When I first started hearing the buzz about marketing my business on Pinterest I knew it was something I should pay attention to but I instantly became overwhelmed. I mainly used Pinterest to Pin ideas for the next holiday, simple recipe ideas that the kids would like, and DIY home projects. 

I had heard of big names getting amazing results from Pinterest marketing but I had NO IDEA where to even start. Fast forward to today, now I’m helping clients create their own roadmap to success using Pinterest as a powerful marketing machine for their business. 

Do you feel like you don’t have a clue on where to even start with marketing on Pinterest like I did? Are you bogged down by the idea of keeping up with marketing on yet another social media platform? 

If so, I’m here to help guide you to take the next steps to make sure you gain more leads and are being found by your ideal clients.  

If you haven’t yet optimized your Pinterest business account you are in the right place! This is the first step toward getting your Pinterest account set up for success.

There are some key initial steps I’d love to share with you to get you started down the right path when it comes to your Pinterest marketing.

First, of all, you need a business account to access your Pinterest analytics.

This is the biggest reason why a personal account just won’t work for your business. You need to be able to understand your Pinterest presence in a tangible, by-the-numbers way. Your analytics will show you how many people you’re reaching with each Pin, where they’re coming from, and what content is resonating most. 

You can’t do this with a personal account.

If you don’t already have a business account, you have two options. You can convert your current personal account to a business account. Or you can open a new Pinterest account. 

It’s up to you, but if you think your personal account will need a bit of clean-up (and you don’t have time for that), you can start from scratch and create a new business account.

Next, you will need to claim your website. 

Claiming your website allows Pinterest to track the data related to the people who visit your site from Pinterest. This type of tracking allows for more in depth numbers to be captured and is such a valuable tool for you to use to create your Pinterest strategy.

If you don’t know how to claim your website on Pinterest, don’t worry. The Pinterest Help Center lays it all out step by step for you. Just click here. (https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/claim-your-website)

The key to utilizing Pinterest effectively is streamlining and interconnectedness among your online presence not only including your website but all your social media sites as well. Claiming your website is a huge part of this.

Then you’ll want to enable Rich Pins. 

What are Rich Pins? First of all, they’re brilliant. Seriously.

In Pinterest’s own words, “Rich Pins are a type of organic Pin format that provide more context about an idea by showing extra information directly on the Pin.” 

There are three types of Pins—product, article, and recipe—and they’re absolutely free. 

They not only add metadata (which is just a fancy way of saying extra details), they also provide up-to-date information, like edits you make to your blog posts. 

Read all about them here. (https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/rich-pins)

Update that Profile Picture!

This one seems like a no-brainer, but so many people neglect to do it—or they don’t do it well. Ask yourself the following questions about your profile pic:

• Is my photo clear?
• Is there white space around it?
• If I use a logo, is it clear?
• Is the entire logo visible and not cut off?

Pinterest users like to follow people, and they want to see who they’re following. Make sure you put your best face forward and take your profile picture seriously and professionally.

While you’re at it, update your profile description.

Is your profile up-to-date? Does it match your current social media sites, or was it last updated three years ago? 

Just like with our profile picture, we often overlook this way-too-obvious, but oh-so-important step.

What should your profile description include? 

Important keywords, for sure. You want your profile to come up when people are searching for the services and products you offer.

Consider how you are serving your ideal client and make that clear in your profile. Don’t make them search to find out who you are and what you can do for them. They should be able to tell just by reading your profile description.       

Organize your Pinterest Boards to share your most important information first.

Make sure your most important boards (the ones that have content that lead to your website) are easy to find. 

Share the boards that contain your pin content first, then what’s trending or most popular, then what’s seasonally relevant. Anything else should go after that. 

Use the option to rearrange your boards to ensure your most important content is seen first. You can easily drag and drop your boards in the order you would like. That’s what makes Pinterest so great.

Those are just a few tips—the basics—but they’re super important. I’ll share more detailed optimization tips soon. 

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