Why You Shouldn’t Overlook Pinterest in Your Social Media Plan—and How to Rock It

Are you on Pinterest? Not to plan your wedding or search for ideas to start your next home improvement project— are you on Pinterest for your business?

While you might be on Pinterest to plan your wedding or to search for ideas for your next home improvement project, you could be missing out if you are a business owner and aren’t using Pinterest.

While most marketers and social media managers tend to focus on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—and more recently, TikTok—Pinterest is an undervalued social network that can generate a significant amount of brand awareness, website traffic, and leads.

Here’s a great reason to start Pinterest if you haven’t already: According to Business News Daily, 87% of Pinterest users report purchasing something because of the site.

With about 300 million active monthly global users, you can certainly reach your target audience.

And the best part is, you can link a pin to your site so users can click on your content and be guided directly to your website.

Yes, it really is that easy.

No matter your industry, chances are there is a niche or area of interest where Pinterest can fit your social media marketing plan. Some businesses that could benefit from having an active Pinterest account include:

• Fashion
• Retail
• Hospitality: Hotels, restaurants, tours, museums
• Wedding: Venue, apparel, flowers, favors, décor, food
• Salons and other aesthetic services
• Furniture stores
• Home improvement
• Homebuilders
• Healthcare providers
• Nutritionists and exercise or fitness specialists
• Entertainment: Theaters, specialty acts, musicians, artists
• Consulting firms

It can be daunting to start a Pinterest account from scratch—especially if you feel like you don’t have enough content. But, it isn’t too difficult to start from scratch and build a following.

Here are some helpful tips to get you started:

• Set up a Pinterest Business account. This will help you keep track of analytics. You can track engagements, outbound clicks to your site, launch paid campaigns, and more from your business account.
• Add your logo as your profile picture and write a clear, concise description of what your business does. Be sure to link to your website, too!
• Start uploading some of your own original content to Pinterest. Have a retail shop? Start taking photos of the products with your phone, upload them and link back to the product page on your site. (Tip: since Pinterest does best with vertical photos, taking pictures with your phone is ideal!) If you have a blog, share posts you create. YouTube? You can share videos as well.
• Mix some other content on your boards. The best thing about Pinterest is sharing ideas, so you don’t constantly have to be coming up with original pins. Are you a nutritionist? Start a board called “Healthy and Quick Breakfasts” and pin some recipes for healthy and quick breakfasts while mixing in your content. Always remember: Sharing is caring! The more you interact, the more others will interact with you – meaning they will share your content, expanding your reach.

While curating your boards, it’s essential to keep the 4 I’s in mind when creating and promoting pins. This will help increase user engagement and boost clicks to your site:

• Instructional: How to fold a fitted sheet, how to make Grandma’s apple pie
• Inspirational: Living room décor, places to visit across the country
• Informational: Statistics on how many people join an industry, factoids on how to use your products
• Imagery: Beautiful images of home décor, outfits, meals, products, etc.

We helped tackle Pinterest for one of our clients—an upscale hotel trying to drive bookings for rooms, private events, and weddings. We created different boards for weddings, luxury bedroom décor, holiday décor, food (from their in-house restaurant), local travel ideas, fall inspiration, winter inspiration, charity initiatives, and more. Their average audience on Pinterest hovered around 160,000 pinners with an average engagement rate of around 5.25%–much higher than their audiences on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! (And engagements do include saves and website clicks!).

The Key Takeaway

When crafting an overall social media strategy, it can be easy to fall into the Facebook and Instagram habit. They are both great networks for sure, but if you aren’t using Pinterest, you might be missing out on other opportunities to build your brand and create awareness.

Pinterest is a great and perhaps undervalued way to promote your business to potential buyers. And with these tips, you’ll be ready to net new customers in no time!