If you’ve used Pinterest before, which you most likely have, then you have probably used it to look for recipes, DIY project ideas, or inspiration for your home decor. I love using Pinterest for these things too!
However, did you know that Pinterest is a powerful marketing tool that can increase your website traffic by the thousands!? Over 90% of the traffic to my website comes from Pinterest alone!
If you want to learn more about what makes Pinterest such a powerful platform, be sure to take a look at this blog post:
I can’t wait to share with you all the ways that you can use Pinterest to bring traffic to your website, but before we jump in, it is important to make sure your account is set up correctly. This will give your pins and account the most potential to be seen by your target audience. If you you haven’t already, check out my other blog post about how to do this:
Before we jump into the deep strategy talk, I want to point out some things to keep in mind while you develop a strategy, create new pins, and schedule them out. Following these rules will give your pins and account the greatest account of being seen by others.
Things to keep in mind:
Use the 80/20 Rule
This means pinning 20% of your own content and 80% of the content from others. This helps Pinterest see you as a consistent user (which helps with visibility) without burning yourself by spending countless hours creating new content to pin.
Use Pinterest’s New Features
Pinterest will spend more time promoting anything with new features (like story pins or communities) that they come out with, so using these features will help your pins get in front of a bigger audience.
Fresh Content
Pinterest rewards fresh content, so it is important to consistently putting out new pins. It used to be good practice to constantly be re-pinning your old pins to bring them to the top of people’s feed. However, this is NOT good practice anymore and can even result in Pinterest flagging your account as spam. So instead, focus on creating new content, and creating multiple different pins for that single piece of content to get the most from it.
Consistency is Key
Pinterest rewards consistent pinning, so it is important to plan pins regularly. I plan my pins ahead 2-4 weeks in advance and try to have at least one pin going out everyday. This seems like a lot, but it’s not once you establish a good system! In my opinion, showing up regularly on Pinterest is waaaay easier than showing up regularly on Instagram.
TIP: Use a platform like Tailwind to plan your pins far in advance and track their analytics.
Now, finally—what you have been waiting for! Here are my strategies for using Pinterest to increase you website traffic:
01. Pin Old Content
Think about pinning old content as well as new. Take some time to share all the images already on your website. This can take a bit of time, but why not share all this content that you’ve already put so much time into!?
You can also create new graphics for the old content. I create anywhere from 5-10 graphics for each blog post I publish.
Pinterest will bring new life to this content that you’ve already worked so hard to create!
02. Establish and Research Your Target Audience
Taking the time up front to research and think through your target audience will make creating an effective Pinterest strategy so much easier! I encourage you to take the time to really think through and establish a clear picture of who your target audience it. Here are some answers to get you started:
- What do they like to do?
- Where do they shop? What do they like to wear?
- What are their values / interests?
- What kinds of accounts do they follow on Instagram?
Establishing the answers to these questions will inform you on what kind of content to create. It will also make the next step in this post much easier!
03. Create Value for Your Audience
Most importantly, the best way to bring traffic to your website through Pinterest is to create value for your clients / customers.
- What are they searching for on Pinterest?
- What solution does your business (or the content your create) offer to the problem they are facing?
- What inspires them?
By thinking through these questions and creating pins that answer them, you are increasing the chances of your business being put in front of them. I encourage you to think outside of the box for ways that you can do this.
For example, one of the greatest ways I have brought traffic to my website is through my color palette pins (maybe you found me this way!?). Often times business owners considering re-branding might search for a color palette for inspiration for their re-brand or the vision for their business. If they come across my color palettes and like them, they might click through to my website and end up hiring me for the re-brand.
What can you create that will place your business before your ideal client / customer? Maybe it’s a series of blog posts answering their commonly asked questions? Or maybe it’s a series of pins providing inspiration or ideas that will appeal to them?
04. Create a Reason for People to Click Through to Your Website
Take the previous step even further and create a clear reason for them to click through to your website. For a service-based business, this could be a blog post or a downloadable freebie. For an e-commerce business, this could be a discount code, special deal, or even a product you sell. The key is to give them something of value in return for clicking over to your website.
Make sure it is clear from just looking at the pin what they will get once they head over to your site. Some ways to do this are:
- Include a sneak peek or a few key points from the content your pin links to on the pin graphic itself.
- Catch your viewers’ attention with an eye-catching hook that encourages them to read more.
- Include a button or call to action in the pin graphic such as “click here to read more”.
- ALWAYS include the your website URL or name of your business in the pin, so they can easily associate the pin with you.
05. Have a clear call to action on your website
When people click through to the page on your website, where do they go next? You went to all this work to get them to visit your site, so let’s encourage them to stay a while, fall in love with you and/or your business.
Take some time to think about your business and your goals for new website visitors. Do you want them to invest in your services, make a purchase, sign up for your email list, or all of the above? Establish what your goals are and include that call to action on the page or blog post that they land on from Pinterest. Here are some ideas:
- Freebie or downloadable guide / workbook: Option to exchange their email to receive a free resource
- Product / service promotion: Invite your visitors to purchase your services / products. Bonus points if you can highlight how your service / product can improve their life, solve the problem they are facing, or build on the content covered in the blog post / resource.
- Special offer: Encourage your visitors to make a purchase by offering a special / exclusive deal or discount.
06. Research and Refine
Now that you’ve created and scheduled your first batch of pins, it’s time for the fun part: watching how your pins perform with analytics!
After your pins have been out in the Pinterest world for a little while, check on them to see which ones are performing the best and which ones aren’t. Look at the things you did for the ones that are doing well and continue to do that for your future pins. In the same vein, try something new for the pins that aren’t doing as well.
Pinterest analytics are an amazing, free tool to help you learn more about your audience and create content that will appeal to them, so take advantage of it!
TIP: Use a platform like Talwind to plan your pins in advance and get even more insight on your pins analytics!
Once you implement a solid strategy, it’s so exciting and fun to watch the impressions and pin clicks in analytics grow as your pins gain more and more visibility.
However, don’t feel down if your pins aren’t going instantly viral—it took some time and a lot of trial and error for my pins to gain traction and start bringing traffic to my website. I’ve even had some pins go viral 6 months after I pinned them. Sometimes it just takes the right person finding your pin to get the ball rolling.
If you commit to implementing a strong Pinterest strategy in your marketing efforts, I promise you will see great results!
