Pinterest is widely known as an “all for women Platform” to share DIY tips and latest recipes. But that is not entirely true. Pinterest is also a very powerful platform to help build your blog. You can use Pinterest to find content for your blog, grow your audience and increase your website traffic.

Let’s take a look at some astounding facts:

• A pin is 100 times more spreadable than your average tweet

• Each pin can drive up to 2 page visits and 6 pageviews

• Ecommerce sites benefit from pinning as each pin can generate 78 cents

• The life of a pin is one week! Compare that to 24 minutes for Twitter and 90 minutes for Facebook.

Interesting stats from early 2019:

• 250 million people use Pinterest every month
• 98% have tried something new on Pinterest
• 77% found a new brand or product
• 84% use Pinterest when they try to decide to buy
• 47% of Pinterest users utilize Pinterest to plan for upcoming big life events.
• People who use Pinterest start the buying and planning process two times earlier than other consumers.

Interested in Pinterest now?

Let’s take a look at five tactics you can use to bring the traffic and start your pinning strategy.

1. Sign up for a business account

To really see a difference in your pinning efforts, sign up for a free Pinterest for a business account or just convert your existing account.

What are the benefits? You’ll get access to Pinterest analytics (once you verify your website with Pinterest).

Don’t forget to also apply for Rich Pins, which are pins with more information than your standard pin. There are five different types – movie, article, product, app, recipe, and place – each with their own pin upgrades such as real-time pricing and a direct link to your site.

You can find the Rich Pin Validator here.

2. Focus on your copy description

Every pin has a description below it telling the reader what your pin is about.

To get the highest engagement your pin needs to be:

• Helpful – make it easy for pinners to find your pin with a spot-on description. According to Pinterest, helpful pins receive 30% more engagement.
• Detailed – in one sentence or two explain what your pin is about.
• Interesting – use sensory-related words and positive sentiments to draw on the emotions of the pinner.
• Actionable – include a call-to-action in your description. You can use phrases like, “check out…” or “click to find out more”… You wouldn’t believe it, but this strategy can generate an 80% increase in engagement!

3. Pin at the right time

The most successful strategy is to find the best time and day to pin. Naturally, you’d want to pin when your target audience is on Pinterest. And this is something I suggest you test yourselves because every audience is different.

For looking over some general data, the best time to start pinning is Saturday morning (or over the weekend) and the worst time is during normal working hours (but that too is debatable because we all know that we take a sneak peek at Social Media Platforms during working hours too 😉 )

My suggestion is – try different times and days and use Pinterest Analytics to analyze your data and find the best strategy that suits you.

4. Create great images

What makes Pinterest so addicting is the images that are pined. But it isn’t enough to just use any image. You need to use the best images(graphics that are optimized for maximum engagement.

What is most important when it comes to images?

1. It needs to be the right size. You have a few general dimensions but it is best to just follow the aspect ratio of 2:3 or 4:5. For the best pin, though longer is better, overall.
2. The image you use for your blog post has to be stunning! Studies show that images without a human face receive 23% more repins.
3. Vibrant colors attract pinners to share.
4. Images with predominantly reds, oranges or pinks get up to twice as many repins than images with more blue tones in them.
5. Images with more lightness to them perform 20 times better than darker images.
6. Keep branding and logo to a minimal because you want to add credibility to your pin, and not take away from what you are pinning.
7. Include text in your image – It looks more professional and it helps the pinner know exactly what your pin is about.

5. Join a Pinterest group board

They are perfect for generating more traction to your website/blog. A group board is essentially a community board where other pinners can pin.

If you regularly pin to a group board, other people who follow the board will see your pins and might be interested in your Pinterest board. If they like what they see, they will follow you.

How do you find group boards, you ask?

• PinGroupie – just enter a keyword and see what’s out there.
• Tailwind – find your Tribe and share your Pins

To wrap it up – remember – Pinterest is not a Social Media Platform, it is more like a Search Engine. And everyone wants to be on Google, so why don’t you want to be on Pinterest?