How to Do Pinterest Marketing

Pinterest isn't just a digital scrapbook for wedding plans and dinner recipes - it's a visual discovery engine primed for driving traffic, sales, and brand awareness. If you’ve overlooked it as a serious marketing channel, you’re missing out on a platform where users actively search for inspiration and products. This guide will walk you through a step-by-step strategy to make Pinterest work for your business, from setting up your account to designing Pins that people can't help but click.

Why Bother with Pinterest? It's Not Just Another Social Network

To win on Pinterest, you have to understand one thing: it is a search engine, not a social network. People don't come to Pinterest to chat with friends, they come to find ideas, plan projects, and discover products. Think of it less like Instagram and more like a visual version of Google. Users are actively searching for solutions and inspiration with keywords, just like they would in a search bar.

This "planning" mindset means users have high commercial intent. They're looking for things to buy, try, and do in the future. Better yet, the content has an incredibly long lifespan. A tweet is gone in minutes, an Instagram post lasts a day, but a Pin can continue driving traffic to your website for months or even years after you post it. It's a long-term asset that keeps working for you long after you’ve pinned it.

Step 1: Get Your Business Account in Order

Before you do anything else, you need to set up your account for success. This means creating a Pinterest for Business account, which gives you access to analytics, ads, and special Pin formats.

Create or Convert to a Business Account

If you're starting from scratch, you can sign up for a free business account directly. If you already have a personal account with relevant followers and boards, you can convert it to a business account in your settings. The main advantage is unlocking powerful tools. You get:

• Pinterest Analytics: Data on how your Pins are performing, who your audience is, and what they’re interested in.
• Rich Pins: Pins that automatically sync information from your website, like product pricing or recipe ingredients.
• Advertising Tools: The option to promote your Pins to a wider audience.

Optimize Your Profile for Discovery

Your profile is the first impression users will have of your brand. It should clearly communicate who you are, what you offer, and why they should follow you. Think of it as prime real estate for your most important keywords.

• Profile Picture: Use a clean, high-quality version of your logo. On a platform filled with visual noise, a simple and recognizable logo stands out.
• Display Name: Use your business name, but you can also add a keyword or two if it feels natural (e.g., "Bloom Bodycare | Natural Skincare Tips").
• Bio: You have 160 characters to shine. Don’t just list what you do - describe who you help and what problems you solve. Weave in 2-3 of your top keywords seamlessly. Example: "Helping busy creatives build an authentic brand with easy-to-use social media templates and marketing guides."
• Claim Your Website: This is a non-negotiable step. Claiming your website links your Pinterest account to your domain, giving you a credibility boost, access to website analytics, and ensuring your profile picture appears on every Pin originating from your site. You can find this option in your settings under "Claimed Accounts."

Step 2: Think Like a Search Engine (Because Pinterest Is One)

Success on Pinterest hinges on Pinterest SEO. Because people use it as a search engine, you need to optimize your content with the right keywords to show up in their search results. Unlike other platforms where hashtags are the main discovery tool, on Pinterest, keywords are integrated into everything.

How to Find the Right Keywords

You don't need a fancy tool to do keyword research on Pinterest. The platform itself gives you everything you need.

1. Use the Search Bar: Type in a broad topic related to your business (e.g., "social media marketing"). The autocomplete suggestions that pop up are exactly what real users are searching for. These are your keyword goldmines.
2. Check the "Search Bubbles": After you search for a term, Pinterest shows colored tiles below the search bar with related keywords (e.g., "tips," "strategy," "for beginners"). These are powerful long-tail keywords you should be using.
3. Look at Pinterest Trends: Pinterest has its own Trends tool that shows you what keywords are gaining traction over time. This is fantastic for planning seasonal content and understanding what your audience is looking for right now.

Where to Place Your Keywords

Once you have a list of keywords, put them to work. Sprinkle them naturally in these key places:

• Your Bio
• Pin Titles
• Pin Descriptions
• Board Titles
• Board Descriptions
• Text Overlays on Your Pin Images

Never just stuff keywords. Write for humans first, search algorithms second. A good Pin description tells a story or offers a direct benefit while naturally including a few target terms.

Step 3: Design Pins That Stop the Scroll

Pinterest is a visual platform, and a well-designed Pin is your best tool for getting noticed. Even the best SEO won't save a bad-looking Pin. Your goal is to create content that interrupts someone's endless scrolling and makes them want to click or save.

The Anatomy of a Perfect Pin

The most successful Pins usually share a few common traits. Follow these guidelines to create visuals that perform well.

• Use a Vertical Aspect Ratio: Pinterest is a vertical platform. Always create your Pins with a 2:3 aspect ratio (e.g., 1000 x 1500 pixels). This format takes up more screen real estate on mobile devices and is favored by the algorithm.
• High-Quality Photos and Videos: Use crisp, clear, and well-lit visuals. Avoid blurry, pixelated, or overly generic stock photos. Authentic imagery almost always performs better.
• Add a Text Overlay: Your image might be beautiful, but a text overlay with a compelling headline is what grabs attention and communicates value instantly. Use a bold, easy-to-read font that aligns with your brand.
• Brand Your Pins: Subtly add your logo or website URL to the bottom of your Pin. This builds brand recognition and helps prevent your content from being stolen. Keep your fonts and colors consistent so your followers start to recognize your Pins at a glance.

Types of Content that Win on Pinterest

Mix up your Pin formats to keep your content fresh and see what your audience responds to best.

• Static Pins: The classic image Pin. These are perfect for showcasing products, displaying blog post graphics, or creating beautiful quotes and infographics.
• Video Pins: Video is huge on every platform, and Pinterest is no exception. Short, engaging videos work incredibly well for tutorials, product demos, recipes, or behind-the-scenes content. Keep them brief and add subtitles, as many users watch with the sound off.
• Idea Pins: These are Pinterest's version of Stories. They are a multi-page format that allows you to tell a story or provide a step-by-step guide. They can't link out directly, but they are fantastic for building brand awareness and follower growth because Pinterest gives them great visibility.

Step 4: Build Strategic Pinterest Boards

Think of your Pinterest boards as the categories on your website or the aisles in a store. They provide organizational structure for your Pins and help both users and the Pinterest algorithm understand what your content is about.

To start, create 5-10 boards that are narrowly focused on your core topics. For example, a food blogger might have boards like "Easy Weeknight Dinners," "Healthy Breakfast Ideas," and "Vegan Dessert Recipes" - not just one generic "Recipes" board. Always write keyword-rich titles and detailed descriptions for each board to boost their discoverability.

Start by filling your boards with a mix of your own Pins and high-quality, relevant Pins from other creators. This signals to Pinterest that you’re an active, helpful member of the community. Make sure you also have one board specifically for your own content, such as "From the [Your Brand Name] Blog."

Step 5: Develop a Consistent Pinning Strategy

Consistency is everything on Pinterest. The algorithm rewards accounts that are active daily. But that doesn’t mean you need to be glued to your phone every hour. The key is to pin strategically and consistently over time.

Focus on creating "fresh" Pins. A fresh Pin is considered a new image/video that has never been seen on Pinterest before, even if it links to an existing blog post or product page. Pinterest prioritizes fresh content over repinning old visuals. Aim to publish 3-5 new, fresh Pins every day. This might sound like a lot, but you can create multiple unique Pin designs that all point to the same URL.

This is where scheduling comes in handy. Batch-create your Pins for the week or month ahead and use a scheduler to publish them automatically. This frees you from the pressure of manual, daily pinning and ensures you never miss a day.

Step 6: Use Pinterest Analytics to See What’s Working

Don’t just Pin and pray. Use the data in Pinterest Analytics to refine your strategy. It tells you exactly what content resonates with your audience so you can create more of it. Pay close attention to these metrics:

• Impressions: The number of times your Pins were on screen. Good for tracking overall reach.
• Saves: The number of times users saved your Pin to one of their boards. This shows what content people find valuable enough to keep.
• Outbound Clicks: This is the most important metric. It tracks the number of people who clicked through your Pin to visit your website. Your business goal is likely traffic and sales, so this is the number that directly measures that success.

Check your analytics weekly. Identify your top-performing Pins and boards based on outbound clicks. What topics are they about? What design elements do they share? Let the data guide your content creation, and double down on what works.

Final Thoughts

Pinterest marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. By focusing on search engine optimization, creating high-quality visual content, and maintaining a consistent pinning schedule, you can transform the platform from a simple inspiration board into a predictable and powerful source of traffic and customers for your brand.

Staying consistent is often the hardest part, and balancing Pinterest with other platforms like Instagram and TikTok can feel overwhelming. At Postbase, we designed our visual calendar to make managing all your content - including your Video Pins and other visual assets - feel simple and organized. You can plan everything in one place, schedule it reliably, and spend less time jumping between apps and more time creating content that connects.