Building an effective Pinterest Business account is different than setting up and running other social channels, and using Pinterest for business marketing can drive a ton of traffic to your website. However setting up and posting to Pinterest is more like building a website in that it takes time and effort to see the biggest returns.
Here’s how Pinterest can help your business.
The content you post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat has a remarkably short lifespan. You publish content on any of these platforms and the majority of impressions and engagements drop off dramatically anywhere between 18 minutes to a few days later.
Having a Pinterest strategy for business is extremely important as content posted to a Pinterest account lives on much, much longer. Pins can show up in pinners smart feeds months and even years later if your content is relevant to what they’re searching for.
Also, the content that you post on your Pinterest account lives on your page forever. It doesn’t slip away chronologically, falling out of sight out of mind, like most other social platforms.
The bottom line is, what you post to Pinterest is really important, especially if your goal is to win customers to buy your services and/or products. Pinning with purpose is key to converting pinners to buyers.
Here’s everything you need to know about Pinterest marketing, how to a pin on Pinterest including re-pinning content directly from Pinterest, uploading images to create a pin yourself, and how to pin images from your website and other sites. Also, pro tips for what to pin, how much to pin too.
Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
How to Re-pin Directly From Pinterest
There are a few different ways to find great content to re-pin on Pinterest. Re-pinning is as simple as hovering over a pin with your mouse, choosing a board to pin to from the
- By clicking on “Home” along the top toolbar. Pinterest will then display pins based on your recent activity including some from people, topics, and boards that you’ve chosen to follow.
- By entering a query in the search box. Pro tip- This is the way I search for pins to re-pin the most. It allows you to get really specific with the content you want to see. For example typing in “business tips” I can find tons of content that relates to that topic. Clicking on the tiles below the search box I can refine the results even more and find pins specific to “small business tips”, “online business tips”, “Etsy business tips”, and more.
- By clicking on “Following” along the top toolbar. Here you’ll find pins only from the people you are following.
Pro tip– Never re-pin your own content direct from a board on your Pinterest account to a different board on your account. Always upload a pin or pin directly from your website to re-pin content to different boards on your account.
Pinterest frowns on re-pinning from an account to the same account as doing so can be used as a way to increase the number of re-pins on a pin artificially.
Pinterest favors fresh content, or “fresh pins” that originate from outside the Pinterest platform (uploading an image and attaching it to a URL from your website or pinning directly from the URL attached to your Pinterest business account).
Always re-pin content from other pinners and upload pins or pin your own content directly from your website.
How to Pin From Your Website and From Other Sites
The easiest way to pin from any website is to get the Pinterest browser button. Learn more about getting a Pinterest button for your browser.
Once you have the Pinterest browser button you can hover over an image on a webpage and the “Save” button will appear. Click on it and pin the article or product page to whichever board you choose on your Pinterest account.
Pinning from your own website you can use your own Pinterest social sharing button if you’ve installed a social sharing buttons plugin on your site. If you don’t have sharing buttons you can use the Pinterest browser button you installed above or better yet use a great social share plugin for your WordPress Site. Not only is Social Warfare a fabulous plugin for all your sharing needs it is particularly useful for Pinterest. You can skyrocket your content’s success by uploading a Pinterest-specific image and description as well with Social Warfare you can enable the “Image Hover Pin Button” that will place a “Pin” button over top of every image inside of your content.
How to Create a Pin Uploading an Image From Your Computer
- Under your business name and profile, there’s a search bar that gives you different ways to view your account. Click on “Pins”.
- Here you’ll see pins that you’ve published to your account. The first space allows you to “Create a Pin”. Click on the red + button to get started.
- Next, you’ll see you can “drag and drop” a photo, “upload an image” from your computer or “save from a site”. Choose whichever method you prefer to post an image.
- Fill out the description where it says “Say more about this pin”. Try to include keywords that best relate to your business. If you can include keywords that are in your business name and profile, great! Make sure you choose keywords that fit naturally and relate to what’s happening in the image. Add 3 to 5 relevant hashtags after your description. Again, make sure the hashtags relate to what’s in your description and the image. I always include the business name as the first hashtag, then 2 others that best describe what the content attached to the pin is about.
- Copy and paste a URL (a web address) to link the pin to. Never publish an image that isn’t linked to a URL.
- Select a board to pin your pin to.
- Next, click if you want to publish your pin immediately or at a later date. The ability to schedule a specific time for your content to be published right on the Pinterest platform is a newer feature. I like to use it because it allows me to choose specific times to publish my own content. Generally, Pinterest users are more active on the platform evenings and weekends. I usually choose times between 7-10 PM Central Time to publish my own pins.
What Kind of Content to Pin
It is so easy to get side tracked on Pinterest when you’re looking for content to pin to your account.
I try to focus on pinning to specific boards each day. First choosing my own content (from my website), then I decide which board I’m going to pin it to.
How Much to Pin Each Day
Being active on Pinterest is paramount to businesses seeing any kind of success on the platform. Especially when an account is new.
When I set up Pinterest business accounts for my clients I optimize them for specific keywords. Continuing to pin content that relates to these keywords daily will help businesses improve their chances of ranking in search results for topics that relate to what their business offers.
Pinterest is not a “set it and forget it” type of social channel. It’s a long haul marketing play that takes time and consistent activity to see results.
This doesn’t mean you need to pin all day long but, showing up everyday or every other day consistently is important. I recommend pinning 10-15 pins a day. That’s 300-450 pins a month on average. If it’s a little less (5-10 a day) or a little more (20-30 a day) that’s just fine. What’s important is being active on the platform consistently.
Being consistent doesn’t mean you need to be pinning in real time all the time. You can bulk schedule and automate pinning with apps like Tailwind. Pinterest still looks at those pins the same way they look at pins you pin in real time.
Suffice it to say, pinning consistently every day (or every other day) is a must. But, knowing when to pin your content is another thing to consider too.
There are times throughout each day when people are more active on Pinterest. Typically, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are the busiest days. This makes sense as people use Pinterest to plan various things in their lives and the weekend gives people time to plan out their upcoming week. The platform is less busy during working hours but evenings and
As an API approved Pinterest partner, Tailwind’s scheduling app shares data for the best times to pin for your audience every day.
But, if you don’t have Tailwind, I know through research and personal experience these times are best for manual pinning, they are all based on Eastern Standard Time:
- EST Everyday– between 8–11 p.m. with 9 p.m. being peak time.
- EST Friday and Weekends– 2–4 a.m., 1-3pm, and 2–4 p.m.
The Bottom Line on Effective Pinning
Pinterest is not a set it and forget it platform. If you want to see results for your business you need to be consistently active. You won’t see results right away, building an effective traffic driving Pinterest business account takes time, 3 months of activity on average.
Tailwind takes a lot of the guess work and time suck out of pinning. It gives you access to excellent automation and marketing tools that you can’t find anywhere else for Pinterest.
Overall here are best practices for how to pin, what to pin, and how much to pin:
- Get sharing buttons on your website, the Pinterest browser button, or the Pinterest “save” button for your site. Avoid re-repining your own content from one board on your Pinterest account to another board on your account. Always pin your own content directly from your URL or upload an image and attach your URL to pin to Pinterest as a “fresh pin”.
- Find content to re-pin by entering search terms in the search box on Pinterest or by clicking on “Home” or “Following” along the top toolbar.
- Pin 10-15 pins a day. That’s 300-450 pins a month on average. If it’s a little less (5-10 a day) or a little more (20-30 a day) that’s just fine.
- Pin at the right times; Everyday (Eastern Standard Time)- between 8–11 p.m. with 9 p.m. being peak time. Friday and Weekends- 2–4 a.m., 1-3pm, and 2–4 p.m.
Not pinning enough is a common mistake that businesses make on Pinterest. Following these tips on will help you build and grow your Pinterest business account the right way.
