Spreading your message through social media is among the coveted channels for marketers. Does Pinterest form part of your marketing strategy? If yes, you would need to know a bit more about Pinterest. For one, you are right that it is a social media channel where users can be in touch with their contacts and friends. However, are we aware that it is also a visual search engine for planning their next set of activities? Hence, it will require you to strategies differently from other such media channels. 

The numbers are too good to evince interest from marketers. As of 2019, statistics say there were around 300 million monthly active users and grew approximately 38% year on year. The average time spent on the platform is a good 14 minutes and 12 seconds. People now turned to visual search nowadays. Millennials and Gen Z’ers would like to visual search – to put it correctly, at least 62% of them as per recent study. Quite a huge number! It becomes imperative that Pinterest forms an integral of marketing outreach. The image shows that when you share your content or post over Pinterest then you can check the change in impression, engagement. In this article, we will discuss about the marketing hacks that you could deploy to target Pinterest users. 

Work for SEO! Yes, you heard it correct.

SEO works for search engines. And, being search based, it works for Pinterest also. You would need to have an excellent eye for search parameters and optimize accordingly.

You will need to start with your description and add keyword judiciously as you are cramped on the number of characters. The character limit is 160, and you need to create the description and ensure it is in line with the pins that you will put up.

Similarly, you will need to optimize the board title and description with the relevant keywords. Practiced precis writing in school? Yes, you will need those skills to squeeze in the related words again.

Next in line is the pin description. Though the character limit is 500, only the first 50-60 will show up in search results. You will need the content to be juicy enough to entice the users to be drawn to your pins. Do make use of hashtags intelligently but do not go overboard. You may add around two of them when writing new pin descriptions.

Strategies. Think like your customer.

You will need to pull the users towards your boards. You will need to strategize how to create the content that will be enticing enough to draw more users. Given that Pinterest is a visual platform, you will need to have a designer with capabilities to create gravitating content. You could start by posting your products as pins. Over time, you will have created a digital catalogue of your products.

Like in any marketing channel, your posts will need to add value by writing short but crisp articles about your products. You may even have a board dedicated to user-generated content. Most of the e-commerce excel in having images from their loyal clients.

Also, have a paid pin strategy as part of your overall objective and plans towards improving your incoming leads. Pinterest ads provide you with the option of increasing awareness about your portfolio. Once you have used the platform for quite some time, try it out with some ads. It is inexpensive and works well for those with a shoestring budget. 

Improve your content

Apart from creating enticing content, you also need to ensure that the pins are optimized to provide the maximum returns to your efforts. It starts with ensuring the size of the pins is right. Pinterest is known to recommend an aspect ratio of 2:3. While it is easier to go for a square or rectangular post, you will now need to make your posts vertical. 

These days, more and more people check their social media accounts through their handhelds. Hence, you should also create your posts keeping this in mind. While you should use overlays for your posts, do ensure that they are readable on handheld devices also. Users will not be providing you with much time to entice them to your posts. Within the short time that they will give, you need to send across your message. 

Frequent activities help

Being active on social media platforms usually help in general. Apart from improving your digital footprint and providing relevant backlinks for SEO, you gain eyeball share of your followers also. Apart from putting up boring posts, make it enjoyable by creating intelligent campaigns and contests. Make it interactive with your followers. You will need to have a content calendar with details of the body copy along with the descriptions and hashtags. You can also automate your posts on Pinterest minimizing the risk of forgetfulness on your part.

Analyze your efforts and improve

Use analytics and understand the content providing you with the maximum number of impressions and clicks. Track and analyze your efforts regularly and propose improvements as shown in the above image. You can set a benchmark based on historical data and set KPIs (key performance indicators). The parameters may also be changed once you get significant growth in traffic. Also, analyze the ads that you may have put up.

Conclusion

Like other platforms, you need to have an annual strategy detailing the various aspects that need to be attended when opting for a marketing channel for your products. But, to start with, you need to jot down your objectives and the associated KPIs that you will measure. You need to stay put for an extended period as Pinterest will not provide short-term improvements.

Author bio:
Mariya Adems is a Digital Strategist, having 5+ years of experience in the field of Internet Marketing. She is a social media geek, a complete foodie and enjoys trying varied cuisines. A perfect day for her consists of reading her favourite author with a hot cuppa coffee. She is a associated with Tech Untouch.