Do you use Pinterest to promote your products and share your business? Or, have you been thinking about starting a Pinterest account for your business but don’t know where to start? Regardless of if you’ve been pinning for years or have yet to set up a profile, here are a few quick tips pinners of all skill levels can implement to build their business and promote products.
1. Complete your profile
Don’t skip this step! Pinterest users who fail to upload a profile photo are *much* less likely to acquire new followers or get repins.
When choosing your profile name, you have two choices: you can either use your real name, or use the name you’ve given your UnFranchise Business (i.e. Sarah’s SHOP.COM Business). However, please note that using any of our brand, company, or Market Country names like “Market America” “SHOP.COM” “MA Mexico” “Isotonix” or “TLS Weight Loss” is strictly prohibited.
When completing your profile, it’s a good idea to include your SHOP.COM portal in the “website” section. This makes it so users who click on your profile will see your portal link.
2. Follower similar businesses
In addition to connecting with other UnFranchise Owners on Pinterest to see how they use the site to promote their business, we also suggest following our corporate brands. Seeing what we share and how we caption each pin is a great way to get ideas for your own content.
Follow SHOP.COM on Pinterest
Follow TLS WeightLoss on Pinterest
Follow Motives Cosmetics on Pinterest
Follow Loren Ridinger on Pinterst
3. Pin high-quality images
Can you guess the biggest reason why some pins get re-pinned and others don’t? It all comes down to image quality! Don’t pin photos that are too small or blurry, or an image that doesn’t catch your eye (if it doesn’t catch YOUR eye, it’s not likely to catch anyone else’s, either).
4. Diversify your content
When pinning to your boards, incorporate content from other sources in addition to products from your SHOP.COM portal. Why is this important? Because when someone clicks on your board to see if they should follow you, they’re looking for various types of content (not just products you sell through SHOP) that convey an overall theme or lifestyle. So, while a fitness buff might pin products like TLS® Core to their “Supplements for a better workout” board, they could (and should!) also pin content from their favorite health and nutrition websites.
5. Categorize and name your boards appropriately
When creating a new board, select the board category from the drop down list. Don’t skip this step! Categorizing your boards makes them searchable, which means that users looking for boards with a specific topic or theme can easily locate relevant boards.
Be specific when naming your boards. For example: let’s say you’re the fitness buff we mentioned above in #4. You want to create a board for your favorite nutritional supplements that help promote longer workouts and overall energy. Rather than naming your board “health and nutrition,” give it a more specific name like “Get a better workout: Exercise tips, tricks & supplements” or “Health and nutrition for fitness enthusiasts.”
6. Engage followers
Commenting on Pinterest isn’t as popular as it is on Facebook or Instagram, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still engage your followers and the people you follow! If you receive a comment notification, make sure to respond to the comment, even if it’s something as simple as “love this!” or “great idea!” Doing so will show your followers that you’re listening, and that you appreciate they took the time to let you know they liked your pin. In addition, when you find another user’s pin that really speaks to you, let them know! Your comment doesn’t have to be long, just long enough to share a few thoughts about the pin and tell them why you liked it. Note: while we encourage commenting on other users’ pins, we don’t encourage commenting your portal link unless the other user asked you to. Going crazy and posting your portal on pins that aren’t your own is spamming. Really. Please, just don’t do it!
7. Pin an appropriate amount
Don’t go pin-crazy and pin a ton of things in one sitting and then abandon your account for several days or weeks at a time. Instead, stick to the rule of only pinning 3-4 images in a 15 minute period, once a day (which is all the time you really need to spend on Pinterest per day anyways!).
8. Pin images with multiple colors
Did you know that images with dominate colors like red, green, and pink are shared 300% more than images of other colors? And, no surprise here, but color images are shared almost 1000% more than black and white. So don’t be afraid to be bold and show some flair!
9. Pin portraits
Images that are portrait style (vertically oriented rather than horizontally oriented) tend to get repined more often on Pinterest. When uploading a photo, make sure that the image is longer than it is wide to increase the likelihood of getting repins.
10. Extend your brand by pinning content that reflects multiple interests and aspects of your business
We mentioned (above, #4) that pinning a variety of content to your boards is key to your success. In addition to increasing the likelihood of acquiring new followers and getting repins, sharing various types of content that reflects multiple aspects of both you and your business helps build your personal brand. You are not just the products you sell; you are an entrepreneur who is passionate about, let’s say, fitness training, cooking healthy meals, and traveling the world (or whatever it is you’re into!). Don’t be afraid to let your passions and personality shine through on Pinterest!
When should you pin?
Want people to see your pins? Make sure you pin during the times most users are on Pinterest!
Best times: 2PM – 4PM, 8PM – 1AM
Best days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
Worst times: 5PM – 7PM, 6AM -9AM
Worst Days: Friday, Saturday.
Note: this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pin on Friday or Saturday, or during your lunch hour. Just be aware of the times and days users are more likely to sign in and see your content.
How will you implement these tips to build your business and promote your portal on Pinterest? Let us know in the comments below!