How to Create a Pinterest-Focused Growth Marketing Playbook
In 2020, Pinterest surpassed Snapchat to become the 3rd largest social media platform in the US. It has been seeing crazy spikes in adoption ever since, growing by many millions of users every year. For most people, it’s just another social media network where you can spend hours upon hours researching various ideas, such as recipes, home design inspiration, or workout plans, among other things
However, growth marketers recognize a bigger potential, particularly once they understand how Pinterest works.
What can Pinterest marketing do for your business? It can drive organic traffic, increase conversion rates and position your company amongst some of the most trusted brands. However, you need a well-thought-out strategy in order for it to actually work, ideally, one tailored to the unique needs of your business.
Pinterest is a visual search engine with a lot of potential for marketing a business. The site has more than 400 million active users and a growing number of searches every day.
Part of the reason that Pinterest has such exceptional potential includes Pinterest marketing tools like PinLeague which can help you to research the best keywords to use for your pins. You can also find popular hashtags to include in your posts by using a tool like Hashtagify.me.
Pinterest ads and analytics can also give you insights into what people are pinning from your website and how they interact with your pins.
In this article, we outline how to create a Pinterest-focused growth marketing strategy and plan from scratch (or nearly from scratch) for your business. Once you have worked through the content you will know how to use Pinterest to leverage the untapped potential of this platform to generate growth for your business.
What makes Pinterest a growth marketing tactic worth considering for your business?
Pinterest is as much a search engine as it is a social media network, with over 2 billion searches every month. You could refer to it as a visual search engine. The goal is for users to search, explore, save, and add pins.
The platform allows users to post (pin) original content, or save them directly from other websites and blogs on the internet. This results in a theme-based gallery, also known as a Pinterest board.
Let’s get into what makes up some of the key points that go into using Pinterest as a part of a strategy for marketing growth.
The three vital components of Pinterest include pins, boards, and feeds.
The Pin
This is when a user saves an image, design, or video visual to their account. Each pin leads back to the original source, meaning it contains a link. Adding pins allows users to explore the products and services you offer.
The Board
When users have multiple pins, they can add them to a Pinterest board (which resembles a scrapbook or gallery). Usually, users will group similar pins together so that they can easily go back to each board and find what they want. For example, they may have a board just for wedding planning, or one for vacation inspiration.
As a business, Pinterest boards allow prospects to scour your gallery and get a real taste of the products and services you provide, along with your brands’ interests.
The Feed
A Pinterest feed is similar to a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter feed. It displays all the pinning activity from the people you follow, along with paid Pinterest ads, promoted pins, and pins the algorithm thinks you will like. Users can either search for specific terms to discover content or just explore what is on their home page, what they are following, or items that are auto-generated.
When you sign up there are two types of Pinterest accounts you can choose from; an Individual Account or a Business Account. Both are free but serve different purposes. As a marketer, you should choose the Business Account, which has various features to help you increase engagement on the platform and drive traffic to your site.
What Makes Pinterest An Integral Part of a Solid Growth Marketing Strategy
Whether that be increasing traffic, improving lead quality/quantity or simply selling products, Pinterest can definitely help growth marketing efforts.
Here are some great reasons as to why Pinterest should be at or near the top of prospective growth marketing tactics, especially for consumer product-focused businesses.
60% of users prefer Pinterest to other social networks, such as Facebook.
72% claim they are inspired to make a purchase right after checking out pins.
Pinterest’s user base has grown by 37% year on year and has 442 million active users as of 2022.
Pinterest has the most referral traffic across all social networks.
Here are 5 key reasons why Pinterest should be part of your growth marketing fundamentals.
Now that we know some of what makes Pinterest a marketing channel that growth-focused businesses should be focused on, let us examine a few key reasons why Pinterest ought to potentially be part of the growth marketing framework you look to establish at your business.
1. Driving Website Traffic
Each pin has a link back to the source, and this can redirect users to specific landing pages, blogs, product pages, and more. If you create something catchy, or should we say *pinteresting*, it can generate considerable traffic as well as engagement.
Aside from pinning (or repining) links from your business page, users can explore the visuals beyond the platform, which is often the main goal of marketing on Pinterest—getting people to click through to your site in order to become more aware of your business.
2. Better Engagement
You can build a massive following by consistently delivering new, relevant ideas and giving customers a real feel of your products and services. First, put yourself in the mind of your customer. Why would you want to engage with this pin? Does it provide value? Is it something you'd want to go back to?
Often, smart marketers will create pins for their blogs, videos,and more to help distribute their content and build awareness. Hopefully, you've got your content strategy figured out, but if not, we've put together some content marketing examples to help inspire you.
3. Brand Building
If you provide helpful solutions, ideas, or inspiration, you can have a large following that trusts your brand and products/services. If even if you don't gain a following quickly, if you optimize your pins for search, your content can easily get in front of a highly targeted audience. This gives your brand credibility, distinguishing you as an authority amongst competitors.
If your goal is to build brand awareness, Pinterest marketing could be just what you need.
4. Proven Results
Many businesses use the platform to curate pins and nurture prospects into customers. You can significantly increase sales and ROI organically, even without spending a dime on Pinterest advertising options or sponsored posts).
5. Research and Analytics
Pinterest allows you to collect metrics with Pinterest Analytics and plunge into user profiles for insights into their interests, wish lists, and purchasing patterns. You can determine the ideal time to offer specific promotions, or identify high-converting keywords and try them on other platforms. You should use Pinterest Analytics to better understand your audience.
Pinterest is quite a personal platform where people spend less time engaging with friends, and more time focusing on their wants, needs and even dreams.
How to Use Pinterest As a Way to Set Up a Solid Growth Marketing Funnel
Although the platform has tangible benefits for all eCommerce based businesses, there are various things to review before starting. Here are 5 steps you ought to take while developing your Pinterest marketing strategy:
1. Research the trends
You need to keep track of emerging trends to stay ahead of the game. While it makes no sense to jump outside your core categories, researching the most successful content and trending topics is vital when creating original unique pins for your customers. You can actually search US, UK and Canada Pinterest trends, making it even easier to discover what types of posts you should be sharing, and what keywords to use in the markets that most matter to you. You can even compare keywords to discover what is more popular, and also see popular pins, which can give you ideas on how to design your own pins.
2. Finish your keyword research
This is the biggest and most important step.
While completing your trend research, compile a list of keywords you’re looking to tackle. People discover most pins by putting keywords into the search bar, which means you’ve got to optimize the keywords in your pins if you wish to be discovered.
Manual Keyword Research
If you want to do even more digging outside of the trends tool, type the key phrases you’re targeting into Pinterest, and see what suggested keywords come up. You can go from one main keyword, to finding tons of variations by doing this!
Hashtags
Hashtags go into the Pin description, along with the Board description.
Tip: Many people suggest using a branded hashtag as the first hashtag!
The first few hashtags are clickable and visible in the feed, so using a branded hashtag first allows people to click and see all of your branded content.
Use a mix of super-focused search hashtags (#ThanksgivingDinner), and broad hashtags (#Holiday) to be both specific for your immediate target audience, as well as to create overall brand awareness. simple way to do this is by searching each key phrase in Pinterest, and seeing what competitors are using in their pins. You can just take their research and use it for your own.
What are the main types of Pinterest hashtags that businesses can use to gain traction?
Location-based hashtags: #TorontoTech #TechTO
Industry hashtags: #homedesign #interiordesign
Holiday hashtags: #fourthofjuly #christmaseve
Descriptive/keyword: #bohorug #kitcheninspo
Call to action: #pinitforlater #clicktoread #pintowin
Branded hashtags: #GAPJeans #AmazonHomeIdeas
3. Prepare your business profile
The ultimate goal of marketing on Pinterest is to build a strong presence and gain targeted followers. This starts with creating a professional-looking business profile. A barren Pinterest profile is worse than no Pinterest profile at all.
With that in mind, be sure to choose a high-resolution logo and banner, attractive bio, and create featured boards that align with your business. When building your profile and boards, be sure as always, to use your keyword research to help influence your board names/topics, profile descriptions, and so forth.
4. Research your competitors
If you're new to Pinterest as a business and are just getting the lay of the land, a great place to start is by researching your competitors.
Are they even on Pinterest (if they are, then the likelihood is they are getting good engagement and traffic fro it)?
What types of content do they pin/share?
How do they organize their boards?
This background research should help you better understand how to approach your account.
5. Understand the types of pins available
Pins and boards are the most important components of your Pinterest marketing strategy. There are different types of pins available and some perform better than others.
Pins showing a product or service in action and featuring a strong CTA perform much better. Promoting special offers that are Pinterest-specific or have Pinterest-specific prompt codes can also be an efficient way of generating sales.
Here's a brief on the types of pins you can use:
Product pins – These show up-to-date details concerning the price, availability, and product descriptions of your website's items.
Story pins – Include step-by-step guides, DIY projects, recipes, collection curation, and other pins that tell a story using text, images, and links.
Video pins – Videos allow you to tell a great story and hook people into a visual representation of your products in action.
Rich pins – Refers to organic pin formats that provide more details and context around the pin.
Article pins – You can use them to create headlines, titles, and descriptions about an article or blog post.
Shop the look pins – Also known as buyable pins, these pins allow users to find and purchase products directly from the pin.
How to Create A Growth Marketing Campaign Oriented Towards Pinterest
Now that we have established why Pinterest ought to be a part of the growth marketing tactics to consider, and how to create a Pinterest-oriented action plan, we will now examine a number of helpful Pinterest marketing tactics (13 in particular) to help drive website traffic to your business website.
1. Create A Board Specifically For Your Business
A Pinterest “board” is where you save pins for specific topics or themes. You’ll want to create a board specifically for your business. This board can be used to showcase your products or services and encourage prospective customers to learn more by visiting your website.
2. Participate In Group Boards
A group Pinterest board, also known as a collaborative board, is a great way to reach a larger audience. A group board can also be a great source of inspiration for a blog post. It can also be a great source for partnerships.
3. Stay Up To Date With The Latest Pinterest Trends And Changes
Pinterest is constantly evolving, so it’s important to keep up with the latest trends. One great way to keep up with the latest trends on the platform is to take a look at the surging trends collection on Pinterest. Here you can also discover trending ideas across popular categories on the site, focusing of course on ideas or trends as they relate to your business.
4. Pin Images That People Can’t Resist
People love images. They share them on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media channels. The more time people spend looking at your pictures, the more likely they will remember you and visit your website.
The key is to create eye-catching, rich pins with a pin description that people can’t resist. You want people to see your pins while scrolling through their feed or on the Explore page.
One way to catch people’s attention is by using visuals relatable to what they’re currently doing in their lives. If it’s wintertime and everyone’s talking about skiing or snowboarding, pin an image of someone zooming down a mountain with the hashtag “#snow.”
To do this, make sure you have a clear message in your caption and include hashtags related to your company or product. For example, if you’re marketing a new type of pencil for school children, you might want to mention words like “gradeschool”, “classroom,” and “learning environment.”
5. Hashtags are a Great Way of Standing out
One way to use Pinterest to market your business is by using hashtags. Hashtags are a way of categorizing and searching for content on the network. You can find certain tags for specific topics or niches, which will allow you to find photos related to your products or services quickly.
When you post images of your products or services on Pinterest, use one of these relevant tags in the description area. This will help other users find your content and follow what you’re doing as well.
6. Optimize Your Company’s Profile For Maximum Exposure
Pinterest is all about images. The network has a high percentage of visual content, so it’s important to optimize your company’s profile with clear, compelling photos and graphics.
Take Pinterest’s “About” section as an example. If you want to attract visitors to your site, fill out the following:
A short but descriptive summary of what your business does
Links to the primary webpage of your website
A link to your Facebook page
Links to other social media pages and websites where people can find you
It’s also good to include keywords in the description field for maximum SEO value. This helps when people search Pinterest for products or services that you offer.
7. Add Value With Automated Content
One of the best ways to market your business on Pinterest is to create automated content. What does that mean? You take several items from your company and turn them into pins.
For example, if you sell jewelry, you might take pictures of your entire line and turn each item into a pin.
People will see your pins and will be more likely to follow you because they are interested in your products. They’ll also share the pins with their friends who may be interested in the product or service you offer.
8. Engage With Other Pinterest Users
The first step to marketing your business on Pinterest is establishing a presence. It would be best if you began by following other users, including people who share the same interests.
When you follow them, they’ll be able to see that you’ve followed them and can follow back. This will help you create a following of like-minded people, which will increase the number of potential customers interested in your products or services.
Once you’ve done this, it’s time to start engaging with other Pinterest users. Similar to Instagram posts, commenting on their pins and sharing their pins are great ways to engage with others and make connections that could lead to collaboration opportunities down the lin
A word of caution: Don’t spam your followers! It’s not worth it if all your followers block you because they’re tired of seeing your updates in their feeds.
Be mindful of how often you post, and don’t go overboard with promotional posts only. Make sure there are plenty of pictures that are interesting but not overtly commercial in nature.
9. Follow Influencers In Your Industry
It’s important to identify influencers in your industry. They are respected in a specific field, and they have a following. For example, if you own a yoga studio, an ideal influencer to follow might be someone such as Adrienne Minschler.
One tactic is to reach out to these influencers and offer them free products or services in exchange for them pinning your product or service on their Pinterest boards. This will drive traffic to your website.
10. Become A Certified Promoter
Pinterest is a great way to get your product or service in front of people who may be interested in it. According to Pinterest, more than 60 percent of shoppers have purchased something online from a company because they saw it on Pinterest first!
That’s where Pinterest Promoters come in.
By becoming a Certified Promoter, you can add a Promoted Pins button to your website that lets your customers know they can share the page on Pinterest with their followers and friends.
Moreover, as a Certified Promoter, you’ll receive an email notification every time someone promotes one of your pins. You’ll also receive notifications when someone comments on one of your pins or likes it.
11. Create A Board Of Curators
You can create a board of curators to help your pinners find new content. When you post on your boards, make sure you give them a shout-out in the description.
You can also offer a discount code for those who follow your pins. This will encourage people to explore your account and get more involved with the content.
12. Tailwind Tribes
Finally, as if this wasn’t enough great advice on how to use Pinterest for marketing, there is one more unique feature that the tool has that will give your business a competitive advantage: Tailwind Tribes.
Tailwind Tribes are similar to platforms such as Triberr where you gain access to a community of people with similar interests who are looking to curate high-quality content from similar content creators. The difference is that you can see who shared your content and measure each tribe’s effectiveness as to how often your content is getting shared. This allows you to curate content from similarly minded users who might actually share your content when they curate from Tailwind Tribes, and do so in an efficient way.
13) Pinterest Ads
Pinterest is a great place to run a paid advertising campaign. Its users have a higher purchase intent than all the other social media platforms. Pinners are 7 times more likely to say that Pinterest has influenced their purchase decisions than users of other social networks.
Even though fewer people use it, they are much more likely to respond positively to ads, which makes Pinterest a great place for a marketing campaign. In addition, Pinterest allows you to create many different types of ads.
Pinterest ad types
Understanding which ad format you need for your business and your goals is key to launching a successful campaign. Here’s what you need to know about Pinterest ad types.
Promoted pins
Pin campaigns are basic but very effective. A promoted pin looks and behaves just like a standard pin. The only difference is that there is a little “promoted” label on it.
Pinterest boosts these pins and targets them to more people. Once someone shares the pin, the “promoted” label goes away, and when someone re-pins from there, Pinterest considers that earned media, meaning that you get free organic exposure.
Shopping Pins
Shopping pins are another simple and efficient tool to reach buyers. You use shopping pins to target potential buyers early in their customer journey, while they’re still browsing.
You only have to set up product groups in your catalog, and Pinterest will automatically show them to potential buyers. They will get a direct link to your products, with no additional targeting needed.
Video ads
Video pins are similar to promoted pins. The only difference is that a video replaces a static image in the pin.
The video will play as soon as it’s 50% in view. This is a great way to grab the users’ attention. To optimize this, you should focus on videos that don’t rely on sound to get the attention of those who scroll.
Pinterest carousel ads
A Pinterest Carousel contains between two and five images in a single post. This gives you more information and a deeper insight into your brand.
Each image in a carousel pin can have a different title and description and lead to a different landing page. This feature allows a carousel to display a group of products in great detail to your audience.
Pinterest collection ads
Collections ads are the best way to showcase a group of products similar to Carousel ads. They’re easily made from your catalogs.
Collections allow you to pick one hero image that’s followed by up to 24 secondary images. When a user clicks on the collection, they get a full-screen view of your products and a detailed overview of what you’re offering.
Try on product pins
Pinterest’s Try On feature uses augmented reality to help users create a virtual fitting room where they can see how well their products fit them. This type of product pin is a fantastic choice if you sell makeup and other beauty products.
Pinterest Marketing: A great way to start to create a potentially solid growth marketing framework
Pinterest can be a great way to market your business, and the number of users and engagement on Pinterest are growing. By following these tips, you’ll be on your way to reaching more potential customers and driving traffic to your website.
Pinterest succeeds in a lot of places where other social networks fail. While most prioritize keeping users on the platform, with Pinterest it's the opposite—the goal is for users to find, save, and explore the content they find. This is what makes it the perfect place for businesses to be active!
However, to really win at Pinterest marketing, you need a well-thought-out strategy that requires proper research, planning, and great social visuals.
Overall, developing a long-term Pinterest strategy that aligns with your growth marketing goals is an ongoing process that requires careful planning, analysis, and execution. Using the above guide, we have no doubt that you can build the foundation for a comprehensive and successful content marketing strategy using Pinterest.
However, if you are looking for outside growth marketing expertise to help you get started and create a Pinterest strategy that is aligned with a growth marketing-focused approach, why not schedule a free, no-obligation, growth marketing consultation with us today? Our expert growth marketing consultants look forward to speaking with you and learning more.