How Does a Business Become Successful Using Pinterest for Business?

As a Pinterest marketing expert I often get asked by bloggers and business owners if they should invest in Pinterest for business. Well that depends on a few factors.

Just by looking at your website for two minutes or less I can tell if you should even bother with using Pinterest for business or not. If someone is going to be using Pinterest for business results they need to know what they must absolutely do with Pinterest to make it a successful way to grow; awareness, traffic and sales.

In business there’s definitely a recipe for success. It must include the right ingredients or you’ll end up wasting money which I’m sure you cannot afford to do. The basic Pinterest for business ingredients include: 

1. You need a website so you can promote your content on Pinterest.

When users click on your content from Pinterest it goes back to your website so they can learn more about it or buy it. That’s how you get traffic from Pinterest. If you’re on Amazon or Etsy it works the same way.  Pinterest for business is about driving traffic back to your business.

2. If you don’t have a lot of products or services to sell you will need a blog.

You can’t just keep sharing the same product images over and over on Pinterest because of their algorithm. Pinterest will stop showing them. Pinterest prefers to show fresh content to Pinners which is why you either need to blog or create compelling infographics to further educate your target audience. Making Pinterest for business work is about providing continually fresh content.

3. You must have helpful and inspirational content that people can take action on.

You must create content that you will be able to repurpose in a form of; checklists, guides, ebooks, how to’s, video tutorials, templates, and so forth.  That’s because Pinterest users are on Pinterest looking for ways to have a better life, a better body, a better career, a better this and that.

Make it easy for them to consume your educational content. Using Pinterest for business purposes is about being helpful.

4. You need the right types of images.

You need the right types of images specifically designed for Pinterest to get the traffic ahead of or before your competition does. You can’t just slap on the same old images you’re using for on Facebook or Instagram on Pinterest.

A different platform requires different types, sizes and shapes of images to outperform. For example, a food recipe is going to be very different from a fashion image.

5. You need to know how to use Pinterest marketing for business.

That means you need to take an online course preferably from a recognized Pinterest expert. One that is also acknowledged by Pinterest as being a Pinterest for business marketing expert. You can’t wing this folks.

There is a ton of science to Pinterest including besides pinning consistently, including knowing the best times to pin, the types of boards you must have, there is so much you need to know about Pinterest marketing for business. Do it wrong and you’ll waste all that precious time and money because you will get zero results.  Then you’ll blame Pinterest.  No, mastering Pinterest for business is a learned professional skill and you need to be properly trained to master it and get impactful results.

Winging it is for wingnuts:)

If you have the first five ingredients listed above then keep on reading. If not, say buh-bye Pinterest.

 

 

6. Identify the correct keywords to use.

Mastering Pinterest for business is heavily dependent on you knowing and using the perfect keywords for your business. Many people make the mistake of failing to identify the correct keywords for their business and then wonder why they aren’t successful on Pinterest. If you’re not using the right keywords; meaning the exact ones your target audience is using to search with then can’t expect people to find you.

In order to master Pinterest for business remember Pinterest is a search engine. HINT: They are not Google’s keywords either.  Pinterest keywords. They are often very different.

7. You need to invest in Pinterest ads.

If you want to get in front of new customers as quickly as possible using Pinterest for business you need to pay Pinterest so that they will push your content to your target audience. It’s simply not enough to grow your traffic organically anymore. Start with a small budget and work your way up to other types of targeting. 

8. You need to keep up with Pinterest’s changes. 

You need to keep up with Pinterest’s best practices and algorithm in order to maximize your visibility when people are looking for your types of products and services. This is a huge part of operating Pinterest for business successfully because they make changes all the time. 

I believe that’s the reason why people say my Pinterest for business marketing course is so amazing compared to others is because I offer six months of personalized email support so you get the right up to date / real time information when you need it.  Plus I inform you of Pinterest changes for life.

I’ve been managing Pinterest accounts for businesses and performing audits for bloggers and businesses for 7 years. I can tell you for a fact if you have not had your Pinterest account professionally audited like a “check-up” for at least a year then you’re definitely making mistakes that are costing you traffic and sales. This is especially vital if your company has changed its branding, product and service offerings.

You might even be asking yourself if Pinterest is right for you.  Maybe, if you are in the right verticals it is, or maybe the real question is are you operating your Pinterest for business account using all the most up to date and proven best strategies and techniques?

Bottom line, if you have not had your account audited in the past 12 months you should.  Even a few changes can have a huge impact on your brand awareness, traffic and sales

Summary

Just like you need a specific (proven) recipe to make a lovely, bouncy sponge cake you need a recipe to use Pinterest for business successfully too. You must…

• have a website
• blog if you don’t have a lot of products and services to sell
• have the right content to create and share
• have the right types of images for your vertical
• take an online course or hire a Pinterest manager
• use the correct keywords
• invest in Pinterest ads
• keep up with Pinterest’s best practices and algorithm

 

If you use Pinterest for business correctly you will have an opportunity to connect with your target audience before they buy. Meaning you can win their heart and mind before a competitors does.

The way to win the hearts of Pinterest users is to be helpful. Think about what your target customers are struggling with day in and day out, what they fear, what they need and then create content that speaks to those needs. When you do this you build trust. People need to trust businesses before they’ll think of opening their wallets to them. 

Remember Pinterest users are on a journey to create the life they’ve always dreamed of or to solve problems. The sooner you can connect with them on that journey the more success you will have using Pinterest for business.