Updated December 29, 2020

Pinterest Strategy for 2021: How to Conduct a Pinterest Audit for Your Business

They say that preparation is the mark of a professional. Well if that’s the case are you ready for 2021 with your new Pinterest Strategy? 

Have you had the Pinterest account professionally audited in order to know what is working and what is not before you develop your go forward strategy? If you expect your Pinterest account to perform a hell of a lot better next year that means the first thing you need to do is a check-up. You have to know your starting point.  That’s just Pinterest Strategy 101. Many of us see a doctor annually for a check-up right? Well why not your Pinterest account too?

I know from experience that having a clear, step by step plan for how a business uses Pinterest will dramatically increase your chance of success – more traffic and sales! 

That first step in your 2021 check-up is to either do your own internal audit of your Pinterest account or hire a Pinterest expert to do it for you. 

In this blog post I’m going to reveal…

• what an audit is
• why you need an audit
• who it’s for
• and what an audit must include in order to develop a new, solid Pinterest strategy for 2021.

Are you ready? Let’s do this!

1. What is a Pinterest marketing audit & strategy review?

An important part of developing a Pinterest Strategy is an audit.

A Pinterest marketing audit and strategy review is the process where a Pinterest expert with “trained eyes” (yup that’s right…these are not for newbies to do) reviews and inspects how the account is being operated relative to the goals of the account.  In addition to analyzing what’s working, what’s not working, and what specific steps need to be taken moving forward to improve the performance of the account. But guess what? You also need to know Pinterest’s algorithm (which changes constanstly BTW) in order for your strategy to work. 

You probably don’t look forward to audits yourself. Seriously would you get excited if the IRS knocked on your door to ask about your tax returns? Okay I’m exaggerating. But you know what I mean.

2. So why do you really need a Pinterest marketing audit for your business? And, how often do you need to do an audit?

Pinterest marketing rules and algorithm are always changing; what that means to you is that you have to change too in order to “keep up” and keep current.  I’ll explain in a bit what algorithm really means.

If you have not had an audit in the past 12 months or longer then this is for you. You need the right pieces, in the right places, at the right time using the most current best practices in order to maximize the results of Pinterest. 

In other words, you need a game plan (otherwise known as Pinterest strategy) that features the most current changes and what is working now to guide your success. 

In my Pinterest Marketing Audit and Strategy Guide I look at…

• what you are doing wrong so you can avoid making those same mistakes moving forward
• where you can improve so you get the results you want
• what a step by step plan would look like for you moving forward so you have the peace of mind that you are doing everything correctly and in the right sequence

I basically do all the thinking for you and you will be the one to execute/implement my expert recommendations.

What’s an Algorithm?

Before I go any further let me explain as simply as possible what an algorithm is. 

First, all social media networks have algorithms. It’s their way of sorting what to posts in their users’ feeds based on how relevant the content is when it’s published. They’re like judges deciding if your pins are even worthy of being seen:)

Second, networks prioritize what content a user sees in their feeds by calculating the likelihood that the user actually wants to see that kind of content based on how the algorithm has profiled each user’s preferences, like and dislikes. That’s why in many cases you have to be very clever and strategic when when the right types of content should be published on Pinterest. For example, Pinterest Trends is a beneficial tool to see what’s trending on Pinterest so you can decide when to publish your content especially if they are not evergreen. 

3. Who are the ideal candidates for the Pinterest marketing audit and strategy review?

a. Busy people

The Pinterest audit and strategy review is designed for busy people who do not have the time or have chosen not to take a Pinterest Marketing for Business course but would rather manage their Pinterest business account on their own anyway. 

You’re thinking really Anna… “Take a course”?  Yes, if you have never taken a Pinterest marketing course designed for businesses that tells me that you’re probably (at best) just reading a blogs and therefore you probably don’t fully understand how to use Pinterest. Guarantee you don’t know everything:) 

Those types of people are 99% likely to be behind Pinterest’s latest changes and it is very likely they are operating their account using outdated strategies and tactics. (And wondering why Pinterest is “not working” better for them.)

This is working without a Pinterest strategy.

b. People who have not yet fully figured out how to maximize Pinterest 

I give you kudos for at least trying to figure out how Pinterest works. Maybe you’re trying to do it on your own because you like it.  Okay I get that. Just know that figuring it out on your own is an absolute waste of time and money. There is a very good chance your account is not even set up correctly.  For example, did you know that there are six different places you have to insert your keywords when you set up your Pinterest account? Six. If your account is not set up correctly how is anyone supposed to find you when they search for your products or services?

I absolutely believe that if you do not have the knowledge or expertise to do the job correctly then hire someone else who knows what they’re doing. It’s smart business to do so. Successful people focus on what they do best.  They know that’s smart business. They focus on their natural abilities, meaning work that comes easy to them or they have the know-how. They don’t try to force themselves to do it all which eventually results in frustration, missed opportunities and burnout.  No one wants that. 

Those who try to wing it, cross their fingers and hope that what they are doing will work eventually write to me or others and say H E L P! Most of the business owners who struggle with Pinterest sadly just keep doing what they’re doing, without using an up to date, effective Pinterest strategy, and expecting things to get better but they never do. Hmmm… keep doing the same thing over and over, year after year and expecting different results.  Didn’t Einstein have something to say about that?  

c. New Pinterest managers

Did you just lose or fire the person managing your Pinterest account? In order for your new hire to be successful they need to be set up for success.

Unfortunately, most business owners are not qualified to train someone on how to professionally manage a Pinterest account for a business.  Heck, that’s what I do. So unless you’ve been doing what I’ve been doing for the last seven years; coaching businesses and Pinterest managers then we have a problem. 

Don’t be cheap about doing things right when it comes to marketing your business. If you’re looking for cheap help you’ll get cheap results. Does that sound like a smart stragegy? Cutting corners will cost you big time. You know this. Think about a time in your life, personal or business when you focused solely on getting the cheapest price? How did that work out for you? And guesss what? Sometimes you may not see the negative effects of your mistakes for several months later, or even later, when it might be too late. Think about your biggest competitor getting on Pinterest and dominating while you flounder.  They get traffic and growth and get stronger while you possibly stay the same or worse. 

You can’t imagine how many emails I get from people who had their Pinterest business account shut down because they simply didn’t know what they didn’t know. Unfortunately Pinterest is not going to give you a second chance because no one told you the rules. You read that right, Pinterest shuts down accounts all the time because people break rules they didn’t even know about. Pinterest is not going to overlook your ignorance or lack of experience. You can beg them all you want and say “hey I didn’t know” and they won’t care people. They want users to have a great experience and if your pinning activities is not in keeping with their best practices well I’m sorry but Pinterest is not going to give you another chance. 

d. Businesses who have changed their products and service offerings

If you have not made any changes to your product collections and/or services in the past year then it may not be necessary to do an audit. 

If you have removed or added new products and/or services then you will need a new keyword strategy. The amount of content you can realistically produce must be determined from the very beginning. If you are inconsistent with the amount of pins you publish daily that will hurt you. So knowing some numbers ahead of time can help you determine if you need extra help down the road. 

e. If you’ve changed who you want to target as part of your Pinterest strategy

For example, you might have been targeting college students in the past but now realize for whatever reason that targeting the 40 something crowd with kids in 2021 would be a smarter strategy. Well if that’s the case your content needs to completely change in order to speak to the 40 somethings with kids. That means you’ll need an audit!

I often see many businesses don’t have a clear idea on their niche.

4. What should your Pinterest audit and strategy review include?

First your audit should be conducted by a qualified Pinterest expert. Your audit should include the following:

1. Identifying the correct keywords that connect you to your target audience.
2. Optimizing your brand profile so you rank high under “People” on Pinterest’s search engine.
3. Providing you with tips to help promote your Pinterest business page through other socials and marketing materials.
4. Providing you with tips on how to set-up your website and blog to get more Pinterest followers and to get visitors to share your products on Pinterest.
5. Providing you with the correct keywords and an SEO strategy that you can begin adding to your pin descriptions, product titles & descriptions (and website) so your content gets found at the top of the search engine.
6. Cleaning up a certain amount of boards so they rank high on both Pinterest’s & Google’s search engine.
7. Adjusting your account settings section within your account so you don’t miss vital information from Pinterest.
8. Recommendations on the types of images that work best for your business.
9. Creating branded Pinterest images to drive shoppers to your online store and/or blog. 
10. A step by step checklist on how to manage your account: daily, weekly, & monthly using checklists and a template.
11. A description & checklist of what to include in your pin descriptions so you get found on Pinterest’s search engine first ahead of your competition.
12. A list of board titles to help you get found by new customers.
13. Organizing all your existing boards and provide a step by step checklist outlining how to reorganize your boards in the future.
14. Instructions on what and how many images to pin and repin every month.
15. Instructions on the best days and times to pin.
16. Guidelines on how to join group boards and those to avoid so you don’t lose followers.
17. Identifying your best performing content so you do more of what’s working. 
18. Recommendations on people to follow on Pinterest.
19. A follow-up call to review the strategy you’ll need to follow.
20. Some sort of email support for a specific time frame so that you have the peace of mind that you can reach out and get help when you need it. 

 

Summary

Pinterest marketing audits done by Pinterest Marketing experts like me are the best solution for most businesses because they don’t have the time to study or do any kind of research. 

In addition…

1. you’ll save a ton of time and money
2. you’ll avoid mistakes and STRESS
3. there are no meetings with your social media team to attend

The Pinterest expert is the one that conducts the audit and the one who will create the step by step new Pinterest strategy for you to follow. 

Doesn’t it make sense for someone who has the expertise to create the perfect Pinterest plan for you? Then all you have to do is follow it. I do the hard part while you do the easy part. Doesn’t that sound so much more fun and less stressful? 

Bottom line folks, I’ll always have the perfect Pinterest solution for you. If you’re still not sure if you should do an audit or maybe you’re thinking about outsourcing the management of your Pinterest account go ahead and reach out to me on our contact page. 

I wish you all the best in 2021! You can do this!