Pinterest may not be considered one of the social media giants of our generation when you look at the numbers head-on. By strictly going off of user count, it really doesn’t stand up to the number of people scrolling Facebook and Instagram every day. But, with valuable demographic information and more than half of U.S. millennials who use it, marketing on Pinterest could be what takes your small business to the next level.
If your business isn’t on Pinterest, you could seriously be missing out on some killer traffic. It’s a simple platform to navigate so, really – what is there to lose? Pinterest is an incredible way to boost your content’s visibility, increase traffic, and ultimately ROI. Here are five reasons to start marketing on Pinterest:
It’s a Search Engine, Not a Social Media Channel
While Pinterest definitely has a social aspect to it, it’s far more of a search engine than it is a social media channel. Why is this a good reason to start marketing on Pinterest? Well, it means that the people who go on Pinterest are using it in a more intentional versus passive way. Searchers on Pinterest want help solving a problem and they’re ready to see and digest your content. Otherwise on Instagram, for example, your content really has to grab their attention to stop them from scrolling.
People turn to Pinterest when they’re looking for bridal shower ideas or fitness inspiration. So, when your blog post on rustic bridal showers pops up, they’ll be excited to find it – instead of them trying to remember that one time your sponsored post showed up on their Instagram feed.
According to Hootsuite, 93 percent of Pinners use the channel to plan purchases so if you’ve got something to sell, you want to be on Pinterest where people are ready to find you.
It’s Not Time Specific
When using Facebook or Instagram for your business, there’s a lot of hype about the best times to post in order for your target audience to see and engage with your content. Marketing on Pinterest, on the other hand, is more about relevance than timeliness. In fact, the longer a post is on Pinterest the more traction it tends to get and the higher it tends to be ranked in the algorithm.
With Pinterest, you can really focus on your messaging to create fantastic content that’s clickable and valuable. That’s what gets you ranked on Pinterest – not the time it was posted. Who knows? Something you posted last year could get a ton of hits out of the blue on Pinterest and if that’s not a good reason to start your Pinterest business account, then what is
Emphasis on Sharing
There is this constant pressure to create new and exciting content every single day for an Instagram feed. And while some of us genuinely love creating a ton of social media posts (guilty!), there’s less pressure to do so on Pinterest. Since there’s an emphasis on sharing other people’s content, marketing on Pinterest is all about curating content, not just creating it.
By having some of your own pins as well as re-pinning others’ content, your audience can get to know you as a brand. There’s something to be said about creating a community with your Pinterest boards that can help give your followers a deeper sense of who you are as a brand.
Fun fact: 80% of Pinterest pins are re-pins. This is exciting news because it means that as an entrepreneur, you will have a chance to create brand new content and account for the other 20%.
Shareable Links
Everyone’s biggest pet peeve with Instagram is that hyperlinks don’t exist, making it far more tedious to drive an audience to your website or blog post. It makes sense though because it’s in Instagram’s best interest to keep everyone on their app for longer whereas Pinterest prioritizes sharing and saving content.
It’s expected that pins will link to a website or blog post and followers don’t have to take three (or more) steps just to find what they were looking for. Therefore, marketing on Pinterest gives you a much better chance of Pinners being funneled where you want them to go.
Plus, as previously mentioned, pins are, more often than not, re-pins from other people’s boards and it’s an encouraged activity on the platform. This means that the pins you’ve posted will surely be re-pinned, shared, and saved, again and again, putting more eyes on your content leading to a stronger ROI.
Link Your Pinterest Account with Instagram
One of the newest features that truly makes marketing on Pinterest a no-brainer is claiming your Instagram account. With a ton of benefits like better analytics, pin attribution, and increased traffic on both platforms, it’s definitely something to take advantage of if you haven’t already.
To start, you’ll have access to a full gamut of Pinterest analytics. Before, if you saved a pin from your Instagram, you’d only see the data for that pin alone. Now, for example, if someone else saves a pin from your Instagram, the algorithm knows that it’s your Instagram photo meaning you’ll see all of the analytics for it – how many times it’s been pinned, shared, or saved – across the whole of Pinterest.
Plus, you’ll get attribution for any pins that come from your Instagram, whether or not you were the one who pinned them. This works for both existing pins and future pins too. By attaching a “follow” button connected to the account that’s linked with your Instagram, whenever your photo is pinned, those who see it will now always be prompted to follow and view your Pinterest account as well as being directed to your Instagram feed.
What’s more, is that linking your Instagram and Pinterest accounts not only help with marketing on Pinterest but it helps your Instagram analytics too. Since Instagram posts have a much shorter lifespan than that of pins, if you pin your Instagram content, you’ll be exponentially increasing the chances of people seeing you Instagram content and will likely bring more traffic to both channels.
