How To Utilise The Power Of Pinterest As A Business

Last updated on 4 November 2024

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Ever wonder how to use Pinterest as a Business

The other day I was having a conversation over on Instagram with Sofia. Sofia is a business coach who works with young adults to discover their strengths and turn them into an online business that thrives (how cool is that?!). After a comment she left on my Instagram post about using Pinterest, Sofia mentioned that she wasn’t sure that having a Pinterest account was going to be beneficial for her career as a business coach.

I totally get that!

Pinterest over the years has been mostly for recipes, DIY home decor and arts and crafts, but today it’s so much more than that! I put together a document for Sofia in the hopes that we could think of some ways to make Pinterest work for her. It was too good an opportunity to pass up sharing with you what I shared with her, so that’s what we’re going to talk about today: how you can utilise Pinterest as a business (whether that’s a coaching business or other!).

Pinterest is a Search Engine

First things first: I use Pinterest more than I use Google for finding information.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Google, the great and mighty, rendered useless for the majority of things I search for.

When I first got Pinterest, I started using it just for saving recipes, DIY ideas, and all the things I wanted at my future wedding. But now I use Pinterest on the daily for everything from what to cook for dinner to how to code HTML to sewing patterns to blogging tips. The Visual Search Engine Supreme is where it’s at.

Pinterest has more than 320 million monthly active users. And it’s mega easy to target the people you want to target, because, let’s say it all together really loud: Pinterest is a what? A Search Engine.

Level up your Pinterest

As soon as I got that into my head, my Pinterest game levelled up, my numbers of both followers on Pinterest and blog traffic increased exponentially.

In those few months after I started using Pinterest with a search-engine mindset, I went from 10 followers a month to 100 followers a DAY. Now I’m upwards of 5,000 followers, and my monthly engagement (the number of people who interacted, liked, shared, saved, clicked links) is currently sitting at 34.76k, and it’s constantly growing.

Now it’s important to note it’s not about the number of followers you have. Most of the time people will search for something on Pinterest and find your pin, click through, get what they need, and not actually follow you. But those initial followers help in getting your content re-pinned.

People can quickly engage with Pins, as it’s an easy way to visually search for articles, how-tos, guides, and businesses such as Virtual Assistants, Content Creators, Guest Posters, and Coaches.

Pinterest last so much longer than Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I have Pins that I created from my blog from about 4 years ago that still get re-pinned monthly and get traffic back to my blog … which then makes people aware of my content and also the freebie I have available in the sidebar, even if they arrived at the blog for something else.

Now imagine what that could do if you started using Pinterest as a Business.

Get yourself a Business Account

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of what you could be sharing on Pinterest for your business, we need to talk about the Business account option on Pinterest.

Much like an Instagram account, you can upgrade your Pinterest account to a Business account. This can be done for free and is so beneficial (just as changing your Instagram account to a Creator or Business Account has so many benefits!).

Here are a few of the extra things you can do with a Pinterest Business account:

Pinterest Analytics

The best part of having a Business Account on Pinterest is that you can see in-depth analytics for your Pins. This includes what your reach is (how many people have seen your Pin), how many RePins, how many website click-throughs, etc. This is helpful for you to know, so you can better cater to what the people want or are responding to.

The following image is of a 2-week period in August 2020 on my account, compared with the previous 14 days. As you can see, Pinterest Analytics gives you the overall numbers per type of analytics (Impressions, Total Audience, Engagements, and Engaged Audience), as well as what the percentage change has been. These are all clickable, so you can drop down into even further detail. You can also download your stats.

Claim your website

With a simple piece of code that you pop in your blog/website, you can become the verified owner of the Business Account. This means that any images Pinned from your blog will be attributed to you! It also gives authority, as people will see your URL in your profile and know you’re legit. This won’t work for a social media account, but if you have a blog or website in the future then this is a great feature!

Claim your socials

You can also claim your Instagram account, Etsy store, Shopify, and YouTube. This means that any Pin created from those external sites will be attributed to you on Pinterest automatically. For example, if someone is browsing my Etsy shop and they want to Pin a product to come back to when they Pin it, the Pin will go to the Etsy Store Listing but will also be attributed to my Pinterest account, as my Etsy store is linked.

Ad options

While not everyone is going to want to make use of the ad function, especially if you’re on a budget, having the option there for the future is ideal.

Ads on Pinterest work similarly to those of Facebook and Instagram, in that they will appear to Pinterest users who are most likely going to click on them, and are searching for, or have searched for, similar Pins or topics. There’s an Ad Management page specifically for ads. You can create new ads from Pins you’ve previously saved, and track their progress.

New features

Pinterest rolls out new features often, and Business Accounts are the first to know about them and test them out. This means that you can try out the new features before anyone else and see if they’re going to work for you and what you want to achieve with Pinterest.

SEO and Pinterest

We’ve already talked a little about how Pinterest is a Search Engine and the power that has. Just like if you were writing a blog post or creating a website, it’s important to make sure that any Pin you’re creating has your keywords in it, and in a couple of different ways.

For example, if I had a Pin for my freebie, How to Start a Blog 101, I would write something like this:

Title: How to Start a Blog 101 Free Guide Download
Description: Always wanted to start a blog but not sure where to begin? Download your free guide to starting a blog in 2020 and kick-start the blog you’ve always wanted. Head to This Splendid Shambles to get your freebie how-to guide.

As well as an eye-catching image, the title tells people exactly what is while also telling them that it’s free and a guide and downloadable.

While the keywords, the ones that people are likely to search on Pinterest are, ‘how to start a blog’, I’ve included a few other variations for people who will search a little differently. Those keywords are:

start a blog
free guide to starting a blog
starting a blog
kick-start
freebie how-to guide

When someone searches for any of those terms, they’re going to find my Pin, they’re going to (hopefully) click through, and hey presto! I have someone interested in what I have to offer. Now, this example is for a freebie that I have available, but yours will be whatever you’re promoting for your business.

I decided to search ‘business coach’, for example, on Pinterest to see what would be in the results list.

Those are some of the topics that people are searching for on Pinterest. If you do a quick search like this on Pinterest before creating your Pins, it’ll give you a really good idea as to what your keywords should be or should be very similar to.

As you can see, Pinterest also gives you a list of accounts that match your search terms.

Google and Pinterest

So we’ve already covered a little about SEO and how to make the most of those keywords. But that was for Pinterest. What about Google?

Near the start of this article, I said that I use Pinterest as a search engine more than I do Google, but most people aren’t like me. Most people Google things every.single.day. And they’re searching for things like ‘business coach’!

Let me tell you something: Google draws on Pinterest for its result.

Think about: If you’re writing a blog post, a sales page, a landing page on your website … all those pieces of information sit on the internet where Google can find them. If someone searches for something, they’re going to find a long long long list of all the pages on the internet that match those keywords, right? Right.

So if you’ve crafted your Pinterest titles and captions and even your profile well, then Google is going to find you. See Lindsay Maloney’s entry below. I searched for her name and ‘coach’ on Google, and this was in the top 5 results.

Notice that it’s not a link to her website? It’s straight to her Pinterest account. Of course, her website was top of the list on Google but this Pinterest entry wasn’t far behind!

Imagine if every time people searched for ‘business coach’ they stumbled upon your Pinterest … which allowed them to discover your freebie, or your services, or your product.

Craft your pins and your profile well, and you may just see some results from Google.

Okay, great, but what does all this mean for me, a business?

Let’s get into it!

Pinterest for Business with a Website

Whether you’re starting out as a fresh business or you’ve been in this for a while, chances are you’re thinking of a website, even a skinny version with only the bare minimum on there.

This is a great place to start using Pinterest as a business.

Think of all the pieces of information you have on your website: your home page, your About page, your contact page … those are all URL links that you could create Pins for and direct people to.

Some questions to get you thinking about potential Pins

What do you offer?
Is a problem people have that you can solve?
What are your business values?
Why did you become a coach?
Why would people work with you?

Asking these sorts of questions allows you to pull some ideas out and pop them on a Pin.

Examples of Pins you could create for just your home page

5 Reasons You Need A Business Coach
Lost in your Career? I Can Help with That.
Quit your 9-5 and Start the Career That You’ve Always Wanted
Taking Your Dreams and Turning Them Into Reality. {Your name – Your Business}

If you have a blog on your website, too, then hopefully you’re already utilising the opportunities to Pin content for every blog post you write. If not, now’s your chance!

Create three to four different Pins for the same post with different images, titles and descriptions (same link!), and share them on Pinterest at intervals over a couple of weeks. That way, Pinterest won’t think you’re spamming, and also you’ll reach different people at different times.

Pinterest for Businesses without a Website

There’s also a high chance that you don’t have a website for your business. Perhaps your platform of choice is Facebook or Instagram. And that’s completely fine, do you know why?

Pinterest lets you link any URL to your Pins.

This means you can create a Pin that showcases your services and have it link straight to your profile on Instagram, where people can contact you. Or you can direct them to the About section on your Facebook Page, have them sign up on a single landing page to your email list … there’s a lot you can still do without a website.

Here are a couple of ideas to get you thinking about how you can use Pinterest as a business through social media:

Instagram content

As I mentioned before, you can use any URL you like for a Pin (within reason). The options for Instagram might be: share directly from Instagram and pull your posts straight into Pinterest, or every time you create an Instagram graphic create an adjusted size version for Pinterest.

The one on the left, below, is for Instagram, and the one on the right is for Pinterest (for example). When I create the Pin, I use the keywords in the title and the description, and for the link, I link to the page where people can sign up to grab my freebie. But you could like to your Instagram post if you don’t have a landing page.

Facebook Group

If you have a Facebook Group for your business, why not promote that on Pinterest? Create a few Pins that use keywords and phrases that your ideal clients would likely use to find you, and pop them in a Board that’s going to gain traction with users.

You could even draw them in with freebies, such as a Pin that reads: Free Tips Every Week On Starting a Business From Scratch. And have the link go to either your Facebook Group, which people have to sign up for, or to a landing page where they pop in their email and you send them the link to your FB Group.

Just make sure you’re going to follow through with what your Pin offers.

A free download

If you don’t have a freebie download available for people, then I highly recommend thinking about something you could give away to your Social Media followers. In exchange, they’ll give you their email address, which gives you a way of connecting with them, and in turn, might turn them into potential clients for your business.

When I open freebies up a lot of the time, I recognise that the cover page would make a great Pin. The front cover of your free download is already Pin material. You could save the first page as an image, and Pin that straight away, with your keywords in the Title and the Description, and with a link to your download page.

A word of caution …

It’s important to note, though, that Pinterest does have a spam detector. So creating lots of Pins that are similar to each other and lead to the same place might get flagged and they won’t be seen by as many people.

If you create Pins in bulk (or rather, say 10 Pins that all lead to the Freebie page), be sure to space them out and change up the descriptions and titles a bit. Maybe post two one week, then wait a week, post another one, wait a bit … etc. It also means you’ll be showing different people your Pins at different times, which is good for reach.

Other ways to use Pinterest as a Business

Promote yourself through your Pins

Think about who you are, and what your values are, and how you help people. Those are all things you can create Pins from. For example, you could create a Pin that has an image of you, who you are (YOUR NAME: Business/Careers/Life Coach etc) and how you can help people with their problems/dreams of starting their own business (or whatever it is your offer).

Promote your services through your Pins

Slightly different in that you’re promoting the answer to people’s problems.

Present a problem, and give them the solution. E.g. Always wanted to start a blog but don’t know where to begin? Download the free guide and kick-start your dream blog today! Link to your Instagram/Website/Social Media/Contact Page.

Learn from the community

One of the best things about Social Media is the connections it brings, the community it builds. Pinterest is similar but on a larger scale. Want to see some bad-ass business rocking it on Pinterest?

Here are a few Business Coaches on Pinterest, so you can see how they do it:

Or all these other Business Coaches (hint: I just searched Business Coach, and looked at profiles that fitted that description).

How to curate your boards as a Business

People can choose to follow all your boards or just select ones they’re interested in. Try to have a few of your Pins on every board that you create, but then populate your boards with other Pins that fit that board.

Here are a few ideas as to what you could create boards for (and continuing with a business coach theme):

Business Tips
Career Advice
Resources for Your Business

By clearly naming your boards by what’s in them, you’re going to draw people who are interested in said boards a lot faster. They want to know about those business tips, or they need resources for their business. If they follow the board, they’re going to be looking at the Pins that you put in it, so they’re going to see your Pins and head to your Instagram, website, freebie page etc.

Find Group Boards to join

While Group Boards are not that popular anymore, you could definitely give them a go!

Often to join a group board you’ll need to meet some requirements (X amount of Pins or Followers etc), but once you’ve established your Pinterest account a bit more, then group boards are a fantastic way to get your Pins out there, as the people in those boards are likely to share your Pins to their other boards … and there you’ve just reached a bucket-load more people.

Promoting your Pinterest

People love Pinterest. Right? Right.

And they love finding new accounts to follow and new content to get their hands on. Which means you can easily promote your Pinterest account and get some new followers, who in turn, will be directed to your freebie, Instagram, services etc. It’s a wonderful circle of life.

Ways to promote your Pinterest account:

On Instagram and Facebook: Do a post and let people know about your new/re-done account! You can do another post in about a month to remind people, or tell people about a new board you’ve started.
To your other socials/pages: Add a Pinterest icon alongside your Instagram icon so people know you a) have a Pinterest account and b) can easily find it.
Email: If you’ve got an email list, you can add the Pinterest icon to your footer, or send out an email letting people know you’ve started a new Pinterest account and you’d love for them to check it out.

And that’s a wrap! I hope this has been helpful for you, especially if you’re looking at starting to use Pinterest as a Business.

Pinterest Tips | How to Use Pinterest as a Business

Ever wonder how to use Pinterest as a Business