How to use Pinterest to bring warm leads to your business website organically.
Are you curious about using Pinterest as a marketing tool? You've heard lots of people talking about it but you're not sure how to use Pinterest to bring warm leads to your business website. You want to attract potential customers. I've got all the answers to your questions!
What is Pinterest?
If you ask most people what Pinterest is, they will probably tell you it's a social media platform. They might even say it's a mood board or a collection of their favourite ideas. When you really get to know Pinterest then you'll understand that it's actually an extremely powerful visual search engine. Pinterest describes the platform as being “like a visual search engine, guiding people to ideas that are just right for them”. This means that if you're going to get serious about marketing your business on Pinterest you need a different approach than you would normally use for Instagram or Facebook. 
Why use Pinterest for your business?
People come to Pinterest to find ideas, inspiration, and improvements in their lives. They want solutions to their problems. It's a positive platform like no other. Pinners might not know what they're looking for yet, but they know they will find it on Pinterest. Perhaps they are looking for inspiration to transform their lack of organisation, the perfect product for their teething baby, or a solution to help them get better sleep. Whatever your product or service, there is an audience looking for it on Pinterest. This is why it's important that your content is on Pinterest ready and waiting to be found by the people that need it. Your pins hang around on Pinterest for YEARS. By making sure they are optimised for the Pinterest search system you are opening up the opportunity to be found again and again by a warm audience on Pinterest.
How can you promote your business on Pinterest?
When using Pinterest as a marketing tool, we want to keep our minds focused on the end goal (which is to drive traffic back to our website and nurture them from there). There are a few different ways to achieve this, depending on your type of business.
Using Pinterest to drive traffic if you are a product-based business
Pinners love shopping! And this means that Pinterest has invested lots of time into making the platform as intuitive as possible. Pinterest wants its users to discover amazing products that they will love and want to buy, so it makes sense that they have invested in both the user journey and the seller journey. Some of the different features to sell your products on Pinterest include:
- Creating clickable Product Pins
- Uploading your catalogue
- Tagging products into Idea Pins
- Creating promoted pins
Using Pinterest to drive traffic if you are a service-based business
If your business offers a service (for example you might be a coach or a photographer) then the strategy needs to be a little different. Instead of trying to directly sell your services in your pins, use Pinterest as a platform to offer value, inspiration and ideas. Many service-based businesses have lots of success by promoting free offers on Pinterest that grow their email lists and get people to read their blogs. It's from here that the selling journey really begins (more about that in another article). Some of the different strategies to get people clicking through to your website include:
- Creating eye-catching pins that inspire or solve problems
- Adding a clear call to action on your pins (e.g. Click to read more)
- Creating pins that link to a lead-magnet
- Using Pinterest keywords so your pins are found by more of the right people
Some best practices for using SEO on Pinterest
Using Pinterest SEO (also known as Pinterest keywords) is necessary so that your pins can be shown again and again to the right people at the right time. Pins are evergreen content, and by taking the time to optimise them at creation, you are sowing the seed for them to be found in search (and recommended by Pinterest) multiple times. Imagine you are a parenting expert with a website full of useful advice and services, you're going to want your pins to rank for search terms like:
- parenting tips for toddlers
- parenting hacks for baby
- parenting skills for teens
Pinterest Keywords Tips
Use the Pinterest search bar to start searching for terms, and see what comes up as suggested searches. These are the words people are actually searching for! 
Remember, when it comes to doing your keyword research – you are the expert, but the people looking for help are not. They won't be using fancy terminology or specifics, they'll be using words they understand. So when you're compiling your list of keywords, keep them simple and user friendly.BUT there are some instances when I wouldn't recommend Pinterest as a marketing platform for your business. Choose one keyword phrase per pin and use it in your pin title and within your pin description.
When not to use Pinterest for your business
This all sounds great, doesn't it?! And it really is!
- If you only serve local clients
- Your website isn't easy to use
- You don't publish new content on your website regularly (i.e. new product pages or new blog posts)
- You don't have the time to commit to creating regular and consistent pins
Getting Started
If you’re brand new to Pinterest and want to learn more about how people use the platform take a look at my £7 mini-course.
Still not sure if Pinterest is right for your business? This blog will help you decide.
Follow me on Instagram or Pinterest for more tips!
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