For small business owners, there’s almost nothing more important than getting your name out there where potential customers and clients can connect. Since small businesses typically have small advertising budgets, social media has become the bread and butter of small business advertising. On Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter you’re able to inform and engage with your customers, get feedback, and promote products. Yet many small business owners are missing out on one of the most important social channels: Pinterest. The image sharing and mood board website is rarely considered essential for the modern business. However studies have shown that successfully drives unique, highly engaged traffic to large and small businesses alike. alike.
For getting your business services or products in front of the right people, It’s important to utilize every platform available to you, including Pinterest. So to make the most of your strategy, learn how to make Pinterest work for you.
Why pinterest works for small business
Pinterest isn’t only for bloggers and designers to save their favorite photos. Every month, 300 Million people use pinterest, and of those users almost 90% use it to make purchase decisions. Pinterest users are incredibly primed to purchase. Most of the time they’re using the site to plan projects, decide on decor, or learn how to do something new. Each of these tasks means that they’re very close to making a purchase. With a little insight into how people use Pinterest, and what your potential customers might be searching for, you can make sure your products or services or in front of the right eyes at the right time.
Because Pinterest users are often using the site to brainstorm, they tend to be very open to discovering new brands. This helps to make Pinterest a great platform for small businesses, who would otherwise struggle to compete against more recognizable brands.
Pinterest helps small businesses out additionally with its search algorithm. Unlike other platforms, pins are not sorted by the poster’s authority or reputation, but only quality and relevance. This means that small companies have just as much opportunity to show up at the top of a search as large companies, given the content is equal.
For those with a bit more room in their budget, Pinterest also offers strategic advertising option. With a promoted pin, you can ensure that your content is seen by relevant demographics and generate more purchases.
How to Set Up Your Pinterest Profile
1. Set up your profile page
The first step to getting your Pinterest profile up and running is opening and optimizing your account. You have the option of creating a regular user account or a business account. With a business account, you can use Pinterest’s insights feature, and have access to marketing education.
When you create a profile page, include keywords in the “About me” section so you will show up more often in relevant searches. This is similar to how Instagram’s hashtag feature works for both profiles and posts, so it should be simple to pick up.
2. Create great content
Just as with every social media platform, what you share is an essential aspect in determining how much interest you generate. Create engaging, informative, or unique content to draw the attention of as many people as possible. Spend time on Pinterest learning what tends to get shared more often. Find your audience and learn what they share on Pinterest. If you sell products designed for children, you may want to create things relevant to moms, like recipes for the whole family. It may take some time to perfect your content strategy, but the good thing is that you can often share posts across multiple platforms.
Knowing who your target audience is and what they’re most interested in will go a long way in helping you create great content.
3. Make it easy
Posting across platforms can easily become incredibly time-consuming. While frequent content is one of the best ways to build engagement online, spending all day on social media is not conducive to a successful business. That’s why you should consider utilizing a content scheduler. With the program of your choice, you can create many posts ahead of time, and set them to go live at optimal times.
If you’re keeping a blog, or have a business website, make it easy for others to share your images on Pinterest. There are Pinterest share buttons that can enable visitors to your website to save your content to Pinterest feeds. This way everything you create has more odds of being seen by users on Pinterest.
Pinterest is a great way to reach an engaged and receptive audience, without changing much about your content strategy. Pinterest allows users large and small to them to compete alongside each other, making it an ideal platform for small business owners. To learn more about how to set up the ideal Pinterest profile, take a look at this excellent infographic by Fundera:
