The Ultimate Guide to Pinterest Marketing

[toc]Pinterest is now very popular among users around the world. Most users would use it to showcase images collected around the web with a common theme while others are taking advantage of this platform to showcase images of products from e-commerce websites. Either which way you use Pinterest sure it will benefit you one way or another. But, the real question is- is Pinterest great in increasing traffic on a website?

You could have more followers on Twitter, more fans on Facebook and a fraction of Pinterest followers but the thing is Pinterest are driving more people in, while directing them to your website. And how’s that possible?

Mastering Pinterest to Gain More Traffic

In order to fully take advantage of Pinterest you must understand it inside and out. And no small tips or snippets of ideas can compare to a thorough in-depth analysis. If you want to master Pinterest continue reading on and muster each idea by understanding the strategies that are truly working.

PINTEREST can be compared to Facebook but the big difference instead of liking a post, in Pinterest posts are shared. This is how easy a post can go viral. Sharing a post and re-sharing it multiple times gives a post the opportunity to reach numerous people in a short time. Just imagine the traffic that it can generate for you?

PINTEREST BASICS:

The idea is to post an image to your own board, where users can browse and if they like it, they will definitely pin that image to their board. This image will spread like wildfire but it will link back to the webpage source that you originally pinned it- then most people with interest will click and eventually read your post. If you pin an Infographic wherein all information is already laid out and they will not bother to click through. The trick is to hold something back- don’t give it all just like a teaser that would entice people to click through.

This is how it works: Let’s say you pin something on your board, and then it was re-pinned around ten times so that counts as ten re-pins for you. However, if some re-pin it again from a re-pin it would not add up to you. Why? Since the re-pin took place on another board. The thing is re-pins should always come from your own board. By way of re-pins your post could go viral easily!

Although you would now see all the re-pins you garnered but it does not mean that you are not getting exposure. To better get the big picture use Google Analytics- this will help you see your traffic.

GETTING STARTED!

Setting up a Pinterest is quite easy. Choose a perfect name that will tell people about your website or interest. Think of a name that will match with your product and website. Add a good bio, something associated with your social media accounts and make use of keywords for SEO purposes. Connect your Twitter and Facebook with Pinterest so that you can easily direct more traffic. Your profile image should be your own photo not your website or product logo- this will allow people to connect with you in a personal level to make it more interactive.

Your Pinterest Board

Create one main board-

think of the best things or subjects to highlight in this board. Make it interesting so that many will follow it. This is where you will post and pin your quality content coming from various sources.

ONE Mistake to Avoid:

At first you will be tempted to pin whatever things you see that interest you. From another subject to out of the way far out image. This is a common mistake for Pinterest newbie and at all cost avoid this. Focus on your priority board, be consistent and stay around your niche. By being consistent and focused, people will follow your board while automatically following your other boards.  Keep your titles short and focus on your niche.

BEGIN with 4 to 5 BOARDS:

It is practical and recommended to start out with just 4 or 5 boards before jumping into more advanced techniques. Here is an example of a photography niche.

1. Main Board- all related to photography although has a varied content.
2. Gear Board- this has links to various Amazon Associates posts seen on the website (commission is possible through your own website not with Pinterest so have a link).
3. 30-Day Photography Challenge- this is another niche within the Photography niche, this is where all the relevant links are included related to the challenge.
4. Group Board- this board holds the power to get more traffic and followers; this is where the action is. Interactive board boosts interest among people.

The Mighty GROUP BOARD:

this is a good trick to start getting more traffic and more followers. The beauty of Pinterest is that it can allow multiple users to pin in one board. This is a great way to attract followers by letting them take part in the pinning.  But the thing is you have to follow them to be added to your board, which is fine since you will be getting more followers in the process. Place some links to your other boards to promote your product as well.

The PINTEREST ETIQUETTE that you should embrace:

There are certain rules that you should follow to make your pins interesting to your followers. By these guidelines you will effectively use Pinterest to your advantage without pushing away new and old followers.

• DON’T BE A SELFIE!

Avoid self-promotion and never focused on you alone. Make a balance with your pins like 50/50 on your main board which is your own content and add some from others. This will let your followers appreciate you more and the diversity would make them follow you all over again.

• GIVE CREDIT WHERE it is DUE.

Give credits to your other sources by linking back to the source but make sure to pin your own website also. Just play fair since people would want to know the source.

• MATCH YOUR PINS WELL.

Never pin something that does not match the board. It can be similar but belongs to a different niche. Again, be consistent.

• WRITE USEFUL INFORMATION ON YOUR IMAGES.

Just by pinning an image alone is not enough to reveal your message. A short description will guide people to click on the links.

• DON’T GO CRAZY WITH YOUR PINNING.

Don’t pin too many post or images all at once. Less is more when it comes to Pinterest since you don’t want to spam your followers. The good way is to pin once up to five times in a day.

• LIKE IF YOU HAVE TO.

Be honest, when you see something special and liked it then go ahead and like it.

Effective way of pinning

Probably you know by now that Pinterest involve a lot of images to start with. These images are very important and you must learn how to work around them. Even a simple text image needs some further workout too.

But how can you take advantage of your images? Good question.

ON IMAGES

Take note of a few important things- first, regarding photography visual weight has a lot of bearing and with a nice description this will rank highly. Add descriptive text to all images so that your followers will know what they are.

Note that images in Pinterest follow certain rules too, there is a limit on the width but no limit is set for the length. This means that you are allowed to pin a long line of images.

So instead of pinning just one image take five and from there create a single image- this will work nicely. Consider watermarking your own images with your website’s URL or your Pinterest name, this is a good way of branding your images.

Product Descriptions with Prices

Pinterest is now popular with online e-commerce website owners. Here you get to showcase you products creatively and at the same increase traffic. Descriptions would tell something about the product and including prices which is even more effective since Pinterest will add a price banner pinned for you and this great to let others know the item cost.

Be the Pinterest Go To Board

If you have various elements on your different boards then followers would look up to it as their go-to board where they can find useful information and images depicting a given subject.  Add content form other sources while adding yours but always stay within the board’s niche.

Finding Followers on Pinterest

Start by promoting your page on various platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ tell people about your pinterest board while taking interest to see their boards too. Your social account is a great way to promote your website.

Pinterest has specific means of how you can promote yourself very similar to Twitter. Make sure that you have two existing boards and search for people who post similar content. The search box will help and key in the keywords. An option will come up with people, boards and pins. Then choose boards. It is best to follow a hundred boards right away this will create your exposure and from here you can do even more. Check each board out and like 3 to 5 posts on each board. This will alert the board owner and will somehow check yours and your profile. The most crucial thing is finding your initial set of followers just by doing the above.

IMPORTANT PLUGINS

It is valuable to use social sharing plugin directly on your website and it is highly recommended to add the Pinterest button. The Pinterest Pin It Button For Images is powerful plugin and works perfectly on images. Setting this plugin requires inputting your own maximum width. What makes it even better that the “Pin It” button is situated just each image on your post and when you hit the button the image will dramatically brighten making it a total knockout. It is very handy and you don’t need a lot of steps as compared with other plugins. As a tip, you must post your featured image at the page bottom in this manner you are reminding the people to re-pin it.

Another great plugin is the Pinterest RSS Widget, this will choose your latest posts and randomly display them on your website in your specified size. One area to place the widget is at the footer to let people know about your Pinterest and make them follow you there.

It is a smart move to have an optimized website and each time you post something to the main board, hit the “Post to Twitter” and this will tweet your pin instead of the link.

Not to do on Pinterest

Never comment on any pin. It is highly unlikely for a Pininterst user to comment so why should you. What you are after are re-pins and in order to get them you have to like other pins. It is all about re-pins and likes for Pinterest.

ANTICIPATING PART TWO…things to do before heading to the next part.

Before you can advance further to the final stages of these marketing strategies on Pinterest, you need to have an analytic service provider and the best one is Pinfluencer– they offer 60-Day trial for free so you’ve got nothing to lose. Pinfluencer is a great program that will track down your pins, learn who are your followers, which of your pins are the most popular; see what your competitor is up to and many more. This is similar to Google Analytics that once you set it up you can track down current progress but can’t retrieve previous or past developments. So the sooner you get Pinfluencer the better.

BRACE YOURSELF FOR PART TWO.

This is the most exciting part, learning how to convert your pins into traffic funnel by making it a soft version of your own website. By this tactic you will surely get more traffic than you can ever imagine.  So buckle up and learn a few more tricks on part two!

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Sources for images: Flickr & Google