Simple Steps to Market on Pinterest for Profit

Pinterest for profit? Are you wondering what direction to take your marketing? Marketing on Pinterest is the answer! This article will discuss why people are on Pinterest, how you can market to them, and what makes a great pin on Pinterest. Adding Pinterest to your marketing mix will provide better brand visibility and reward you with long term web traffic.

Why are people on Pinterest?

People are spending more time on Pinterest than Facebook today and that time is spent browsing through pins and Pinterest boards for inspiration. Pinners look for ideas and bookmark these ideas by liking or repinning pins to their favorite boards. According to research from Blogher, 47% of U.S. shoppers have made a purchase from a Pinterest referral. So people are looking, clicking, and buying!

How to do you get your marketing started on Pinterest? Assuming you already have your SMART marketing goals set, you need to get your blog or website ready for Pinterest by adding pinnable images to each blog post.

80% of all pins on Pinterest are repins. Create your own original content for your brand to stand out! Successful pins have these qualities:

Visibility – size matters! On Pinterest, long, tall images command the show taking up the most visual real estate in the Pinterest feed. To create pins that generate action, I create images that are 1000 pixels x 1500 pixels or 2:3 ratio. While this size might not be optimal for your blog, you can create a pin on Pinterest with your custom graphic and embed your pin into your blog post.

Beautiful image Taking the time to create a stunning pin can be the difference between success and failure of your content. The ideal Pinterest image is:

• Great quality
• Doesn't have borders
• Has minimal text
• Doesn't include a call to action on the image

Be searchable Individual pins and whole Pinterest boards can rank well in Google search. When you create your image, make sure you give it a great title that will help people find your content on Google.

Steps to pin a graphic:

1. Add your custom Pinterest image with your branding and website on it.
2. Add 100 – 200 words of text to describe your pin using relevant keywords. Remember people tweet directly from Pinterest so keep it concise and interesting.
3. Add a link to your blog article or home page in the description.
4. Add a call to action that you'd like someone to take such as “click here to register”, “pin this on your fave board”, “more information here”, etc.
5. Edit the pin to add the link in the source.

Pinterest Traffic is Mobile

Reduce as many barriers as possible for people to share and save your content.

Help mobile pinners save your content on the go by adding a Pinterest link to your social media posts on other platforms. When you're adding a post on Facebook, Google+, or Linkedin add a link with the “pin it for later” call to action. This reminds people to save your post on Pinterest to read later when they have time and gives them a one-click option on mobile to pin from Facebook or another platform.

A call to action (CTA) is a little bit of text asking people to take a specific next step, it’s the action you hope will happen. From Quicksprout, “there is an 80% increase in engagement for pins that contain a call to action.” You can use a call to action to ask people to share a post after they read it.

Pinners are Buying

The fastest growing demographic on Pinterest according to the 2014 Pinterest Media Consumption Report by Ahalogy are Millenial Moms. “Active Pinterest users are young, tech-savvy and have more disposable income than non-users. The most active users are what many marketers are now calling Millennial Moms—they have young children in the home and grew up with smart phones and social media.” The next growing demographic is single men! “Men are 36 percent more likely to have joined Pinterest in the last six months than women. The active male Pinterest user is a slightly different demographic  than the active female Pinterest user. Male Pinterest users are 14 percent more likely to be single and living alone, and also 16 percent more likely to be a homeowner. They also make more money than active female Pinterest users. Fifty-eight percent of them make more than $50,000/year and 51 percent of them are employed full-time.” How's that for an interesting stat! From an educational study at U Mass Dartmouth, “It is estimated that Millennials will have a combined purchasing power of $2.45 trillion world wide by 2015.  This buying will be carried out online and in stores.  At this time, tracking meaningful social commerce conversions tied to user behavior is at its early stages.  While we can assume that social interactions in the form on online reviews, posts, forums and recommendations is driving some purchasing, documenting the scope of this activity and final channel for purchases is difficult. The driving force behind social commerce can be attributed to the Millennial generation’s penchant for social media.  Numbering 76 million strong, Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are defined as the demographic cohort born between 1980 and 2000.  Their size and combined purchasing power make Millennials a necessary market segment for the future success of most companies.” What do Millinnials spend by platform?

• Facebook = $105
• Twitter – $72
• Pinterest = $150

“Pinterest has the highest sales conversion rate.   The user-friendly highly visual design of the website facilitates information search and evaluation of alternatives.  Pinterest makes the transaction process flow with optimal ease for consumers,” says the UMass Dartmouth study.

Drive more traffic with Pinterest search

Tips from the Pinterest SEO expert on their blog:

Be intentional with your name. Tell people what you do, what you pin and verify your website. Use rich pins for maximize Pinterest searchablity. Add the Pin it button to your website. Share your best content. “Make sure your Pins link back to relevant, high-quality content that includes the Pin image or video. Pins with spammy and irrelevant links are frequently demoted.” Videos are fantastic on Pinterest! My friend Jeff Sieh makes the best video previews for his Google+ Manly Pinterest Hangout shows and wisely pins them all on Pinterest. Here's one of my favorites – pin it for later: Write compelling, targeted descriptions but careful with hashtags: “Optimizing your Pin descriptions can have a dramatic effect on Pinterest search impressions. Try to anticipate what Pinners might be looking for and include these terms in your Pin descriptions. Make sure the description also includes any other important details about the Pin. Surfacing your Pins in search results is only half the battle: your description has to encourage Pinners to engage with your Pin and eventually visit your site. Keep in mind that Pins with generic, keyword-stuffed descriptions are off-putting to people and may be demoted in search. The same is true for hashtags—having too many of them in your descriptions may negatively impact your ranking.” Ahalogy research shows “that active Pinterest users are ready and willing to be marketed to—as long as brands do it organically.”

I hope this gives you some more food for thought on your Pinterest marketing efforts and how you can use Pinterest for profit.  What have you seen driving Pinterest's success for you? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!