Pinning Strategies that Boost Traffic

Save to the Most Relevant Board First

Remember, Pinterest is counting on you, the content creator, to supply context to your Pin. When you’ve verified your site, Pinterest pays special attention to your first Pin of that new content. To help them help you get the most relevant distribution, save your Pin to the most relevant Board first.

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You may have one general, branded Board where you save all of your content. That’s fine, but that’s NOT the first place you will save new 2

content. Get as specific as possible with that first Pin.

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What if you don’t have a Board that is a great fit for that Pin? Make one! Especially if you are going to be creating more similar content, this will be a good investment.

Wondering if you should “fill” a new Board so it doesn’t look empty? Chances are, no one is going to notice, since they’re likely finding your Pin via search. But, if you just can’t stand having a Board with one or two Pins on it, go ahead and add other relevant content to it - we won’t judge.

Use Hashtags

Use hashtags, don’t use hashtags, OK, use them. I know. If you’ve been in marketing for any length of time, you’ve heard it all. Thing is, hashtags do work on Pinterest to help surface newer content. Check out a hashtag search and you’ll see the content displayed in reverse chronological order.

Don’t use hashtags the way you do on Instagram, though. #throwbackthursday, while a fun one for Instagram, is a terrible hashtag to use on Pinterest - but #pecanpierecipes or #pecanpie is perfect! Again, we’re talking about the difference between social (Instagram) and search (Pinterest).

The best way to get a feel for how hashtags can boost the distribution of your content is to try a relevant hashtag search. Click on some of the results to see other hashtags you might want to try.

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How many hashtags should you use? Pinterest suggests using just a couple.

Take Advantage of Keywords on Pinterest

Since Pinterest is a visual search and discovery engine, the words you use can be as powerful as the images you share. Pinterest does read the text on your image in determining how to distribute your Pin in search, related Pins, and feeds. Where else might Pinterest look for these clues? They’re looking for keywords on:

Board Titles Board Descriptions Pin Descriptions Meta data on the linked content (ie. title and description as set up on your blog or website)

This does NOT mean that your Pin description should be a list of keywords. Write for your followers, but include keywords naturally, putting them (as well as your most compelling copy) near the beginning of the description.

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Pinterest looks for keywords on: Pin Image Text Board Descriptions Board Titles Meta Data on the Linked Content Pin Descriptions

Use Pin Designs & Descriptions that Lead to More Awareness, Signups, and Sales

11x Awareness Lift

Use Text overlay to convey specific details about the featured product or service. Align with life seasonal, and everyday moments throughout

61% Email Conversion Lift

the year.

13% Higher Online Sales Lift

Align your Pin and landing page with similar imagery.

67% More Likely to Drive Offline Sales Lift

Help the audience visualize the product or service in their lives - show someone using the product.

Other best practices for Pins that work:

Tasteful logo placement Bold, clear use of text overlay

Striking visuals

Call out unique features when relevant (ex: “new”) Make your product or service the focal point

Provide context that clearly shows how to use your product or service

Use a vertical format (2:3 ratio - 600x900 px or equivalent)

Be Consistent

Pinterest wants content creators who are active and consistent. Saving content to Pinterest daily, rather than a once-a-week Pinning frenzy will provide the best opportunity for content distribution.

There is no magic number of Pins to save each day. Aim for quality over quantity. Using an approved partner tool to batch schedule your Pins for the week (or month) is a great way to do this.

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Pin Content That Engages Your Audience

Pinterest distributes your content to your followers first. Based on their reaction (or LACK of reaction), Pinterest determines how widely to distribute that Pin. Before you share any content to Pinterest, ask yourself, “Will this content help me attract the people who are likely to engage with the content that is most important to me?”

In other words, saving content to a fitness or recipe Board may grow your followers and provide engagement on those Pins, but are those the same people who are likely to be interested in YOUR content? They could be - only you can answer that.

Your content takes precedence on Pinterest.

In fact, depending on how much content you create, you may not ever need to save anyone else’s content at all. Though most Pinners do enjoy supporting other creators in their niche.

IMPORTANT

Pinterest distributes your content to your followers first. Based on their reaction (or LACK of reaction), Pinterest determines how widely to distribute that Pin.

Before you share any content to Pinterest, ask yourself, “Will this content help me attract the people who are likely to engage with the content that is most important to me?”