When it comes to social media, there are obvious key players in contributing to growth online. Those players take form in the names of Facebook and Instagram. But as business owners, it's important to understand there is more outside of this box. More to help you grow your business, expand your niche audience and target people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
One of these niche, more specifically targeted platforms is Pinterest. An underdog with some serious untapped potential, and a channel dubbed the most positive corner of the Internet, Pinterest is designed to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love. But beyond the unimaginable wedding dress pins, drool-worthy recipes and minimalistic home decor, there is a whole world of Pinterest dedicated to building a brand and growing said brand. In this blog, we're going to take you through why you need to get your business on Pinterest, how you can optimise your Pins to win and some epic ways you can increase traffic on your Pinterest profile.
Why Pinterest?
It's time to stop thinking of Pinterest as just another social media platform. Pinterest is a visual discovery platform, and with the right strategy, Pinterest can be a super-powerful tool for your business. Think of it as personal media rather than social media, and think of how you can use it in a relatable way to attract a segment of your audience who are building their dream life on the platform.
There are over 400M+ users searching and sharing inspiration on Pinterest every month — that’s a huge, engaged audience with real purchasing power! In a nutshell, here's some key stats when it comes to Aussie users on Pinterest:
- 400m people worldwide come to Pinterest each month.
- 7.9m people in Australia come to Pinterest each month.
- 240 billion + Pins saved.
- 5 billion + Boards created
And when analysing the Australian demographic actively using Pinterest, here's what we know:
- 37% of users are Australian mums.
- 2 in 5 users are Australian millennials.
- 53% of users are Australian millennial women.
- 26% of users are Australian millennial men.
Although a big chunk of the Australian Pinterest demographic is dedicated to millennials, one notable feature of this audience is the fact that they are decisions makers and are much more open to change. This is big when approaching a new platform with your content.
One of the biggest things that makes Pinterest a platform you need to be on, is it's incredibly long lifespan of posts. The average Pin has a lifespan of 105 days... yes, 105 days!!! When you first create a Pin, the chances are that you won’t be inundated with likes and comments. Instead, over time, your Pins will be discovered through search. And if you’ve nailed your Pin strategy, they’ll gradually be saved again and again, spreading across the Pinterest community.
This slow-burn strategy might not provide the instant return you’re familiar with on Instagram or Facebook, but it does mean that a single Pin can still be driving fresh brand awareness months — if not years — down the line.
One of the best ways to bump up your long-term brand awareness is to create and save content consistently on your Pinterest account.
Optimising your Pins to win!
Taking into account that Pinterest is a visual search engine, it’s important to create original Pins that stand out from the crowd! In creating creative and successful Pins, it's also important to consider how to can build a loyal audience that is passionate about the content you publish.
In a recent webinar hosted by the team at Pinterest themselves, they noted that it's important to lean on these three pillars to optimise the content you create:
- Create fresh Pins
- Optimise for discovery
- Build an audience
Here's some key things to consider in sticking to these pillars and creating your content:
- Create Branded Content That’s Tailored to Your Audience
- Create Pins frequently and consistently- you should be aiming for at least once a week.
- Avoid posting a flurry of Pins at once.
- Have an eye-catching image that appeals to your audience, and fits the aspect ratios.
- Be thoughtful about the images and copy you create, this can help your Pins get more people to see them.
- Create seasonally relevant Pins- these always perform super well!
- Leverage your Audience Insights
- Claim your domain and social accounts to give you more attribution.
- Add your Pinterest follow button to your email or website.
- Create video Pins.
By doing these things, you are optimising your chances of gaining more organic reach and engagement on the platform, and are increasing the chance of having your Pins be seen for days, weeks or even months to come!
Increasing Traffic to your Pinterest Profile
Followers are always great to have, but attracting a high volume of traffic on Pinterest is even more important — especially when your goal is to turn browsers into lifelong customers. In fact, the number of monthly viewers is probably the most important stat to pay attention to on your profile page. So don’t worry too much about your follower count on Pinterest. Start optimizing your Pins for more traffic instead! Here's some tips to get you started:
Optimize For Search - The trick is to add relevant keywords on Pinterest that are specific to your business, and aligned with what your target audience is searching for. Think of it like SEO for a blog post.
Pin Regularly- Thanks to the Pinterest algorithm, more recent Pins are more likely to be surfaced above older ones in a search result. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to regularly publish new Pins to increase your traffic — even when you feel as though your boards are aesthetically “complete”.
Create Ads on Pinterest With Promoted Pins- Promoted Pins are the easiest way to get your product in front of the right audience — as your Pins will be surfaced in more search results.
Create Relevant, Highly Shareable Pins- Creating Pins that resonate with your audience is one of the quickest ways to encourage saves on Pinterest. However, it’s definitely worth aligning your shareable Pins with your brand DNA. A fun but irrelevant Pin might serve for a quick return, but it won’t help your brand perception in the long run.
With a successful Pinterest marketing strategy, you can build an audience that loves your content, engages with your brand, and buys your products. It's a great way to find new people who connect with you do and build up another element in your social media strategy. So what are you waiting for? Get Pinning today!