Pinterest is touted as being the "catalog of ideas," but a lot of business owners struggle to see their place (and purpose) amongst the plethora of recipes and birthday party ideas found on Pinterest. Katrina Thom, from Thinking Outside the Sandbox (TOSS) Network, joins me to discuss why Pinterest is more than just pinning things you like, but that you can (and should) use it as part of your online marketing strategy.

Why pay attention to Pinterest?

Katrina believes business owners should be paying attention to Pinterest as much as they are any other social network. Pinterest is a free platform that has millions of users, it’s free and it drives traffic to your content – especially blog content.

The average user is mainly female between 18 and 25. To give you an idea of how powerful Pinterest can be, about 85% of TOSS Network blog traffic comes from Pinterest. Pinterest is one way to get more eyeballs on your content!

How can Pinterest work for my business?

If you have a content creation component to your online marketing strategy, Pinterest is simply another way to make it stand it out more. To make Pinterest work for your business, you need an image with every blog post – in fact, two images is recommended.

Simply add the images to your blog post (it can be created online using free image creation websites such as PicMonkey) and place it within the blog post so someone can “Pin” it from there. This is the most passive and least time consuming way to use Pinterest.

What is the ideal image size for Pinterest?

Pinterest images should be long and vertical in shape. The ideal size for Pinterest is 700 x 1300. Pinterest allows you to have this large space so you should maximize its potential and make your content stand out amongst the other visual content.

Images should be enticing. You can add text, but remember that Pinterest is a visual platform so make sure it is attractive and doesn’t have too much text.

What is an ideal image description?

Make sure the description describes the image and blog content, and is also enticing. This is where it is important to have a good alt description when you upload the image to your website. Also, make sure there is a link attached to the link that will direct pinners to your content.

How do you get your content seen on Pinterest?

Have a Pinterest business account because when you have a business account you have access to stats – and it’s still free! You can also choose your icons and add your logo to pins with a business account.

Then create “Boards” and make sure there is at least one board for just YOUR stuff. Then create other boards for trends, etc. that relate to your business.

Also, look for Group Boards. Group Boards allow more than one person to pin to them and is a great way to have a wider audience see your stuff. You will have to request to join these group boards.

PinGroupie is a website that tells you what boards are available to pin on based on what it is you want to pin.

How much content and how often should I pin?

The more content you have on Pinterest the higher up you will be on their algorithm, so don’t just pin something once. Pin an image over and over again, but in between third party content and on other boards.

Consistently share and pin enticing content – this will better your chances of being found in search.

What tools are available to help the busy business owner with Pinterest?

Ahalogy – This tool is a Pinterest marketing partner, you will have to apply to join, but if you have quality images you shouldn’t have any issues. It is also free. This tool will make your content available for others to pin and in return you will be expected to pin other marketers relevant content. The good news is you can do this right through this platform and not through Pinterest. The content through this tool is of high quality because of the application process.

Board Booster – This is another scheduling tool, but it is a paid tool. You can make a secret board and loop pins so that pins loop to other boards. It takes the work out of having to pin to multiple boards by doing it for you.

TailWind – Made through Pinterest, this is also a paid platform. It’s another scheduling tool that will tell you when the people who like to pin your stuff are doing so. TailWind also has tribes where you can get together with like-minded pinners.

How much time does Pinterest take?

If you were to use all three above mentioned tools, it would take about 1.5 per week, but choose the tools that work for you – it doesn’t have to be all three of them. Start with one Pinterest tool and go from there.

Additional Pinterest Tips

Go look at Pinterest for pins relevant to your business. See if people are looking for what you have to offer to see if it is worth it for you to be there.

Once you take the time to get started and build boards, Pinterest will not be time consuming and will start directing traffic to your content.