Tips for winning business through Pinterest

Let the internet's most popular online pinboard become a great way for you to build traffic and drive sales – all it takes are a few simple tweaks.

Pick your words and pictures wisely

Pinterest is all about the images, so your first priority is making sure you know which eye-catching pictures to pin. That said, you also want to ensure anyone landing on your profile knows who you are. Make the most of the ‘About us’ section with a short, fun and friendly introduction to your business.

Create compelling, cohesive boards

If you want people to start following your boards, don't upload images in a haphazard fashion. Create clearly titled boards that will make it easy for browsers to find the kind of images they're looking for. Also ensure each one highlights what it is that makes your business special.

Play to your market

According to a Pinterest report from RJMetrics, 80 per cent of users are female and an astonishing 92 per cent of pins are made by women. While men do use Pinterest, it's clear they are severely outnumbered. If you want to play to your audience, you should be creating boards with women in mind.

Use each pin to its full potential

When you're pinning product images or pictures that relate to one of your services, don't forget to include a call to action pointing browsers back to your website. You should also consider making use of some of Pinterest's specialised offerings for businesses, such as Product Pins, which allow you to include excellent extras like real-time pricing and availability.

Stay involved and engaged

As with all social media platforms, engagement is key. Set aside time to re-pin other people's pins, follow boards and comment whenever you can. The more you invest, the more likely other Pinterest users are going to follow you back and start sharing your pins. Look at sites like Etsy, which creates special guest pinner boards to connect with their followers.

Always be willing to share

Not everything you do for Pinterest is on the site itself – social integration is important as well. The easily embeddable ‘Pin It’ button is a great way to allow people to show appreciation for your images. If you add it to your blog posts and web pages, your customers might start spreading the love for you.

Devoting a little time, energy and creativity to your Pinterest board can turn it into a steady and viable stream of traffic for your website – so why wait? Find out more about this and other potential ways to market your business by scheduling a chat with your Bloomtools consultant.