore it. Here’s why:

  • Pinterest is now the fastest-growing social media site among millennials, with more than 200 million visitors every month.
  • Two-thirds of all pins saved on Pinterest are from businesses
  • Eighty-seven percent of pinners have purchased a product because of Pinterest; 93 percent have used Pinterest to plan a future purchase.
  • Pinterest can convert to sales faster than any other social media website.

But you can’t just pin something and hope for the best. Our social media experts, have some tips to share with you that can increase your followers and turn leads into conversions.

 

  1. Be original

Because the vast majority (over 80 percent) of Pinterest posts are re-pins, you need to create unique content in order to capture your fans’ attention. Post photos that relate to your business, of course, and various ways to use your product. That doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch, however. You can also post interesting content you’ve seen online, as well as funny pictures and memes that might entertain your audience.

 

  1. Be engaged

Pin regularly, pin a lot of images, pin other people’s content, follow other users, and follow your competitors’ followers. This is the best way to garner attention on Pinterest, because—like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs—people will follow them back to your page. When looking for content to re-pin, check out the “Trending” and “Explore” pages. Also be sure to leave a thoughtful comment on “Popular” pins. Just don’t comment so often that you’re tagged as spam by Pinterest.

 

  1. Include keywords

Again, you want to make it easy for fans to find and follow you, so be sure to include keywords in your descriptions when you pin. And be sure they’re long-tail keywords. That is, not just the general “bowls,” but the more specific “salad serving bowls.” Also use hashtags to help users find you when they search. Pinterest recommends that you have no more than 20 hashtags per pin.

 

  1. Create infographics

Because Pinterest is a visual site, avoid text in favor of graphics. Infographics are the ideal way to accomplish this. They can communicate information to your audience quickly and concisely, and are 30 times more likely to be read than blocks of text. They’re also more likely to be noticed in Pinterest feeds.

 

  1. Hold contests

Regular contests can help keep your fans engaged. Just don’t overdo them to the point that people become blasé: “Oh, another contest . . . yawn.” And don’t make your followers jump through too many hoops to participate. If you’ve ever entered a Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes, you’ll know what we mean: “Find this sticker in the mailing and attach it to your entry, find another sticker and attach it there” and so on. Don’t make pins, likes, comments, etc., a requirement to enter, and above all, don’t make people pin your contest rules. Remember, if your contests aren’t fun, people won’t play.

 

  1. Connect the “dots”

Connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts with your Pinterest account, and be sure to include the Pinterest “follow” button on your website. Make it easy for your fans to follow you. Also, don’t have so many boards that they’re too many for people to follow. Have two or three boards at the most. And be sure to organize all your boards so that they flow logically, keeping the most relevant ones remain at the top.

 

  1. Test your efforts

If you don’t test your pins to find out which are performing well, you can drag down your Pinterest ranking by leaving up poor-performing pins (those not being re-pinned by your followers). You can use the Pinterest analytics, TailWind’s Pin Inspector feature, or BoardBooster, to find out which pins should be deleted.

 

If you’d like to learn more ways to boost your Pinterest following, be sure to contact us. We can offer you many unique ideas that you can incorporate on your boards.