Avoid Making These Pinterest Marketing Mistakes
It’s officially a new year and a lot has changed on Pinterest over the past few months. We’re seeing strategies evolving and if you’re wanting to actually get results this year, here’s what you should be avoiding with Pinterest Marketing.
Pinterest Account Set Up
Let’s start with the basics, is your Pinterest account set up correctly? I often see the essentials overlooked and it can heavily impact your stats on the platform. Make sure you have a business account, that your website is claimed and that you’ve chosen a searchable account name. Feel free to add keywords here - but more on this below!
No Keyword Research
If you think you’re up to date with your keyword research after working on your website SEO, think again. Users on Pinterest often search for specific keywords and you’ll need to use the platform itself to tailor your profile to your audience.
Use the search bar on Pinterest itself to research your keywords and build yourself a list. Make sure you’ve used these in your profile name, profile description, boards titles and board descriptions.
Cute Board Titles
One of the biggest fails I see on a Pinterest account is boards titled with ‘fun’ words. Titling your recipe board with the word EAT might seem original and on brand for your business, but no one is searching that on Pinterest.
It’s important to understand that users don’t actually visit specific profiles very often. People get too stuck on the aesthetic of their Pinterest profile when users are most likely going to find a specific pin through their keyword searches or tailored home feed. People find your content through the keywords you use.
Use the keywords and let go of the ‘original’ approach. And please, please, please write descriptions for your boards. It helps your content get found.
No Idea Pins
Short form content that we see on TikTok and Instagram Reels is what users are wanting to see. It’s what they are used to and what they now enjoy consuming. Incorporating these ideas or repurposing your current TikTok or Instagram content is a game changer for your Pinterest strategy.
Whether you’re already utilizing this feature or are going to make a priority moving forward, make sure you download the videos without the other platforms watermark. And as always, use keywords in the description and title. I would make these a priority for the next few months and test out TikTok-like videos as well as some static click-through stories to see what performs better for your audience.
Here’s everything you need to know about Idea Pins according to Pinterest.
Pinning Other Content
A few years ago pinning other creators content was the way to go. You could use their keyword SEO and add it to your own, and build up your own profile off of it. Pinterest has since clearly stated they are prioritising new and original content from the creators themselves. This means you want to focus pretty much entirely on your own pins going forward.
Advice Outside Your Niche
The last thing I want to mention is there is a lot of information out there - people claiming to know the way to 10 million monthly views and driving considerable amounts of traffic. While there is a base strategy you can get started with, very often the strategy these creators are promoting very likely won’t work for you or your industry. My recipe bloggers who blog five times a week have a very different strategy to my product sellers who only update their website every few months.
The secret is to test, test, test and avoid scrambling to adjust your strategy after every TikTok you watch claiming to have the hidden formula.
Got a question? Pop it in the comments and let’s get your Pinterest strategy up to speed for a year of success.
Hello, I'm Megan!
An introvert at heart, Pinterest is the perfect platform for me. Simply posting your content using the right marketing strategies gets you an abundance of website traffic? No engagement or ‘showing up’ needed?
Who wouldn’t want to use this powerhouse of a platform …
