Maximizing Your Pinterest Presence in 2023: A Beginner’s Guide to Success on the Platform

Today I’m gonna cover WHY you should use Pinterest for Marketing your business and how to optimize your Pinterest profile so you are effective!

Hi there! I’m Jen Vazquez and I guide hyper-busy female service providers to create one streamlined marketing workflow that increases efficiency, produces greater returns, and honors their energy through my proven Pinterest Marketing Method.

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The Power of Pinterest Funnels for Service-Based Business Owners

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Think of Pinterest as the top of a sales funnel. As of the second quarter of 2022, Pinterest had 433 million monthly active users worldwide.

In case you were wondering if you’re going to find your target audience on Pinterest— ** Spoiler Alert** YOU ARE!!

Pinterest is an amazing place for you to get started and to grow your traffic as well as your income:

• Half of Pinterest users make $50,000 or more a year, which means they have a high disposable income paying for your products or services.  
• 87% of Pinterest users who are active on Pinterest every single week have bought a product because of interest, meaning they chose to purchase something because they saw it on Pinterest. 
• 97% of searches on Pinterest are unbranded now unbranded means that they are coming from accounts that aren’t really big brands or companies. This means smaller companies and entrepreneurs can get discovered and don’t have to compete with big brands like on Instagram. Google and YouTube are harder to get discovered. 

The bottom line is this Pinterest is EASIER to get found than any other social media platform, so using me as an example, I spend about 65% of my time on Instagram but in my google analytics, the top performer of traffic to my website is Pinterest. Between 68-82% of all traffic is consistently coming from Pinterest. 

Also, consider the average lifespan of a pin is right up there with blogs. Some of my top pins are from 6+ years ago. Instagram is 24-72 hours. Enough said. So let’s jump into my 8 tips to optimize your Pinterest account:

1 | Keywords

The first step in optimizing your Pinterest profile for maximum impact is to identify and use relevant keywords. These keywords are the “secret sauce” that can help your business get found on Pinterest to serve the information up to your ideal clients. 

Consider using keywords in your profile and content.  This way, you can make it more likely that your business will be discovered by potential customers who are searching for information on topics that are relevant to your products or services. Also, by investing the time and effort to research and incorporate the right keywords into your profile and your whole Pinterest strategy, you can help improve the visibility and relevance of your business on the platform, and potentially attract more traffic and customers.

What are Keywords?

Keywords are the words or phrases that your ideal client uses to search for information on topics that are relevant to your business. By identifying and using the right keywords in your Pinterest profile and content, you can make it more likely that your business will be discovered by potential customers who are searching for solutions to their problems or needs. To maximize the effectiveness of your keywords, it’s important to focus on those that are popular and commonly used on Pinterest, and that are directly related to the content and solutions that you offer. By using the right keywords, you can help improve the visibility and relevance of your business on the platform, and potentially attract more traffic and customers.

Multiple Ways To Find Keywords

There are multiple ways to find keywords, but I’ll share two of the most popular ways.

The first way to find keywords that will be relevant to your audience and content on Pinterest, you can use the search bar on the platform. Start by typing in a few keywords or phrases that are related to your business and its products or services. As you type, pay attention to the drop-down menu that appears, as this will show you the most popular and commonly used keywords on Pinterest that are related to your search. Write down any keywords or keyword phrases that are relevant to your audience and content, as these can be used in your Pinterest profile and content to help improve its visibility and relevance on the platform. By investing the time and effort to research and incorporate the right keywords into your Pinterest strategy, you can help attract more traffic and potential customers to your business.

The second way to find relevant keywords is to use the Pinterest Trends Tool. This tool allows you to see how your keywords are currently trending on the platform, and if there are any other relevant trending keywords that you can use to improve the visibility and relevance of your business.

The Pinterest Trends Tool has recently been updated, and now offers a range of filters that you can use to customize your search and see the most relevant keywords for your business and its audience. By using the Pinterest Trends Tool, you can gain valuable insights into the keywords that are currently popular on the platform, and incorporate them into your Pinterest strategy to help attract more traffic and potential customers to your business.

2 | Business Account

If you want to use Pinterest to market your business, it is essential to have a business account on the platform. There are two ways to create a business account on Pinterest: you can convert your existing personal account, or you can create a new business account from scratch. 

To convert your personal account, follow these steps: 

1. log in to your personal account
2. click on the three dots in the top right corner and select “Settings,” 
3. click on the “Account” tab, 
4. scroll down to the “Account Type” section and select “Business,” 
5. follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. 

To create a new business account, follow these steps: 

1. visit the Pinterest website
2. click on the “Sign Up” button in the top right corner
3. select “Business” from the options
4. enter your business information
5. follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process. 

By creating a business account on Pinterest, you can gain access to a range of tools and features that are specifically designed to help businesses grow and succeed on the platform.

JEN TIP: Choose a username that reflects your business name or brand.  It will become part of the url for your Pinterest account. This will help users find and recognize your account when they’re searching for related content on Pinterest.

3 | Profile Image

To help your business stand out on Pinterest and attract more traffic and potential customers, it’s important to include an engaging and high-quality image on your profile. 

If you are a solo entrepreneur or small business with fewer than four people, it’s recommended to use an image of yourself on your profile, as this can help create a personal connection with your audience and build trust and credibility. 

If you are a larger company with multiple employees, you may consider using a logo on your profile, but in most cases, it’s still recommended to use an image of yourself or your team to create a more personal and human connection with your audience. 

By choosing the right image for your profile, you can help improve the visibility and relevance of your business on Pinterest, and potentially attract more traffic and potential customers to your profile and content.

You can upload or change your profile image in the settings area. 

JEN TIP:  Use the same image that you have on other social media accounts like Instagram and TikTok.  You will have more success on Pinterest booking clients if your profile image matches.  It is typically part of the client journey that they will check you out on Instagram to confirm you’re a “real person” and/or look at your content to get a better feel for who you are.

4 | Name

When setting up your business account on Pinterest, it’s important to choose a name that is optimized for searchability and visibility. This is the name that will appear on your profile, and it’s not the same as your username, which is part of the URL of your profile page. 

To optimize your name, you should use a combination of keywords that reflect what your business does, and also include your name or first name. This way, if someone searches for your name or your business name on Pinterest, they will be able to find your profile and learn more about your products or services. 

By choosing a well-optimized name, you can help improve the visibility and relevance of your business on the platform, and potentially attract more traffic and potential customers to your profile.

JEN TIP:  Pinterest reads all these areas to understand who you are and to learn who to push your content out to.  Be Specific and consider keywords EVERYWHERE.

5 | Pinterest Profile Description

Go to the “Settings” and under “public profile” you’ll find the “About” section.  This is known as your Pinterest profile description. In that area, include a brief description of your business. Be specific so that you attract your ideal client.  

This is where you will describe who you help and how you help them. Consider what transformation you provide for your clients. This will give visitors to your account a clear understanding of what you do and how you can help them.  

JEN TIP: At the end of the paragraph, offer a free lead magnet (something that you offer for free in exchange for getting their email address.

6 | Personal Information in Profile

Choose your business type (the one that best reflects you). There’s no wrong answer and you can always go back in and update this.

Choose 3 of your business account goals.  If you are exactly sure, you can choose three and after working on Pinterest for awhile go back in and make changes.

Don’t forget to add your email address because it’s an easy way for your potential client to connect with you. 

7 | Claim Your Website

After setting up your business account on Pinterest, the next critical step is to claim your website. This is an important step for several reasons. 

First, it allows you to track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts on Pinterest and second, it enables you to see analytics for your account through tools like Tailwind. 

So, claiming your website on Pinterest is a crucial step for any business looking to make the most of their presence on the platform.

You can find out information on claiming your account on Pinterest or by watching this video I made to help people claim their website.

JEN TIP: Claim your website for any course pages or url’s that you may use.

8 | Upload a Cover Photo

Finally, upload a cover photo by clicking the white pencil above your profile. You want to choose a photo that tells someone what you do in two seconds. 

Example 1: if you’re a wedding photographer, you should have an image of you photographing a couple on their big day. 

Example 2: If you are a podcaster use an image of you in front of your computer with a microphone and hands wide as if you are talking.

This will immediately show visitors to your account who you are and what you do, making it easy for them to understand the focus of your business.

It can be challenging for some businesses or industries to select the right cover photo, but you can ask your friends or favorite client for their opinion on which picture best represents what you do. This can help you choose a cover photo that accurately reflects your business and makes it easy for visitors to understand the focus of your account.

JEN TIP:  If you work with a brand photographer, consult with them on ways they can capture you to help you share via images what you do.  Brand photographers specialize in just that.

Summary

By now I’m sure you’re convinced that Pinterest should be part of your marketing strategy. With its unique mix of visual content and discovery features, Pinterest offers a range of benefits for service-based businesses looking to reach and engage with potential customers. Below are some additional tips and best practices for setting up and optimizing your Pinterest account to maximize its impact and drive traffic to your business. So let’s dive in and discover how to make the most of Pinterest for your business!

• Make a board for each content bucket or pillar of your business.
• Ensure you have a board with your business name.
• Create a board that says FREE resources.  I have FREE Pinterest Marketing Resources. (Pin blogs and other free content like lead magnets). 
• You can pin other people’s pins if it alines with your brand or is helpful for your client, but ultimately you want the bulk of pins to be yours.
• You should be using text overlay on pins explaining what will be found and a call to action. You can get 80 free calls to action in my Pinterest Marketing Resources vault for free here. Text Overlay are the words you see on a pin that entices you to click.  You can sign up for my challenge that I created which shares in details what should be on your standard pins.
• When you create a blog, create 3-5 pins with 3 different points of view (using different keywords) so the blog content gets found by a ton of different searches. 
• You can use your brand colors for most of the pins, but create some pins with colors that would stand out in the feeds when you search for that content.  
• Location-based businesses will find more success when you use multiple location-based keywords. City, area, town, state, etc. 
• Pin consistently. even if it’s only once every day.  Pinning then doing nothing will not get the reach you hope for with Pinterest. 
• Look at analytics monthly and while impressions followers and engagement is important, pin clicks and outbound clicks are a sign of what’s resonating when it comes to marketing your business. 
• It’s a long game. You may not see a lot of progress for the first 3-8 months, but keep going as those pins will live a long time on Pinterest (some of mine are six years old and still driving traffic). 

If you need help with Pinterest, schedule a free consultation below!

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