Typically people who say that Pinterest didn’t work for them, only worked on their Pinterest account for
Pinterest takes time, it can take several months to see if Pinterest is working for you. However, if you approach Pinterest
How Pinterest Works
Pinterest is a long haul marketing play, It’s not something you can just set and forget.
It’s different than other social channels because it functions as a search engine like Google. People use it to search for things they want and or need. They enter terms that best describe what they are looking for in the search box and Pinterest delivers the content that best matches their query.
Like Google, Pinterest takes time to optimize and it’s constantly changing and updating how it looks at signals from accounts to deliver the most relevant information for pinners queries.
In my experience, it takes a minimum of 6 months to gain traction and see the true potential for ROI (return on investment) for businesses on Pinterest. This is due to how Pinterest optimizes to deliver relevant content.
Why Businesses Fail On Pinterest
Here are the top three Pinterest mistakes that contribute to businesses not seeing the results they’d hoped for and ultimately failing on the platform.
1. No Activity
Many people decide to start a Pinterest business account simply because they think their business should be there.
Activity on Pinterest does two important things:
- It builds trust with potential customers on Pinterest. If pinners see the helpful content you share regularly it helps them remember your business. They’ll be more likely to save your website’s content and think of you when and if they need whatever your business provides.
- It builds authority. The more related content businesses have pinned on their account, the better chance they have to rank for the keywords associated with their business. Being a search engine, Pinterest wants to deliver the most relevant content when pinners use the search function. The more content businesses have related to popular search terms associated with what they sell the better chance they have for Pinterest show their content to more people.
Pinterest likes to see activity. Fresh content is what they’re all about; it’s a place for people to find helpful information, new ideas, and products and services they need. Pinterest wants to show people the best of all of those things. The bottom line is, businesses need to be active on the platform to rank for keywords associated with what they provide to be shown in search results.
2. Pinning the Wrong Content
There are markers that Pinterest’s algorithm looks for to deliver the most relevant content to Pinners. Businesses can improve their ranking for keywords associated with what they sell by consistently pinning quality content that directly relates to what their business does.
Pinning content that relates to what a business does is important for appealing to the right audience on Pinterest.
The goal for businesses on Pinterest is to find customers. And potential customers want to find expertise.
Pinning content that has nothing to do with what your business offers confuses both Pinterest and people that visit your Pinterest account.
Pinning the wrong, totally unrelated content makes consistent activity on Pinterest irrelevant;
- Doing so doesn’t build trust, or show expertise. It confuses potential customers as to what your business provides.
- It doesn’t establish you as an authority in Pinterest’s eyes either. It will hurt your ranking potential and prompt Pinterest’s search function to show your content to the wrong audience; one that’s looking for the unrelated content your pinning not content related to your business.
3. Not Planning and Pinning Strategically
In business, you want to lead potential customers to a sale. Doing so effectively takes care, effort
Leading potential customers to a sale on Pinterest is the same;
- Activity and pinning the right related content shows care and effort.
- And pinning strategically helps a business target the right audience at the right times.
People use Pinterest to plan things in their lives. Pinterest’s Possibilities Planner, published in December each year, shows people start to search for things they plan to do or want to buy twice as early as on other social platforms. It also reveals pinning trends for the 200 million people on the platform; what they’re pinning and when. It behooves businesses to use their planner to strategize what kind of content to pin and when to pin it.
Planning what kind of content you’ll be pinning in advance helps businesses pin more consistently and in keeping with what their business does. Thinking of content that relates to what your business does that follows popular trends throughout the year will help your business build authority strategically.
This takes some effort but it’s well worth it in the long run. When I create custom strategies for my clients I use Pinterest’s Possibilities Planner and then conduct market research on trends throughout the year for their product or service. I blend all of the information I learn and plan a
Typically I recommend my clients pin trend specific types of content 1 to 3 months before people will need or want buy something related to that time of year. Businesses should also use marketing and sales projections information they have for their business and factor that into their strategy as well.
The bottom line is, the key to selling success on the platform is as much about “when” to pin as it is about “what” to pin. Planning what to Pin at key times on Pinterest will help businesses attract customers when they’re ready to buy.
Conclusion
Pinterest is a great place for businesses to be. Avoiding the Pinterest mistakes listed above takes a little work. Here’s why it’s worth the effort to promote a business properly on Pinterest.
- There are 200 million people on Pinterest every month (+ 40% more than last year) and that number is growing all the time.
- A whopping 93% of those Pinners use the platform to plan purchases.
- Almost 70% say they have found new brands and products from business content on Pinterest.
- 50% of people (1 of 2) have purchased after seeing a promoted Pin.
People use Pinterest to plan things in their lives, so businesses have the potential to see great results. The Pinterest stats listed above makes that crystal clear.
Setting up your Pinterest business account properly, being active on the platform, consistently Pinning on brand content, and approaching Pinning strategically will help your business succeed on Pinterest.
