How to Create an On-Brand Pinterest Profile: Part 2

In my last post, we covered the basics: how to set up your Pinterest account for business success. Today, we’re going deeper into Pinterest strategy. How should you arrange your boards? What should you name them? And most importantly, what kind of content should you pin?

I want you to curate your Pinterest profile content with the ideal client in mind. 

This is not about your favorite recipes or latest workout routines. Save those boards for your personal account, or keep them all “secret.”

With that in mind, here’s your first challenge: clean up your boards. Delete old content that doesn’t fit your brand. If that seems like a daunting task, I recommend changing all your current boards to “secret” boards—so you can just start fresh with an on-brand Pinterest profile.

Once you have a somewhat clean slate to work with, it’s time to develop your Pinterest strategy. Let’s fill your profile with on-brand content that will ultimately appeal to your ideal clients. Ready? Let’s go!

How to Set Up Your Boards for Pinterest Strategy

• Decide on a naming system and stick to it. I name almost all my boards in the same format: “Title // Subtitle.” For example, I might have: Design Inspiration // Web, Design Inspiration // Logo, and Design Inspiration // Print. A naming convention lends cohesion to your profile.
  
• Use keywords when naming boards. We want to set up a profile that Pinterest can recognize. Instead of naming your boards something abstract, you should name them with relevant keywords. For example: Wedding Inspiration // Dogs in Weddings is much more specific and relevant than titling the board “Cute!”
  
• Create boards specifically for your brand—not inspiration. Your top three boards should be original content from your website. No inspiration images. When someone comes across your Pinterest account, it should be super easy for them to find the work you have created.
  
• Select cover images. Pinterest will automatically set a default cover image for you, or it will just use a thumbnail of your various images. But your Pinterest profile will look so much more polished with intentionally selected images! Click the pencil icon to edit your board; it will allow you to choose a specific cover image that best matches your Pinterest aesthetic.
  
• Write descriptions of each board with keywords. This is a little bit tedious, but taking the time to write a description using keywords is a great way to help Pinterest find you. Edit each board’s description with specific and relevant keywords. For example, “Branding, logo design, mood boards, and graphic design for creative entrepreneurs, photographers, bloggers, and wedding professionals // Sarah Ann Design”

Generating Pinterest Content

• Pin everything from your own website. Yep, everything. Give yourself an hour and a glass of wine. Sit down and pin all the images from your website: homepage, galleries, blog posts… everything. Don’t get too caught up in the descriptions… usually the auto-generated description is fine. You can also write a caption and then copy and paste it for each image from the same website page or blog post.
  
• Pin old (but still relevant) content. Have you already written helpful blog posts for your ideal client (maybe you shared them once and then forgot about them)? What about that dream portfolio project you published two years ago? If the content is still relevant, pin it to your account! Pinterest is the perfect opportunity to breathe new life into those blog posts or galleries.
  
• Create inspiration boards. I challenge you to think outside the box with your inspiration boards. It’s fine to pin inspiration from your own industry (in fact, it’s good! It helps Pinterest recognize that you are interested in and part of that industry). But you can really boost your brand by adding boards that feel like your brand in an aesthetic sense… color palettes, textures, interior designs, etc. Each of these will give your audience another layer of insight about who you are as a brand.
  
• Appeal to your client. What would appeal to your ideal client? Create a board that speaks to your client’s sense of fashion style, or a living room they would totally love. Which inspirational quotes would speak to them? Which destinations would they travel to? Make it easy for a potential client to land on your Pinterest page and feel like you’re already best friends!
  
• Curate helpful content. Can you provide helpful content for your clients? Maybe it’s board of outfit inspiration for a spring engagement session… or a wedding color palette board that can inspire their event decor. A branded Pinterest account is not just about you—it’s about your clients.
  
• Curate the type of content you want to book. Do you dream of photographing a destination wedding in Cabo? Create an inspiration board of high-end beach weddings. Maybe you’re an interior designer who wants to create minimalist spaces with a modern aesthetic. Create boards that speak to that. Pin content that reflects your dream projects. It lets people know you appreciate the idea… and it just might connect you with a client who is interested in that service!
  
• Pin from Instagram (occasionally). Pinterest actually plays really nicely with other social media platforms. Pinterest will easily generate captions and tags from Instagram, so you can pin your highest-engagement Instagram posts onto your Pinterest profile. That being said, keep in mind: the ultimate goal is always to drive people back to your website, where they are most likely to inquire and become your future clients. We want to pin more images from your website than from your Instagram, because your Instagram feed is adding a layer of required engagement before visitors contact you about your services.

Creating Graphics for Pinterest Strategy

Creating graphics could be a bit of a stretch for you right now, and that’s okay. You can still gain traffic from regular images, no design work required! But if you’re looking to take your engagement to the next level, you might want to consider adding your own Pinterest-friendly graphics to blog posts. Follow these tips to create your own branded graphics in Canva, Photoshop, inDesign, or Illustrator:

• Create branded templates. Decide on a few basic parameters for your Pinterest graphics: fonts, colors, and layout should all feel consistent every time you create a new graphic to share.
  
• Create long-form graphics. Everything about Pinterest favors long-format images and graphics. Long graphics will fill the entire screen; horizontal images will just get smaller. If you have a high-traffic post that you want to boost on Pinterest, consider making a long graphic that will show up better in Pinterest feeds.
  
• Create graphics with text in them. As Pinterest users are scrolling, they probably won’t make the effort to read your text descriptions. Instead, you should create text within a graphic—so the text will show up visually as users are scrolling. (For example, I could make a longer version of the graphic I included at the top of this blog post!) You don’t have to do this for every pin… but it’s really helpful for high-engagement posts you want to take to the next level.
  
• Add your logo and/or website. Make your pin truly branded by adding your logo and website to the top or bottom of each pin. This ensures that your brand is embedded in the image no matter what—even if someone downloaded and re-uploaded the graphic, your name is still on it. This also allows your brand to stick with the graphic if the image is shared elsewhere, like Facebook or Twitter.

Ongoing Maintenance for Pinterest Strategy

The nice thing about Pinterest is that your content will live on the platform forever. But you should still be posting regularly to keep your account relevant! Here are the tasks you should set for yourself to keep up with your Pinterest presence:

• Get on Tailwind! Tailwind is an incredible way to schedule and auto-post your Pinterest content on a consistent basis. You can read more in-depth about Tailwind in this post here.
  
• Continue pinning original content. If you’re not using Tailwind, you can batch your Pinterest marketing by scheduling one afternoon every month for Pinterest maintenance. Go to each blog post you’ve published since your last maintenance day, and pin all the content from each post.
  
• Continue re-pinning on-brand content. You should also continue re-pinning content that suits your brand aesthetic. You can share content via “Communities” on Tailwind—or just casually scroll through your Pinterest feed and re-pin a few items every so often with a glass of wine and Netflix playing in the background.
  
• Think about optimal timing. Timing can have an impact on your pin visibility, but there are mixed statistics on the best time to pin. A scheduler like Tailwind or Buffer can help you find out which times are best for your specific audience, based on past pin performance. Generally, weekday evenings and weekend afternoons are popular on Pinterest. I think it’s best to vary your pin times so you can reach a variety of audiences who may be browsing at different times.
  
• Send your Pinterest account to clients. Remember when you created those boards that could help your future clients? Put them to good use! Send current clients to your Pinterest account for inspiration (inspiration that you’ve already curated specifically for them!). It’s always a good thing for your current client to re-pin your content. Chances are, they’re somehow connected to similar people who would also be ideal future clients. Spread the love!
  
• Look at your analytics. Get familiar with your Pinterest analytics (click on “Analytics” in the top left corner of your profile). The most important stats are your “Website Analytics”—the traffic on pins originally generated from and currently linking to your own website. Which pins are not really working? Which ones perform well? Which ones get a lot of clicks? Adjust your future content generation to reflect these stats. Even more importantly, get familiar with Google Analytics! It will give you a much more specific picture of how people are finding and interacting with your site via Pinterest and other referral platforms.

There you have it! My best tips for creative entrepreneurs who want to make the most out of their Pinterest strategy.

These posts have a lot of information packed into them, but the heavy lifting is really done on the front end. Once you’ve set up your profile and generated some basic content, it’s easy to maintain your profile each month… and in the meantime, watch your website traffic go up and up!

Still have questions about your Pinterest strategy or your brand? Maybe you’re struggling to find your brand voice, or you feel like your current visuals don’t live up to your brand standard anymore. If you’re feeling stuck, let’s talk! I’m here to help you create a brand that feels irresistible to your ideal clients—especially when they come across your content on Pinterest!