#128 – Is Pinterest Right for Your Business?

Today we are diving into the final episode of 2018 and we’re going to answer the question: Is Pinterest is right for your business?

Before we get started, make sure you check out the brand new Ultimate Pinterest Planner. It’s 20 pages filled with awesome Pinterest marketing advice to help you keep moving forward throughout 2019.

Many of you are already super familiar with Pinterest and how to use it effectively. But I do often get asked, “Is Pinterest right for my business?” Maybe some of you have received that question as well. If that’s the case, please share this episode!

The Common Myth About Pinterest

First, let’s all get on the same page about Pinterest. Pinterest is a search and discovery engine with over 250 million users that search billions of pins daily to dream, plan, buy, and discover. From travel to products, articles to recipes, weddings to home decor, it’s all in there.

The most common myth that I hear is that Pinterest is just for women. Not so! In fact, men are the fastest growing demographic on the platform. Please don’t automatically decide that Pinterest won’t work for you because your target audience is men.

SPM has worked with over 500 Pinterest accounts and what we’ve learned is that almost every niche will work on Pinterest (we’ve even companies that sell pavers for driveways). Some of niches we’ve explored on the podcast include:

• Pinterest for artists
• Pinterest for real estate agents
• Pinterest for non-profits
• Pinterest for travel businesses
• Pinterest for podcasters
• Pinterest for wedding service providers

Soon, promoted pins will allow you to target by zip code, so you’ll be able to target local audiences as well.

Is Pinterest Right For Your Business?

There are three actions I want you to take in order to answer this question:

1) Do a simple search on Pinterest to see if people are already pinning your products or content.

Go to pinterest.com and select the magnifying glass to search the name of your website using quotation marks. When you do that, you will find a combination of what people are pinning and what you are pinning. You may find that pinners are already busy sharing your content on the platform!

This serves as a reminder that Pinterest is like Google – it is a search engine. People are using it to discover all sorts of things, even custom tools or driveway pavers. If no one is pinning your content, it could be because of two factors:

• You haven’t been in business very long;
• It’s difficult to pin directly from your website.

2) Search for keywords or products that are similar to what you offer.

Is there a viable market for your content or products in the Pinterest community? If you search and find repins, followers, or profiles relating to your niche, you know you’ve landed on a viable marketing opportunity.

Sometimes people will look at search results and when they see that someone is already marketing in their specific niche, they tend to throw up their hands and act as if the niche is taken. It isn’t! Bring your amazing content and products to the table, too. There’s always room for more businesses.

3) Ask your audience if they use Pinterest.

You can do this on other social media platforms or through your email list. Discover how they use the platform. If they don’t use it at all, why? Because Pinterest is a search and discovery platform, they could be using Pinterest in a way you never thought of. Find out how much of your audience uses Pinterest and how much time they spend there.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Pinterest Edition

Now that I’ve shared these tips, it’s time for a game of “Choose Your Own Adventure” in what’s best for your business.

Door A: Your Searches Came Up Empty

If the answer to all three questions or searches comes up empty, then right now might not be the time to invest resources in the Pinterest platform. What I’m betting is that you’re targeting a more obscure niche or topic. Your people are probably spending time on a different platform.

Invest in that platform more heavily and touch base with them on their use of Pinterest every year or so. Don’t market on Pinterest if your people aren’t there. Use your time wisely, making sure you’re getting a good return on your investment.

Door B: Yes To a Few, No to One

If you answer yes to a few questions and no to one, then you should start to invest a little time into your Pinterest Marketing. Here are the top three things I suggest you do first:

1. Build out your Pinterest profile to reflect your brand and message. Create at least 10 Pinterest boards with 10 pins inside those boards. Each board needs to be keyword titled and contain quality descriptions.
2. Create 25-50 pinnable images. When adding pins, make sure that each image is Pinterest friendly – a 2:3 ratio and has text overlay on the pin to describe what they will find on the other side of the pin. Make sure that each of your pins contain your branding so that people become familiar with what your pins look like.
3. Add those pins to your 10 boards. Once you’ve uploaded them, step back and take a good look at them. Make sure everything fits with your brand. Even if you don’t go all in yet, you want your profile to be active and optimized.

All of this will take you about 10 hours. Once it’s done, you will have a professional profile on Pinterest that will be a solid foundation for future growth.

Door C: Yes to All

If you answered yes to all of the questions, you need to get busy and start marketing on Pinterest! Complete the tasks I mentioned in the section above and then take it a couple of steps further:

• Ensure you have share buttons on your site that allow people to easily share your content to Pinterest. (I use Social Pug for my share buttons).
• Make sure your site is mobile-friendly. It’s important to remember that 80% of users are using their mobile device.
• Create more pinnable images with your brand and message to help build awareness.
• Pin at least 5-10 pins per day. Be consistent with your pinning and increase as you create more products and content (use a Pinterest scheduler to facilitate this step).
• Download the Ultimate Pinterest Planner to keep your monthly planning on track.

Share Your Tips

Do you have any other tips for helping people know if Pinterest is right for their business? Send them our way! I love to hear from all of you. And remember to share this episode with your friends who are trying to figure out if Pinterest is right for their business.

If you have questions, comment here and we would love to help you. Thanks for being along for the ride in 2018. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you in 2019!

Time Stamp:
 2:48 – The Common Myth About Pinterest
 4:01 – Is Pinterest Right For Your Business?
 4:18 – #1 – Do A Simple Search
 6:55 – #2 – Search for Similar Keywords or Products
 9:23 – #3 – Ask Your Audience If They Use Pinterest
10:39 – Choose Your Own Adventure: Pinterest Edition
10:51 – Door A: Your Searches Came Up Empty
11:46 – Door B: Yes To a Few, No to One
13:30 Door C: Yes to All