Last Thursday marked the first in a series of expert Q&A over in the Simply Smart Social Facebook community The Power of Pinterest with Rebecca Bradley.
Based on the feedback provided by members of the group, Rebecca gave us a general overview of Pinterest and its benefits, showing us that as business owners we should be making the most of this free source of targeted traffic.
She kindly provided a short video, and then stuck around to answer our burning questions – enjoy!
What sort of business do you believe would benefit most from a Pinterest account?
ALL businesses can benefit from Pinterest. The video talks about the myths around that and the benefits you can expect from your Pinterest account. It also includes a link to a FREE video series, which will walk through setting up your business account.
So is a business account different from a personal account? Can you change one to the other?
Yes, they differ quite substantially. Personal accounts don’t have any of the business tools such as rich pins (we are HUGE fans of these), analytics and promoted pin.
If you have a personal account already you can convert it. There’s a tutorial on how to do this in the extra resources below.
Can you have more than one Pinterest account?
Yes, you can have as many accounts as you have email addresses.
How would you recommend getting started on building up your personal brand on Pinterest?
The main thing is to get super focused on who your ideal customer is, and then tailor your boards, content and keywords around that.
In terms of searching keywords, do you just search in Pinterest or do you use a Google keyword tool?
If you know the keywords for your brand anyway, then try those in Pinterest too. But you should really use Pinterest as your gauge. The predictive search is a massively helpful way to steer you. Start typing the keyword you have in mind, and it will bring up suggestions in order of popularity. I always keep a note of these terms on a whiteboard by my computer, or in a notes app on my phone.
How much time do you recommend spending daily on Pinterest (for a business account building from scratch)? Do you also look at times of the day so as to not flood the feed?
We recommend 25-30 pins a day, spaced out (particularly when you’re just starting and don’t have many followers).
Below you’ll find a link for a free month of a scheduling tool called Tailwind, which we use and highly recommend. It calculates the best time to pin for your audience and then allows you to schedule your pins at those times.
How many boards should we have? What should we pin to them?
We recommend having four boards based on the popular Pinterest categories to make use of that traffic, then one board dedicated to your own products, and then a handful of other boards relevant to your products AND your target market.
The key point we teach is to have boards that directly relate to your target market, and not to just pin your own products and services. You should share a range of info they will find useful. Some people pin indiscriminately and that can be really confusing for customers – they won’t know what your business does or how that business can help them.
Think of it this way – if someone was on your Pinterest profile, would they understand what you do from your profile description? Would your board titles speak to them and interest them? Would your pins be content that could help them?
If you clicked through to a profile and it was filled with just boards about that business, would you go back time and again? Probably not. However, if it’s full of interesting, relevant content people will follow and be back. High-quality boards will help you build a relationship with users, and then when you show them pins of your products (or services) they will be far more likely to buy from you.
Another thing to consider is Pinterest’s popular categories. Everyone loves food which is why it is the single most popular category on Pinterest. People get confused about content on Pinterest, as they think it has to ONLY be suited to their product. So if they didn’t have a food based product then they wouldn’t be able to pin to food boards. This view is causing you to miss a huge trick – your content shouldn’t be based exclusively around your products, it should be based around your ideal customer.
You’re drawing those ideal customers in with what you repin, providing them with value, meeting their needs, entertaining them and growing a relationship.
I’d just like to extend a HUGE thank you to Rebecca – she really went all out with this session and it was super helpful. To join in with our next Expert Q&A, hop into the group here. Don’t forget to check out the extra resources Rebecca provided (below) – including an exciting special offer!
Extra resources:
Blog post: Convert your personal Pinterest account to a business account
Blog post: The lifespan of a pin
Free video: How to set up your business account
Tailwind free trial: http://a.tailwindapp.com/chtsj
Pinright courses: http://www.pinright.com/courses-list/
*Please note that the offer of 5 mini-courses for $45 was for the Simply Smart Social group only, and has now expired. However, for one week only, Rebecca is offering my readers access to her Pinterest for Business course for only $79 (£57) – usual price $199 (£149). Simply enter this voucher code at the checkout: FULL79
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