Here’s everything you need to know about using Pinterest for business.
Pinterest for business is a visual social media platform where users can create and share pins, create boards, and make purchases.
The benefits of using Pinterest for business include brand exposure and a larger potential customer base.
You can create a business account on Pinterest from scratch or convert your personal account to a business account.
This article is for small business owners or marketers who want to learn how to use Pinterest for business.
If you’re not using Pinterest to market your products or services, you’re missing out. Over 87% of Pinterest users have purchased a product through the site, making it a great opportunity to reach customers.
Before you sign up and start pinning, here’s everything you need to know about using Pinterest for business.
Pinterest basics for business
On Pinterest for business, users share and save content in virtual collections called boards. Most of Pinterest’s 175 million active members in the US are women (81%). Some 2 million of these members post content to a buy board daily .
Although you can find just about anything on Pinterest for business – the website’s categories include everything from art to tech – it’s known as a hub for craft projects, recipes, fashion , home decor and health-related information.
If you want to use Pinterest for business to promote your small business, it’s important to create a business account . Pinterest for business professional accounts, which are free, give you access to sales-focused features like analytics. If you already have a personal account, you can convert it to a business account or simply create a new account.
Pinterest terminology for business
Pins: All content shared on Pinterest is a pin, meaning ideas to inspire you. When you click on a pin, it links to a website.
Pincodes: Much like QR codes, Pincodes are special codes you can create to unlock boards and your business profile on Pinterest. Users can enter the code to be taken directly to your suggested tips.
Pinners: This is what Pinterest for Business calls its users.
Boards: Much like visual bookmarks or digital bulletin boards, boards allow you to organize your pins.
Group boards: A group board is a collaborative board owned by a user. Owners can add other users to contribute to the forum. You can request to join a group board, but the board owner must send you an invitation.
Archived boards: You can archive a board that you no longer use, but don’t want to delete. Archived boards will not appear on your profile, and you will no longer see suggestions related to the board. For example, you can refuse to see the wedding dresses once the big day has passed.
Feed: Similar to a Facebook or Twitter feed , this is a group of pins of people you follow or what Pinterest thinks you might be interested in.
Hashtags on Pinterest: Hashtags on Pinterest work like on other social media platforms like Instagram – they make it easy for other users to find your pins and relevant content.
Purpose: This feature of the Pinterest app uses your smartphone’s camera to suggest Pins based on photos you take. For example, if you take a photo of an outfit, it will show you similar outfits.
Comments: You can add comments to other users’ Pins.
Save: When you click on a pin, you have the option to save, send, or hide. When you save, you pin it to one of your boards.
Sending Pins: You can send Pins to other users or non-Pinterest for Business users in private messages.
Tagging: You can tag other users using the @ symbol.
Messages: You can send private messages to other Pinterest for business users.
Key Takeaway: To use Pinterest for business, you need to understand terms like “pins,” “boards,” “goal,” and “tagging.”
Why should your business use Pinterest?
Pinterest for business can benefit your business in a variety of ways. Here are some of them:
Large user base
As the fourth most popular social media platform in the United States and with over 235 million international monthly users , Pinterest for business can open your business to millions of new customers.
Pinterest Visual Platform for Business
Pinterest for business is a great place to display your business visually. It’s also the only social media platform that currently supports visual search, so it’s a good idea to jump on this trend early.
Commercial activity
Consumers often use Pinterest for business to determine if they want to make a purchase. In the Pinterest Seasonal Insights 2019 report , 83% of users said they made a purchase based on what they saw about a product on Pinterest.
Brand exhibition
Pinterest for Business can increase your exposure to new customers, with a majority of users reporting that they discover new brands and products through Pinterest for Business every week.
Takeaway: Using Pinterest for Business for your business can expose your brand to a wide audience and influence your customers’ buying decisions.
How to Create a Pinterest Profile for Business
There are three main ways to create a Pinterest account for business, you can add a business profile to an existing personal account, convert your personal account to a business account, or create a business account from scratch. Here’s how to create a profile from scratch, step by step:
1. Go to
pinterest.com/business/create .
If you already have a personal account, you will need to log out. Enter your email and password. It’s a good idea to use a professional email address here to help differentiate your accounts. Click on “create an account”.
2. Choose your language and location, then enter your business name.
Select the description that best matches your business and add a link to your website.
3. Connect your other social platforms.
If you have other social media accounts for your business , like Instagram, Etsy, or YouTube, you can link them to Pinterest so Pins from those platforms are attributed to your business and you can track analytics.
4. Determine if you want to run ads on Pinterest for business.
You can always change this preference later, and you can also include your contact information so that a Pinterest Ads representative can contact you.
5. Edit your Pinterest profile for business.
Upload a profile photo, choose a custom username, and write a summary of your business on your Pinterest for Business profile. Profile image dimensions should be 150 x 165 pixels, and be sure to incorporate some keywords in your About section.
6. Ask for analysis of your website.
In the menu on the left side, click on “claim”. This will allow you to track analytics for your website, as well as analytics for any Pins that link to one of your claimed accounts.
7. Start creating and pinning.
Now that your account is set up, you can start creating boards and adding pins.
How to create boards, add pins and follow other users
To get started, click the Create Board button accessible from your profile or when you save a pin. Once you’ve created a few boards, there are several ways you can start uploading Pins. The first is to go to the board you want to pin to and click “Add Pin”. Then follow the instructions to create a pin. You can also access the Add Pin button at the top of your feed with the + button, which is near the search bar. If you’re using the Chrome browser, you can get an extension that lets you pin directly from the website you’re on.
In the Pinterest mobile app for business, you can now use your phone’s camera to find ideas. You just open the app and point the camera at whatever interests you. The app will come back with suggestions for similar items you might want to pin. For now, the company says this feature is best for home decor ideas, clothes, and food.
Remember: There are seven main steps in creating a Pinterest account. You can create a business account from scratch or convert your personal account.
How to Use Pinterest for Business
1. Share creative, inspiring and actionable Pins.
Pinterest is above all a site for sharing images and inspiring ideas. If you want to succeed on Pinterest, you need to create and share visually pleasing and engaging pins. According to Pinterest , the most successful pins grab people’s attention and make them want to know more. Large pins are usually vertical and show how to use a product or service.
2. Look at trending topics and keywords.
Trending on Pinterest can help you decide what content to pin or what your next product should be. For example, if you see that DIY projects are trending, now would be a good time to find and share DIY content related to your business, making your business more visible on Pinterest.
“Find relevant keywords by typing a keyword into the search bar and checking the keyword suggestions you see just below the search bar,” she said. “Then include those keywords in your titles and descriptions.”
For insights that might influence what you pin, check out Pinterest’s Pinsights for Business .
3. Advertise on Pinterest.
Pinterest ads, or Promoted Pins, look like regular pins. The only difference is that you pay to have your pins seen by more people.
“You can use geo-targeting so that your ad only shows to people in your specified area,” said Marc Andre, owner of finance blog Vital Dollar. “Depending on the topic and keywords used, Pinterest advertising can be quite affordable… Some users will see your ad and re-pin it, and you will get that extra exposure from their re-pinning without paying for it.”
Promoted Pins can have a snowball effect that gives your Pin more visibility than you pay for. It’s important that Promoted Pins look useful and look like a regular pin, Andre said.
4. Study Pinterest Analytics.
Pinterest Analytics gives you information about the people who view your page and your pins. You can learn about your audience demographics, the devices your visitors are using, and your most popular pins. You can also see data about your profile’s average daily impressions and viewers, your average monthly viewers, and average monthly engagements.
5. Add the Pin It button to your website.
Have you ever visited a website, hovered over an image, and seen a little red Pinterest button pop up? It’s the Pin It button , and it allows Pinterest users to pin your content to their boards right from your website. Adding the Pin It button to your website makes it easier to share your content, which means more people are likely to share it.
6. Create fun and unique content.
There are many ways to create fun and unique content while promoting your brand:
Create widgets . You can create a widget for each of your boards and promote it on your website. Simply click on the three dots next to your board name on the Pinterest desktop app and click the Create Widget button. On the next page you can decide whether you want the widget to appear as a square, sidebar or header or create your own dimensions. Once you’ve chosen a size, copy and paste the code into your website.
Create gift guides. For the holidays or other occasions, create a new chart that can be used as a gift guide. Include products from other brands as well as your own so it doesn’t look like a giant advertisement for your business. Take advantage of Pinterest’s special features. For example, during the 2017 holiday season, Pinterest rolled out a feature called Pinterest Secret Santa that allowed shoppers to search lists of personalized gift ideas based on their friends and family’s boards.
Show playlists. You are not limited to pinning images. Try pinning music videos from YouTube to create a playlist. With a huge fitness community on Pinterest, for example, this could be a good way for fitness-related businesses to deviate from the norm of sharing workout guides and exercise equipment.
Make a reading list. Save thoughtful articles and books related to your business with Pinterest by creating boards of all the great reads you think your customers might be interested in. You can also create secret boards with all the articles and books you are dying to read in your free time. So that they are not lost or forgotten in your favorites folder.
Give gifts. If you’re running a contest or promotion , pin it to the relevant boards on your Pinterest page.
7. Use rich pins.
Rich Pins are special pins that make using the platform easier and more transparent. These pins include information beyond the image, click link, and pin description. Currently, there are four types of Rich Pins:
- Article Pins: Article Pins allow users to automatically see the article’s title, author, and article description, making them much more searchable and distinguishing them from other content on the platform -form.
- Product Pins: Product Pins make shopping on Pinterest so much easier. They show where the product you’re pinning can be purchased, the current price, and a direct link to the product page. The prices of the pins produced are updated in real time.
- Recipe Pins: Unlike a regular Pin, which would display an image and description that the Pin would manually input, these rich recipe-specific Pins show important information like ingredients, cooking times, and serving sizes.
- App Pins: Pinterest’s latest addition to the Rich Pins family lets you share and download apps directly from the platform.
You can learn more about requesting and enabling Rich Pins on the Pinterest Developer page .
8. Participate and create group boards.
A group board is a collaborative board owned by one person who can add others to contribute. It’s a great resource if you’re planning a big event or working on a project, as multiple people can check out the board and pin ideas.
It’s also an easy way to get your Pins in front of a lot of people, as more people usually follow group boards. The board owner’s audience sees boards as well as collaborators’ followers.
9. Think of Pinterest as a search engine.
Although Pinterest is a social media platform, it has a powerful search feature. Many people go to the site looking for something in particular.
“When people use Pinterest, they’re often actively typing in searches to find what they’re looking for,” said Brian Wulfe, founder and CEO of Effective Spend. “On traditional social networks, on the other hand, the public browses the site passively.”
Since Pinterest is similar to a search engine, it’s important to properly label and categorize each pin and board.
Takeaway : To succeed with Pinterest for business, use Pinterest Analytics, group boards, promoted and rich pins, social media integration and search, and trending topics and keywords.
