How to Get Started with Pinterest Marketing for Your Coaching, Consulting, or Service Based Business
If you’re like many other service providers, you’re likely feeling a bit overwhelmed and not even really sure where to start with Pinterest marketing. But the thought of generating a ton of traffic to your website and growing quality leads has brought you down a rabbit hole of Pinterest information, and you’re determined to figure this Pinterest thing out.
Lucky you - you’ve landed in the right place! This post is all about getting started with Pinterest marketing for your coaching, consulting or service based business.
Like many service providers, your business success rides on the flow of new clients you have wanting to work with you. Which means you need a solid lead generation strategy that will allow you to both generate new leads and work with current clients.
Insert Pinterest.
But before we get any further, I’d like to pause for a moment and celebrate the fact that you’re even considering Pinterest for your business.
The power of Pinterest is strong (and real) and can transform your business by generating leads, growing traffic to your website, and increasing visibility.
Pinterest hit a record number of 459 million users in March of this year and is still growing!
Just think - a year from now you’ll look back and be grateful to yourself for choosing to get started with Pinterest.
here’s how to get started with pinterest marketing for your business
Start with a Pinterest Business Account
Set Up Your Profile Properly
Incorporate Targeted Keywords
Create Boards for Your Audience
Design Pin Graphics that Spark Interest
Be Consistent
Start with a Pinterest Business Account
Your Pinterest marketing strategy starts with a Pinterest business account. This is different from a personal Pinterest account. You can read all about a Personal Pinterest Account vs. a Pinterest for Business account here.
A Pinterest business account will give you the tools you need to take a look inside your analytics and see what content is working for you and what tweaks and changes might need to be made.
Set up Your Profile Properly
Your profile will work for you when set up the right way. So don’t skim over this step! It’s an important one! Make sure your website URL and any social media channels you use are claimed. This is done in the settings tab of your account.
Select a profile photo, create a display name (using a keyword or two), and write a bio description that tells who you are, what you do and who you serve. Your bio description should include any main keywords that describe your business. This helps make sure you can get found in search!
Incorporate Targeted Keywords
Keywords, keywords, keywords! They are SO SO important. This is how users will find you and your content on Pinterest.
97% of searches on Pinterest are UNBRANDED. That means, users are not coming to the platform and searching for specific brands - but rather ideas and inspiration.
Meaning - whether you’ve been in business for 5 years or 5 months, your content shows up in search when someone types in “email marketing tips”
Once you’ve determined your target keywords, make sure you are putting them in the 6 main places in your profile for maximum visibility. Read more about that here!
You can read more about my signature 3 step method to keyword research for Pinterest Marketing.
Create Boards for Your Audience
Your Pinterest boards are like giant catalogue of all things relevant to your niche. One mistake I often see service providers make is not paying attention to the boards you’ve created for your profile.
Your boards should be a place that your ideal client could come and get as much information about your niche as possible. Keep them at the front of your mind as you develop the boards for your Pinterest profile.
Don’t forget to keep your board names simple and searchable. Avoid using cutesy words. You want your boards to be able to be found, so use keywords and don’t overthink it!
Design Pin Graphics that Spark Interest
Just as you use keywords to get your content to show up in search, pin images should spark interest and stand out against other images. Sometimes this takes a little trial and error. You may or may not have heard this being referred to as A/B testing. Don’t worry, if you’re getting started on Pinterest - I don’t think you’ll need to dive into A/B testing just yet, but your images do need to be visually appealing.
I talk more about what goes into a Pinterest Image that gets clicks in this blog post here.
Be Consistent
Once you get started Pinning on Pinterest - you are going to want to maintain a specific level of consistency. This is how Pinterest determines what is average for you or not. It used to be that users would pin tons of pins every.single.day (their own & others), they would repin images already saved to the platform to try and get more juice behind it.
This isn’t how things work any more. Pinterest prefers fresh pins (new url + new graphic). However you can pin those images to multiple boards as they are appropriate.
You get to set the pace and determine the norm! So if you’re starting out and you have a ton of backup content, then you’ll want to spread that out over the course of a few weeks to
What to pin
So now you might be wondering, “great, but what do I even pin on Pinterest?” Remember how I said Pinterest is a search engine? Keep that in mind as you are determining what content you want to put here.
As a service provider, you should be creating content that positions you as the expert in your field and using that content to establish authority. *Insert my TED talk on why you should have a blog for your business* - but for real, a blog is just a long form piece of content (like this!) that helps solve a problem for your dream client. It’s also great for SEO and can help you get visibility from Google.
Here’s a list of some different things you can pin on Pinterest:
-Blog posts
-Youtube Videos
-Podcasts (podcast notes)
-Lead Magnets
-Sales Pages
-Landing pages
Here’s what to remember about your Pinterest marketing strategy: creating an optimized Pinterest profile including targeted keywords and pinning clickworthy pins consistently is the key to getting more traffic and leads for your coaching, consulting or serviced based business.
