Drew and I were on a walk the other week and he asked, “So seriously, how do you ACTUALLY make money from Pinterest?” I was mind blown! Like hello, babe? I’ve been teaching Pinterest to students for years… shouldn’t you have heard the whole spiel or just, like, learned through osmosis?!

It was so funny and so interesting, really, because as we walked, I began breaking it down for him, explaining how Pinterest is this search engine and people go there for inspiration. I told him that if you can position your products, services, or resources as something your ideal client wants to pin (and click through to), then you can turn those pinners into paying clients! Easy, right?

Well, in theory, yes. But there’s a few more steps involved — not complicated ones, but important ones that will make sure your Pinterest efforts pay off. So let’s talk about how to use Pinterest for any kind of business, whether it’s in the product, service, or online space!

Online Business Pinterest Strategies

01. CREATE CONTENT THAT LEADS TO CLIENTS

People flock to Pinterest mainly for inspiration. So let’s say you’re an online health coach and sell meal plans. I am certain your audience is searching for recipes and food tips to inspire them on Pinterest. No matter what you’re teaching about, there are people searching for information and solutions in that area on the platform.

Make sure you focus on putting together content that draws in your ideal clients and allows them to imagine working with you. It’s a massive opportunity to reach people early on. Then, when they’re ready for more official support, they’ll know they can turn to you.

02. POSITION YOURSELF AS AN EXPERT IN YOUR NICHE

So how do we create content that encourages people to turn to us? Get this: how-to articles are among the most pinned content. So can you think of some ways to serve your people inside your niche that makes them understand you know your stuff? You also want to intentionally meet your audience at the beginning stage of the process.

The best ways to teach your audience are often blog posts or freebies that ask for an email address as a trade off to get a download of your content. This is important because you can continue the conversation off of Pinterest and built a foundation of trust before they’re ready to buy from you.

03. START A GROUP BOARD OR TAILWIND TRIBE

It’s so valuable to find group boards specific to your field in order to position yourself as an expert on Pinterest. You can add content that others find useful and get access to the followers of other people in your niche when you pin to a group board. This gives your content a further reach, and provides added helpful content to your own followers because of what others are pinning.

04. FOCUS ON RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

As the brand and educator, YOU need to show up as the face of your company. It’s invaluable to connect and relate to your audience. Connect with them on a personal level by sharing about yourself across all your social platforms. Consider ways you can infuse what makes you different in your Pinterest presence. Change your profile picture to a smiling photo of you, and connect with followers by commenting and replying on Pinterest. You might be surprised that people love connecting with YOU, not just what you sell online.

Product-based business Pinterest strategies

01. BUILD CONTENT AROUND WHAT YOU SELL

I often see people create content only ABOUT what they sell and fail to build content around what they are selling. Think about showing your products inside customer’s homes, or ways they are personally using your products. Highlight your customers and encourage people to share how your products are being used and create a board around that.

Pinterest’s most popular pins are fashion, food, and home decorating. Think of ways you can showcase your products that might appeal to people in a new way in those categories if you can. Shift how you pin your work and write the description in a way that is less sales-y and more inspirational.

02. SHOW PEOPLE HOW TO USE YOUR PRODUCTS

What picture can you paint by showing how one of your products solves a pain point for your clients? Write an informative article, and then within that article, have the solution be one of your products. This keeps you from just pinning your products and will attract your target client by solving a problem for them with an educational article that also points to your products as a solution.

03. BE THOUGHTFUL WITH SEO

Let’s get really detailed about what your audience might be searching for in order to find the products you sell. Describe the color, material, possible uses for it, and who might be buying this product. Search those words in the Pinterest guided search bar to see what pops up as terms other people are searching for to find similar things. Infuse those words into your pin descriptions, board names, and profile anywhere it makes sense.

04. CREATE A BRAND, NOT JUST A BUSINESS

Just because you are a product-based business doesn’t mean what you share needs to be one-dimensional. You are far more than what you sell. My final tip for product-based businesses on Pinterest is that people want to know about the person behind the business. I want for you to share about yourself across all social media platforms. Get out of your comfort zone and think about ways you can incorporate what makes you unique in your Pinterest presence.

Service-based business Pinterest strategies

01. CREATE CONTENT THAT LEADS YOUR CLIENT

The truth? People go to Pinterest to be inspired or to help them solve a problem very early on in planning something. What does this mean? If they are planning a wedding, for example, you better believe Pinterest is one of the first places they are going to start the process of planning. If they’re doing a home renovation, they’ll be on Pinterest creating a board of ideas. This is such a huge opportunity to reach people at an early stage so that when they are ready to hire someone, it will be you.

02. POSITION YOURSELF AS AN EXPERT IN YOUR INDUSTRY

Try to think of ways you can show up and serve your audience in your area of expertise that makes them think, “Wow, she really knows her stuff!” Meet them at that beginning stage of the process. Teaching through blog posts and freebies is a common way to build a like, know, and trust foundation. Plus, if you use freebies, you’ll have a way to collect email addresses and continue the conversation off the app.

03. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS THAT LAST

Because you’re offering a service, it’s extra important that you show up as the face of your brand. You want to intentionally relate to and connect with your potential customers. To get them invested in you, you’ll need to connect with them on a more personal level. People want to know about the person behind the business, and you have a story to tell. I’d challenge you to share about yourself across all social media platforms. Also be sure to reply to any comments on your pins and comment on pins of other local businesses in your area.

04. A LOCAL PINTEREST STRATEGY

Many service-based businesses have a local presence, so here are 3 quick tips for creating a local Pinterest strategy.

• Collaborate on Pinterest with other local businesses: Create local boards and pin their content. You could also create a group board together to offer the best resources for your area highlighting your collective services.
• Promoted pins: If you are looking to target very specific people on Pinterest, promoted pins could be a quick way to accomplish this. You can set the parameters to target people only in your area to get your pins in front of the exact right people.
• Local keywords and boards: Having a strong local keyword strategy will help showcase your content to the people in your area and to those searching those words. Use cities, local hot spots, nicknames, etc. anywhere you can add text to your pins, boards and profile.

Pinterest for any business

Whew, now that was a lot of information but I hope it’s helpful to see how Pinterest can truly be powerful for any and all business types! And yep Drew, it can make business owners a lot more money in the long run. With a smidgen of planning and intentionality, you’ll be using the platform to drive traffic to your business, no matter what kind, in no time.

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