Have you ever been lying in your bed late at night, scrolling through Pinterest for some inspo and thought, “I wonder if I can use Pinterest for my business?”.Well, look no further, because we have all the answers to your questions on how to use Pinterest to grow your business right here!

With over 100 billion pins, it’s safe to say that Pinterest is one of the most popular social media platforms to date, with over 250 million users every month. This creates amazing opportunities to promote your brand and attract your market on all platforms (yes, even on your favourite platform).

In this blog, we’re going to tell you how you can create maximum engagement and grow your business by using just 5 simple steps.

Step 1: Create a business account

If you don’t have a business account, then you’re missing out! Creating a business account gives you added benefits such as different terms of service, marketing materials, analytics, and rich pins (which we will get into soon).

Step 2: Research your market

Knowing who your customers are and what they pin will help you in creating popular pins that are reachable. The most efficient way to do this is by researching the most popular categories of boards. Whilst 80% of Pinterest users are women, over the last year, the number of male users has doubled in the past year, so don’t feel like you’re fully restricted!

Step 3: Create the perfect pin

Now you’re ready to create the perfect pin! Pinterest has been described as being a visual search engine, so it’s no guess that your pins must be visually appealing on your board to really attract your market. This can include elements such as high res images, educational, simple (no crowding), and instructional. But of course, it all depends on your target market.

Another great tip to know is the optimal pin size. Although all pins are the same in width with unlimited length, the optimal size to shoot is 736×1102 pixels. Fortunately, Canva has a Pinterest template which is this size, making sizing your images a lot easier.

Step 4: Optimising your pins

Once you’ve created the perfect pin, it’s time to make the most of your pins. Depending on your target audience, the best times to post pins are between 2pm – 4pm and 8pm – 1am. Saturday mornings are also a major hit for users to be pinning to their boards.

To make it easier for users to pin your posts, add a Pin It button to any image on your website for absolute convenience. It will also encourage users to check out your pinterest page directly.

Make sure that you have connected all your social media platforms to ensure extra coverage, and that all content is spread throughout to keep all platforms updated!

SEO is another great tool to really get down and dirty with your optimisation by using relevant keywords for your business. Just make sure your keywords aren’t too complicated. Put yourself in the shoes of your buyer by making it simple yet effective. Ultimately, use keywords that are strong and minimal for maximised effort!

Rich pins are an amazing tool that truly raises the bar on pinterest pins! Brands using rich pins have reported an 82% increase in their repin/pin ratio. They come in 5 different forms: movie, recipe, article, product, and place. Rich pins provide you with real-time information updated on your pins, and directs people to your site since they’re linked to rich pins. Rich pins are still a very new concept, but trust us in saying that it will set you apart from your competitors! Big name brands such as Apple and GM use rich pins.

Step 5: Consistency and engagement

Well done, you’ve created your first pin, and your account is all set and ready to go! Now you just need to make sure you keep up your consistency and engagement. Simply put, make sure you post frequently throughout the day, but definitely don’t over do it by posting every few minutes. A good estimate is around 30 a day.

Some great ways to stay engaged with your audience is to reply to comments, follow popular boards, build influencer relationships, and comment on follower pins.

Using these 5 simple steps to grow your business on Pinterest will help you further understand your audience’s needs and wants by getting another perspective on them from yet another amazing social media platform. It will strengthen relationships and allow for overall business growth.

Happy pinning!