Pinterest is where you need to be. It is one of the largest search engines aside from Google. They get about 367 million monthly visitors. According to Pinterest, they are a full-funnel solution to your marketing needs.
Another good statistic to know is that 97% of the top Pinterest searches are non-branded content which means that users go to the platform to search for something, not a specific brand. As a small business, this gives you a good opportunity to be front and center. People go on this platform to search for an idea or a product, and a lot of the times purchase directly through Pinterest.
What you need to understand first, is that people go to Pinterest to plan. They are there to explore ideas that are relevant to what they want, and they are looking for something to spark their interest. Here is your opportunity! Let’s go over 4 tips to boost your website traffic from Pinterest.psst...I need to let you know that some of the links below are affiliate links. It's not anything bad, this just means that if you make a purchase through one of the links below I might earn a small commission. (at no extra cost to you of course!) If you want to learn more about affiliate links click here to read my disclosure policy.
1. Click-Worthy Pinterest Templates
Before you start Pinning, you need a template to use. There are many pre-made templates that other creators sell or that you can find on graphic design websites or apps like Canva, Adobe Spark and the Over app. Some of these even have great tips for you to learn the basics of graphic design. For a more in-depth discussion on graphic design, visit my post on the JM Blog, 5 Graphic Design tips for your Logo. You will need to create a template that you can edit quickly when you need fresh pins (we will discuss this later in this post) and when you need a new pin for a new post or product. So, how do you create a click-worthy template? You will need to decide your branding techniques. Some businesses and bloggers use the same colors and fonts throughout their posts to make things consistent. You will have to decide your color scheme and fonts combination work best for your brand. Another good tip here is to look at what your competitors/friends are posting on Pinterest. Take a look at which of their templates work best and get inspired to create your own. Don’t just copy their idea, use it to guide you in your own process.
If you're looking for somewhere to get Pinterest templates, Creative marketing is the place to go! I recently bought $18 worth of templates and I am loving them! Click here to take a look!
2. Using Pin-able Images on Your Website
After you've made some click-worthy templates, you can include them on your website. If you have a blog, make sure to include these Pin-able images within your posts. Pin-able images need to follow the 2:3 ratio in terms of size in order to fit with the typical Pinterest pins. Make sure that these images are enticing and that your content adds value to the reader. This will ensure that they pin it to their boards and your content reaches an even larger audience.In these images, make sure to include your logo or website somewhere within the template. This will not only give you credit for creating it, but it will make potential audience members more aware of your brand and website.
3. Fresh Pins v. Re-Pins
The Pinterest algorithm favours fresh pins over re-pins. They don’t want users to constantly see the same pins, so they prefer new ones. This is also why I mentioned earlier that you should not copy others pins, just use them for inspiration. Copying is also wrong because they spent a lot of time creating their own fresh pins. The only time it is considered okay to copy a template is if the creator is selling the templates to you for your own use.It is a good idea to post a few fresh pins per day. I personally have been trying to post 3-5 fresh pins per day and this has been working in terms of growing my audience. Pinterest recommends posting 15-25 fresh pins per day if you post more than this your traffic can suffer. I recommend trying out a few different new pins per day until you figure out your sweet spot.
You can pin the same URL on different new images, but be aware that pinning the same URL back to back can have your account flagged as spam. This will cause your audience do decline as your pins won’t be preferred. A good tip here is to make sure to spread out posting the same URL to 2 or so days apart so that it is not flagged as spam. Another thing that you must remember is that you should also pin others pins to your
boards.
boards.
A rule of thumb that I’ve seen repeated a lot is the 80:20 rule where you pin 80% of your content from others and 20% your own.
4. Pinterest Ads/Promoted Content
Some of you might think that ads aren’t good especially if you don’t have a budget. You might think that others might not click on your Pins if they are promoted. That’s not the case. I’m speaking from experience. You can promote your pins with a small budget. For example, I’ve promoted pins that perform well organically using a budget of $1 per day for 10-15 days. That’s a total of about $15 per promoted pin. I try to promote 2 pins throughout the month. This has helped me increase my traffic through paid and organic reach.Promoting pins is also a great idea if you are selling a product. Here, you can target the specific segment of the population that you are interested in reaching. You can target individuals in each part of the marketing funnel: Awareness, Consideration and Purchase. If you want a more in-depth explanation of the content marketing funnel, visit the JM Blog: The Content Marketing Funnel.
You can use zip code targeting, interest, keywords and contact list targeting. Pinterest also helps you keep track of your key performance indicators (KPI) and your analytics. Your KPI include brand/product awareness, reach and frequency, store visits, total clicks, return on ad spend, new customer growth, etc. By keeping track of your analytics through these ads, you can also determine what your audience is looking for. You can determine their interests, gender distribution, age distribution and location which can help you target future ads better. This can also help you to write more content and create fresh pins that target the interest of your monthly visitors.
Looking to grow on social media? Grab my ebook, Social Media Power, to learn the best strategies and grow your online business! I teach you how to make sales, drive traffic, promote affilate product and more all in this ebook. Get it today!
I hope that you find these tips helpful. I’ve tried these methods and I have read a lot about what works best from others and reports published by Pinterest.
In the end, you need to try your own strategy to determine what truly works best for your needs and goals. These tips can help aid you in creating your own Pinterest strategy. A good tip is to write it down. Write down your strategy so that you have a physical reminder of what you want to do and what you are tracking in terms of KPI and metrics. This will also help you to stay accountable.
Have you seen success with Pinterest? Let me know in the comments!
About the Author
Johana M. Caba, M.A. is a public relations professional and social media manager/marketer. She shares thought-leadership articles on her business blog (JM Blog) and on her social media accounts. Johana recently earned her Master’s Degree in Professional Communications from William Paterson University of New Jersey.Blog: www.jmintegratedmarketing.com/jmblog
