Pinterest is one of the largest social networks. When working with images, it is an insider tip for Online Marketing by freelancers and agencies. Even companies from the B2B environment report campaigns that are sometimes more successful than stories on Instagram. This article shows you what is important and how to link Pinterest with WordPress.

Many self-employed people and companies don't know what to do with Pinterest - they have prejudices. "What am I supposed to post there?" is an objection you hear again and again. If you look at your competitors or successful freelancers on Pinterest, they are particularly happy and successful shared or saved:

• Pictures of employees in the work process or a look behind the scenes, as a recruiting tool
• Support for social projects
• Manufacturing processes of your product
• Infographics with exciting background knowledge about your product or service world
• Cover pictures of blog posts and much more.

Pinterest has long been more than just a niche network. In April 2019, the company went public. Since March 2019, it has been possible to place ads on Pinterest. You shouldn't neglect the visual search engine. It can be a real traffic booster if you use it correctly.

The target group

Jan Firsching writes in his article on Futurebiz:

In Germany, monthly 8.3 to 11.2 million people are indicated as active users on Pinterest – a huge target group, right?

First, the hard facts of the network:

• 250 million users worldwide
• 175 billion stored ideas (so-called pins)
• 77 percent of users (pinners) have discovered a brand or product on Pinterest
• 82 percent bought a product they found on Pinterest

There are many good reasons why you should use Pinterest properly for your marketing. It's also fun to create pins or infographics for your website, product page or blog. And that brings us to the key point: images, images, images! But more on that later.

How to sign up on Pinterest and create a business account

The first step is to create a private account on Pinterest. Once you're registered, you can convert your account to a business page for free:

After that, you choose your interests. They should fit the subject of your business model:

Afterwards you assign the name of your company page and select further information about it:

The next step is to enter the URL of your website. So your corporate site will be found by the followers who follow your bulletin boards or your account. And of course every pin should lead to a landing page or a blog post:

You can also link other social media profiles. Since the end of 2018, it has been possible to connect your Instagram account or YouTube channel with Pinterest.

The optimal company profile

You should definitely create a business profile, even for your blog. Although Pinterest is not a common social network: It is worthwhile to have a clear profile and to show what you and your company stand for. This is the only way to achieve a recognition effect.

At the same time, you need a thematic focus. It's not effective if you mix your interests in interior design with relevant content for your business, even though it's going in a different direction. Barbara Riedl from KaleidoCom wrote about how to use Pinterest strategically in her article 7 important Pinterest strategies.

In your Pinterest profile, you can enter your username and customize your Pinterest URL:

I have the same name on all channels, including for my Pinterest account. That's easier for your readers and followers to remember. It also makes it easier for them to find you using the search function. Under "Account settings" you can enter more information about yourself:

Your pinboards

Depending on what products or services you offer, you can create different pinboards on Pinterest. I have set up my pinboards according to my blog categories: For example, visitors can find pinboards on "Digitalization in the hotel industry", "E-commerce in the hotel industry" or "Social media tips for hotels".

Make sure to provide the pinboards with a meaningful description and with your keywords. The keywords are important so that you appear in the search results under appropriate keywords:

You should include these keywords, for which you want to be found, in your profile description, in the description of your pinboards and in the pins themselves.

Why rich pins are so important and why you need a pin-it button

There are different ways to share your content on Pinterest. On your website or blog, you've probably integrated social media buttons that your readers can use to share, above or below your posts.

I use for example the Plugin Shariff Wrapper for WordPress . Through the 2-click solution it is also compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR .

Tip: See our free GDPR guide for WordPress agencies, freelancers & website owners. You can find it here.

The Plugin offers a pin-it button along with other social networks. This button accesses the image that you have added to your article in Shariff:

The procedure is as follows:

1. Pinterest will grab the title of your article or your site
2. It generates the description text from the ALT tag description. However, you should not use this for Pinterest, but better for the accessibility of your website and as a good image description for Google.
3. Finally, upload the image that will be shown to your readers when they share via the pin-it button.

This way you make it easier for your readers to share. You already provide the text and they don't have to come up with something themselves. Because hand on heart: Nobody does that!

Rich pins help you with search engine optimization (SEO). You kill two birds with one stone:

• You specify how the pin is described and what it contains. For example, keywords that are important for you and your business.
• You optimize the image for Google image search and will be found better.

Did you know that content with images converts up to seven times more than without? SEO experts predict that visual search engine optimization will continue to gain importance alongside Voice Search . This is also supported by the apps Google Lens, Bing Visual Search or Pinterest Lens.

With Pinterest Lens, you can capture ideas in the app and via your smartphone camera. The platform then shows you pins that match them.

Create striking images with meaningful title

Just like on Facebook, Instagram and the like, images on Pinterest have a set format. And you should stick to it: The recommended aspect ratio is 2:3, for example 600 × 900 pixels. See this post for more information.

For infographics, you can adjust the length of the image. Canva makes it very easy to create engaging graphics. Here is an example, based on an image from Pexels:

Infographics are also popular because they allow you to present complex content in a visual and easy-to-understand way. This reads and shares faster than sober facts.

Traffic booster: Video pins!

The first video pins were possible in the US back in 2012. But Pinterest has upgraded and rolled out moving image formats globally this year. This is probably related to Pinterest's desire to push the platform further, along with ad advertising and going public. Video is also getting more attention on other networks, triggered by appropriate algorithms. Your video pins will appear at the top of search results and on your pinboards.

I've been trying out the video pins. I usually use Tailwind to distribute my content on Pinterest.

Tip: I published an article about Tailwind on bloggerabc.de.

In the German version, sharing videos via Tailwind is unfortunately not yet possible. But you can publish a video pin directly in Pinterest. Instead of an image, you simply upload a video file. You can find examples here.

Pinterest plays MP4 or MOV. The file size must not exceed 2 GB. Recommended formats are 1:1 (square) or 2:3 (vertical). Pinterest makes no statement about the maximum length of videos. However, your video should quickly capture your reader's attention and then drive them to your website or blog. Because just like with the image pins, you also store a URL here.

Pinterest marketing pays off

Pinterest is now suitable for different content formats. With images, infographics and now videos, you can draw your readers' attention to content and then redirect them to your website, online shop or blog.

Until last year, it was still common to distribute pins to different pinboards. The only important thing was active pinning - the search engine wanted to see activity several times a day. Pinterest still prefers fresh and new content - and as regularly as possible. But quality and target group-oriented content are becoming more and more important.

I create many different images in Pinterest format for a blog post or podcast episode. Since I work with Tailwind, I do this once a month. And then plan ahead with the tool. This has increased my traffic: Pinterest is my third largest traffic source after Google and Facebook.

Marketing on Pinterest is also worthwhile for freelancers and agencies. Because:

• Visual content stands out more.
• There are many different possibilities, also for B2B (images, infographics, videos, tutorials, FAQ).
• As an early adopter of Pinterest, you are at the forefront. Especially in German-speaking countries and when your competitors are not yet using the network.

Further links to Pinterest

• Pinterest publishes its trends for the current year every year. You can find the top trends for 2019 here.
• I highly recommend the blog Kaleidocom.at for anyone interested in Pinterest.
• Pinterest itself also provides information about the platform. The figures on buying behaviour on Pinterest are particularly exciting.

Contributed image: Pixabay