How to Go Viral on Pinterest

Pinterest is a social media platform that functions quite differently compared to the likes of Facebook and Instagram. On Pinterest, users upload images and videos, which are referred to as ‘pins’ and appear on users’ home feeds. The platform’s algorithm also ranks these pins based on users’ search queries based on their relevance. Users have the option of saving the pins that they like, which appear on Pinterest boards – pin collections that have been put together by different Pinterest users or ‘pinners’.

While Pinterest emerged as a platform that users primarily used for personal purposes, over time, businesses recognized the platform’s marketing potential. Since then, Pinterest marketing has become an important social media undertaking for brands and influencers whose target audiences are active on the platform. The objective of marketing on Pinterest is simple – to make pins go viral with the end goal of making audiences aware of brands and their products and/or services.

So, if you want your brand to grow on Pinterest, read on. In this post, we’ll take you through the top Pinterest marketing tips that you can put into practice for amazing results!

1. Scrap that personal account and get started with a business account

   
   

If your primary purpose of being active on Pinterest is to make your brand grow, then it would be in your best interest to switch to a business account from a personal account.

When you make the jump to a business account on Pinterest, you can access a whole host of exclusive features such as:

• Pinterest Advertising: This is Pinterest’s very own advertising feature, which works similar to Facebook Ads and Google Ads. With this feature, you can create your Pinterest ads from scratch and showcase your brand in front of the entire Pinterest community, which, by the way, is huge. Using Pinterest Advertising can also drive sales, way more compared to other social media platforms.

  
  

• Pinterest Analytics: Is your Pinterest content managing to engage your target audience? Or is it barely making any impact? Do you need to put in more effort to understand your audience better? You can get detailed answers to all these questions by using the Pinterest Analytics feature. This is arguably the most important feature that a Pinterest business account will give you, and the best thing is that it’s completely free.

  
  

• Pinterest Business Hub: The Pinterest Business Hub is a simplified interface that lets business users access different types of business-related information. For instance, you can access ad overview information through this feature, which will give you details regarding the status of your ad campaigns on the platform. Quite simply, it’s a business account overview that places all relevant business information at your fingertips.

  
  

• Pinterest Create: For businesses, Pinterest Create is an incredibly handy feature for creating pins and scheduling them for publishing later. It also offers users a keyword tool that is helpful for optimizing pins, making them more discoverable. For brands on the platform looking for a boost on the organic traffic front, there’s no feature better than this.

  
  

  So, these are the four features that come free of cost with a Pinterest business account. However, you won’t get to access these features with a personal account. That’s why you should switch to a business account without further delay.

2. Experimenting with pin types is essential

   
   

Pinterest offers users various pin types, and each of them has certain unique benefits. The most commonly used types of pins on the platform include:

• Idea pins: Pinterest launched Idea pins back in 2021, and it’s Pinterest’s version of Stories, which has been a huge hit across platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram. However, there are certain differences between Stories and Idea pins. For starters, Idea pins aren’t temporary (Stories posts disappear after 24 hours). They can also be saved by users. All in all, this is the pin type you should use if your goal is to inspire your audience.

  
  

• Video pins: Video pins are like your regular video posts on Facebook and Instagram, but with certain enhancements. One major difference between Pinterest video pins and Facebook and Instagram video posts is that you have the option of including a cover image. it’s similar to video thumbnails on YouTube, i.e. users can form expectations about your video pins based on your cover images. Video pins also allow you to include external links. If increasing brand engagement matters to you, you should make regular use of video pins.

  
  

• Standard pins: This pin type is the original Pinterest pin that’s still relevant and popular after so many years. Nothing fancy here – just static images and the ability to include external URL links. However, despite the lack of fanciness, these pins can be incredibly effective if they’re well-thought-out.

  
  

The trick to understanding the pin type that works for your brand is to experiment with all available pin types. You can use Pinterest Analytics to understand how your pins are faring in terms of your brand’s Pinterest growth.

3. Focus on natural keyword inclusion

   
   

By natural keyword inclusion, we mean including keywords that are relevant to your pins and including them naturally. Confusing? Let’s provide you with some clarity through an example.

For instance, let’s say your brand deals in cakes, and you want to create a pin with the aim of driving traffic to your website, which is full of recipes. In such a scenario, you might want to include the keyword ‘cake recipes’ in your pin description. You might also have another keyword in mind such as ‘recipes for cakes’. To include both of them, you can either do it naturally, i.e. through proper sentences, or stuff them both in without any regard for grammar and sentence construction.

Here’s what naturally including the keywords in the description could look like:

‘Visit the link for sumptuous cake recipes. Find countless recipes for cakes to experiment with.’

On the other hand, by unnaturally stuffing the keywords, you could end up with something like:

‘For more cake recipes and recipes for cakes, click on the link.’

The second example doesn’t sound natural, does it?

So, this is the kind of keyword stuffing practice that you should steer clear of. For starters, it makes your descriptions awful to read. Then there’s the Pinterest algorithm, which seems to detest pins that have a high degree of keyword stuffing.

4. Keep creating and maintaining posting frequency and consistency

   
   

This is one of those Pinterest tips that you’ll see almost on every article that aims to enlighten readers about growing their brands on the platform. But the reason you’ll find this tip everywhere is that it really is effective. Apart from keeping your audience engaged, it will also increase the chances of your pins being seen and liked later.

The main challenge with being creative on Pinterest is that the platform wants you to keep creating frequently and consistently. So, in case your creative juices run dry one fine day, you might find yourself struggling to come up with something that engages your audience. However, we’ve got a few tips for you that you can try out to achieve your peak pin posting frequency and consistency:

• Make the most of pin templates: Creating a pin design from scratch every time can become a tedious and time-consuming affair. That’s why you should consider using pin templates from time to time. Simply pick a template from a website – there are many websites that provide free Pinterest templates. Next, tweak the pre-existing design based on your preferences, and then add the content.

  
  

• Create batches of content when you’re feeling at your creative best: There are moments when you’re brimming with creative energy. Instead of letting this energy go to waste, make use of it by creating content batches, i.e. as many pins as you possibly can at one go. This will ensure that you have enough pins up your sleeve to post, even on days when you aren’t at your creative best.

  
  

• Use a scheduler: Pinterest has a scheduling tool, but it’s a bit limited as you can only use it to schedule posts up to a fortnight ahead. This is where other Pinterest scheduling tools can come to your aid. Some tools allow content scheduling up to multiple months in advance. Combining this with batch creation is a great way to make your Pinterest posting efficient.

  
  

5. Try using a growth tool

If you’re new to Pinterest, you’ll find it hard to establish your brand and make it stand out from your competitors who are already well-established. The reason for this is simple – Pinterest has been around for quite some time, and the competition on the platform right now is incredibly fierce.

Of course, you can’t simply rely on a growth tool to do everything for you. At the end of the day, your content has to be top-notch and optimized. However, what a growth tool can do is complement your efforts and drive results rapidly. Your sales, engagement and following will go through the roof.