Learn the Art & Science of Pinterest

Mandy Edwards — March 12, 2017 Follow @memktgservices

Pinterest is for yourself, not your selfie.

When I attended this year’s Southern C Summit, I had the privilege of hearing Nikki Bazzani from Pinterest present. It was great to be in the room with someone who could give answers from the source. Her presentation was about the art and science of Pinterest, and yes everyone, there is a true art and science to it.

Here is what she shared, and every business owner using Pinterest needs to take note of this! FYI, Pinterest is second largest search behind Google

It’s no surprise that every story is rooted in an idea. And every idea is a pin. Those pins are what helps us discover and ultimately do what we love.

Pinterest provides a wealth of content for anyone who is looking – the mom looking for new recipes, the marketer looking for an infographic, the bride looking for ideas for her wedding, the husband looking for birthday ideas for his wife. A good number of businesses have an audience on this platform, and they should with 150 million active monthly users pinning away.

But where do you start? How do you use Pinterest for your business, much less create that perfect pin that will capture the attention of the pinner scrolling through?

Before you put together a pin for Pinterest, keep these things in mind:

• Text is allowed – call out unique things, get that pinner’s attention.
  
• Vertical images are optimal – use – 600px x 900px (Don’t go higher than 1560px high. Pinterest is going to start not showing/decreasing visibility of the really long pins. Keep them at 900px high.)
  
• Be authentic to both you and your brand.
  
• Be helpful instead of clever with text overlay and descriptions.
  
• Avoid looking like a banner ad.
  
• Content and detail in description is encouraged (200-400 characters). Use keywords. You can have 500 characters max.

Knowing those few things, there is a psychology behind creating a pin, much like the psychology advertisers use in creating their ads and how you see them. Here are three principles to stick to.

3 Good Principles of a Pin

1. They are visually arresting
   
   
   
   • The pin is a canvas, so use it. Play with text color (bright that pop), texture, pattern. Use black and white. Play with space. Add your products, logo, etc.
   
   
2. They are inspiring
   
   
   
   • Motivate pinners with helpful tips, lists, and how-tos. Show the pinner what they are going to find when they go to your site.
     
   • Motivate with variety.
     
   • Motivate with novelty.
     
   • Motivate with trends and cultural reference (check out their Pinterest 100 trend report here).
   
   
3. They are actionable
   
   
   
   • Make it easy – tell them what to do.

Once you have your pin planned out, that’s not the end of it. You have to nail it. Think of the pin as your piece de resistance. Ask yourself these eight questions…

• Does this pin appeal to my desired audience?
  
• Is this pin a stand-alone idea?
  
• Is the idea novel, inspiring, entertaining, or helpful?
  
• Would I save this pin?
  
• Does this pin pique my interest enough to click and get more information?
  
• Can I visually grasp what the idea or product is in less than 1 second?
  
• Is the pin designed for mobile?
  
• Does it stand out in the Pinterest feed?

Of course, there are more ways your can always make your pin more helpful…

Show lists and multi-products.

Instructions and How-tos – let the pinner know what they are getting.

Detailed descriptions – use all the space you can.

Text overlays – just be careful not to use too much.

Tasteful branding – use your branding, your logo, list your website.

Once you start using Pinterest for your business, there are a lot of opportunities for you to grow your brand there. For example, take advantage of group boards. Look at Tribes through TailWind (an AMAZING Pinterest management tool). Pin from brands you want to work with, pin to support small businesses.

Monica Lavin of Lavin Label, who had partnered with Pinterest, also shared her experience and some helpful tips on how to get the most out of this platform.

Monica’s Tips:

• For every 1 pin you pin, re-pin 2 pins from other people.
  
• Pin throughout the day (You can use Tailwind or Co-Schedule to schedule pins).
  
• Look at pins that are doing the best – create new content similar to that. Re-pin pins that are not performing well.
  
• Take advantage of Promoted Pins!
  
• Use Rich Pins from your site.

Here are some best practices for all of us to take –

Are you using Pinterest? If so, what are your success stories? Remember every idea is a pin. Those pins are what helps us discover and ultimately do what we love.

Images courtesy of The Southern C Summit

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