Sure you love Pinterest for recipes, outfit inspo, and DIY home projects – but have you been leveraging it for your business? I’m a firm believer that every small business should be on Pinterest, but it’s a non negotiable if you’re a wedding professional (wedding planner, photographer, videographer, etc), fashion/image consultant, or you sell digital products. 

And before you get started there’s a few things you should know. Which is why I’m breaking down everything you need to start marketing your small business on Pinterest, so you can increase brand awareness and start growing your business on autopilot.

“Why should I post on Pinterest?”

First things first, let’s get something straight – Pinterest is NOT a social media platform. It’s a search engine, a search engine that over 465 million people use per month, and 85% of those users say that Pinterest is the first place they go when they want to start a new project. So unlike Instagram and Tik Tok where people are going to find and connect with other people like themselves, on Pinterest people are simply looking for fresh ideas and answers to their questions. Answers that YOU have. 

Not to mention the lifespan of a Pin runs laps around the lifespan of any social media post. On instagram, your post will essentially die within 48 hours. On Pinterest, your content gains new attention for up to 6 months. It’s the closest thing to free advertisement out there. 

Pinterest said it best “People use Pinterest to plan for the future. Reach them here, and you’ll reach them before your competitors do.” Put plainly, marketing on Pinterest is one of the best ways to increase visibility, drive up website traffic, and turn strangers into loyal customers/clients.

Four Steps to Getting Started on Pinterest

I love a good Pinterest moment, in fact it’s probably one of the apps I spend the most time on between the hours I spend looking for recipes, scrolling for tattoo inspo, and shopping for clothes I don’t need. But, enjoying it for pleasure and leveraging it for business are two very different things. When done strategically it’s one of the best ways to organically grow your audience, and for my fellow slow living, feminine entrepreneurs it’s a must! But in order for your Pinterest presence to gain traction and magnetize the right clients/customers, here are four things you’ll need to do first.

Tune Up Your Website

The entire point of marketing on Pinterest (and any other 3rd party platform for that matter) is to get them off the app and on to something you own – like your email list, or better yet on your client roster. So, if you want to start marketing on Pinterest you’re going to need a website, or at the very least an email opt in landing page. 

If you don’t have a website, don’t let it hold you back from getting started, but add creating one to the top of your to do list. The Pinterest algorithm is jealous and doesn’t like it when you send their users to other apps like Tik Tok and Instagram – so your posts will likely see a downward trend of engagement if you’re only pinning to URLs you don’t own. Not to mention, you’re simply redirecting those people to yet another platform that you have zero control over. 

When you’re auditing (or building) your website, be on the lookout for these things: make sure your branding is consistent, be sure that it is easy to navigate, and test that your site loads quickly.

Create and/or Optimize your Profile

Once your website is ready to go, jump over to Pinterest and make sure that your business profile is optimized. Since Pinterest is a search engine, keywords are essential – it’s how people will find you and your content. Using the right keywords ensures that the right people will find you. If you haven’t done any keyword research, do that first.

Start with your bio, make sure that it’s a business account so you have access to analytics. Analytics are the best way to gauge what content is landing for your audience and what may need tweaking, plus it’s fun to see your progress. Next, claim your website, update your name field to include a keyword, and add a cover photo that clearly communicates what you do. Consider including your tagline or UVP (I use Canva to create this graphic.)
Next, create 10-15 boards with keyword rich (and relevant) titles & descriptions. Don’t overthink this and don’t “keyword stuff.” To keep the description verbiage natural, I find it helpful to simply list out what tips they will learn from scrolling through this board and then put it into sentence form once I’ve brain dumped. Try following this sentence formula “This more contains everything [insert your target audience –  i.e. brides] need to know about _____, _______, and _________.

Create Long Form Content

Now that your website is set, and your Pinterest profile is ready, you need to create the content that you want to share. The easiest and best way to do that – is to share your blogs. Some marketers will tell you that you don’t need a blog to be successful on Pinterest, and while that’s technically true it’s like pushing a rock uphill, it’s exhausting, frustrating, and just doesn’t make sense.

Every single blog you write can be repurposed into a minimum of four pins, which means if you wrote one blog per week, you’d have an automatic 16 pins (probably more.) Plus, blogs give you the opportunity to engage with the user for longer and earn their trust. Remember, Pinterest is a visibility tool, so chances are when someone comes across one of your pins they have absolutely no idea who you are. But, if you’re linking top shelf quality blogs that are optimized to convert to all of your pins, your chances of catching their attention skyrocket. 

Need help creating those top shelf blogs in half the time? Grab the exact blog templates I use (and my best tips) to write for my retainer clients inside The Blogging Essentials Playbook.

Plan your Pins

The exact type of content you share will depend on your specific business goals. But, most often my clients biggest goals are to grow their email list and increase sales – so if those are your goals as well, here’s what I would recommend. Create a content planner (or download mine here) and plan out a minimum of 10 pins (one pin for every weekday for the next two weeks). Decide on the pin title, write the pin description, then prepare and schedule five pins per week.

Review one of your blog posts and create a pin design with the title of your blog, a pin design with a checklist or small educational takeaway from your blog (something that they don’t have to click to read about), a pin design with a spicy quote or hot take from your blog, a second design with a spin off of your title (reword the verbiage slightly). 

For example, for this blog post I created four pins: one that read “How to start marketing your small business on Pinterest,” one with a checklist of the four action steps, one that said “Pinterest is one of the best ways to organically grow your audience, and a must for slow living, feminine entrepreneurs,” and one that said “How to grow your business without social media” – all of them were slightly different, yet all of them were linked to this post.

For your fifth pin of the week, create a pin design highlighting your lead magnet (please tell me you have a lead magnet? If not, click here to book your VIP Day ASAP.) 

When it comes to scheduling your pins, I recommend Later or Tailwind.

How long will it take me to see results on Pinterest?

Pinterest is a long game. It doesn’t offer the quick hit of dopamine that the immediate response of social media does. But it works a heck of a lot harder for a heck of a lot longer than almost any other platform. In general, if your strategy, copy, and design is on point and you’re consistent with daily pinning, you can expect to see results within 3-6 months on Pinterest. Which is why getting started today is so important! Want help optimizing your Pinterest profile or creating long form content? Book a VIP Day and let me take care of it for you!

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In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Michaela – content writer, behind the scenes expert, and chaos coordinator (aka the virgo energy to your creative spirit). And I’m completely obsessed with helping you turn your journal full of ideas into profit driving offers with research backed strategy, magnetic content, and streamlined systems.

If you liked this post and are craving more, here’s how I can help:

Book a VIP Day and let me bring your dream project to life – I create digital products, email nurture sequences, blog content, and anything else your heart can dream up.

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Check out the rest of the blog for a bunch more low maintenance marketing and passive income tips.
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