How to Make Sales on Pinterest

Pinterest isn't just a place for planning your dream kitchen, it's a powerful sales engine waiting to be ignited for your business. When used correctly, this visual discovery platform can drive targeted traffic and convert inspired browsers into loyal customers. This guide breaks down exactly how to set up your account, create content that sells, and build a reliable strategy to generate sales directly from Pinterest.

Laying the Foundation: Setting Up Your Pinterest Profile for Sales

Before you can make a single sale, your Pinterest profile needs to look the part. An optimized profile acts as your digital storefront, welcoming potential customers and telling them exactly what you're about. Think of it as setting up for success from day one.

Switch to a Business Account

If you're still using a personal profile, your first step is to switch to a free Pinterest Business account. This change is simple but unlocks a suite of essential tools. With a business account, you gain access to:

• Pinterest Analytics: See which Pins and boards are driving the most impressions, clicks, and saves. This data is pure gold for refining your strategy.
• Rich Pins: Automatically sync information from your website to your Pins, like product pricing, availability, and article headlines.
• Advertising Tools: Run targeted ad campaigns to reach a wider, more specific audience when you’re ready to scale your efforts.

You can either convert your existing personal account or create a new one from scratch. Go to your settings to make the switch - it only takes a minute.

Optimize Your Profile for Discovery

Your profile is often the first point of contact a potential customer has with your brand. Make it count. A well-optimized profile not only looks professional but also helps you show up in relevant search results.

• Claim Your Website: This is a non-negotiable step. Claiming your website links it to your Pinterest profile, which unlocks more in-depth analytics and adds your profile picture to any Pins created from your site. It confirms your authenticity to both Pinterest and your audience.
• Use a Keyword-Rich Profile Name: Don't just list your business name. Add a keyword that describes what you sell. Instead of just "Lila & Co," use "Lila & Co | Handcrafted Ceramic Mugs." This helps you appear in searches for your products.
• Write a Compelling Bio: You have 160 characters to tell people who you are, what you offer, and who you help. Use relevant keywords naturally. For instance: "Handmade, small-batch ceramics designed for slow morning rituals. Shop our latest collection of mugs and home decor."

Create Sales-Focused Pinterest Boards

Pinterest boards are how you organize your content. Think of them as the aisles of your store. They should be clearly labeled and guide users to what they're looking for. Create boards that directly reflect your product categories, your brand ethos, and your customers' interests.

• Use Searchable Board Titles: Name your boards with keywords your ideal customer would search for. Instead of a vague title like "My Favorites," use "Minimalist Home Office Ideas."
• Write Detailed Board Descriptions: Each board has a description box. Use it! Write a sentence or two explaining what the board is about and include several related keywords. This gives Pinterest more context about your content.
• Mix Product and Lifestyle Content: Create boards for your direct products (e.g., "Dining Room Tables") but also create boards that show your products in a real-world context (e.g., "Hosting the Perfect Dinner Party"). This helps Pinners visualize your products in their own lives.

The Art of the Perfect Pin: Creating Content That Converts

On Pinterest, your content does the heavy lifting. A scroll-stopping Pin doesn't just look good, it communicates value, sparks an idea, and guides the user toward a clear next step. Success on the platform hinges on your ability to create a steady stream of Pins that speak directly to your target audience.

Master Visual Best Practices

Pinterest is a visual platform, so the design of your Pins matters tremendously. Before you worry about keywords or formats, get the basics right.

• Stay Vertical: Always create Pins in a vertical aspect ratio. The ideal size is 1000 x 1500 pixels (a 2:3 ratio). Vertical Pins take up more screen real estate on mobile feeds, making them more likely to get noticed.
• Use High-Quality Imagery and Video: Grainy, dark, or blurry visuals won't get any traction. Use clear, bright, and engaging photos or video clips that showcase your product or idea beautifully.
• Add a Text Overlay: Don’t assume people will read your Pin’s description. Add a bold, easy-to-read text overlay to your Pin image that spells out the benefit or topic. For example, "5 Ways to Style Your Bookshelf" or "The Perfect Tiramisu Recipe."
• Feature Subtle Branding: Add your logo or website URL to the bottom of every Pin. It builds brand recognition without being overly distracting.

Leverage Different Pin Formats for Specific Goals

Pinterest offers several types of Pins, each with a unique purpose in your sales strategy.

• Standard Pins: These are the classic image Pins. They are your workhorse for driving traffic. Every Standard Pin should link directly to a relevant page on your website - a product page, a blog post, or a category page.
• Video Pins: Short videos (6-15 seconds often work best) are amazing for capturing attention in the feed. Use them to show a product in action, offer a quick tutorial, or give a behind-the-scenes look. These can also link directly to your website.
• Idea Pins: Idea Pins are multi-page video or image collections that tell a story. While they don't link out directly on each slide, they are incredible for audience building and engagement. You can drive sales by tagging your products directly within Idea Pins, making them fully shoppable. Use them for tutorials, mini-blogs, or curated visual guides.

Write Descriptions That Drive Action

While the visual is the hook, the Pin title and description are what give Pinterest's search algorithm the information it needs to show your content to the right people. Treat every description like a mini-ad for your content.

A good Pin description includes:

• An SEO-Driven Title: Make your title clear and pack it with your primary keyword. Something like, "Easy Vegan Chili Recipe for Cold Nights."
• A Natural-Sounding Description: In the description box, write 2-3 sentences that expand on the title. Use a conversational tone and weave in 3-5 relevant keywords. Storytelling works wonders here.
• A Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Tell the user what to do next. "Shop the look now," "Click to read the full tutorial," or "Save for your next project."
• Relevant Hashtags: Add 2-4 broad and niche hashtags at the end of your description to improve discoverability.

From Inspiration to Purchase: Turning Viewers into Customers

A successful Pinterest strategy goes beyond just creating pretty Pins. You need to build a clear path that takes a Pinner from the moment of discovery to the checkout page. This path is your sales funnel, and every piece of content should have a role to play.

Find Your Customers with Keyword Research

Pinterest is a search engine. People actively use the search bar to find answers, products, and ideas. To make sales, you need to show up in those search results. Start by stepping into your customer's shoes: What terms would they type into the search bar?

Use Pinterest's native tools for this:

• Use the Search Bar Autocomplete: Type a broad keyword into the Pinterest search bar (e.g., "leather bag") and see what suggestions pop up. Pinterest is telling you exactly what users are searching for (e.g., "leather bag tote," "leather bag crossbody," "leather bag minimalist"). These are your keywords.
• Check Pinterest Trends: Go to the Trends tool (trends.pinterest.com) to see when certain keywords peak throughout the year. This helps you plan your content calendar far in advance for seasonal moments.

Enable Rich Pins to Level Up Your Sales Game

Rich Pins are super-powered Pins that automatically pull extra information from your website and display it directly on Pinterest. They are an absolute must-have for anyone selling products.

For e-commerce, Product Pins are the most important type. They show real-time pricing, stock availability, and a direct link to the product page right below your Pin image. If you update the price on your website, a Product Pin updates automatically. This visibility and accuracy build trust and significantly increases click-through rates to your shop.

To set them up, you’ll need to add a bit of code to your website. Most e-commerce platforms like Shopify have simple integrations to make this process easy.

Link Every Pin to a High-Converting Page

Never link a standard Pin to your homepage. It creates a dead end for the user, who was expecting to find the specific item or information they saw. Every Pin should have a clear purpose and a direct destination.

• A Pin showing a specific terracotta pot should link to that exact terracotta pot product page.
• A Pin about "10 Indoor Plants That Purify the Air" should link to that specific blog post.

Reduce friction wherever you can. Make it as easy as possible for someone to go from "I love that" on Pinterest to "Add to Cart" on your website.

Final Thoughts

Making consistent sales on Pinterest is entirely achievable when you treat it like the powerful search engine it is. By creating an optimized business profile, designing eye-catching Pins with smart keywords, and guiding users through a clear sales funnel with targeted links and formats like Product Pins, you build a repeatable system that delivers results month after month. The foundation of it all rests on consistency.

We know from years of managing social media that consistency is often the biggest hurdle to success - it's tough to stay on top of daily pinning and manage multiple other social channels. To help our own brands grow, we built Postbase. Our visual content calendar makes it simple to plan your Pinterest strategy weeks or even months in advance, and our reliable scheduler ensures your carefully crafted Pins go live at the perfect time, every single time. It's designed for how social media works today, with a strong focus on visual platforms and short-form video, so you can stop wrestling with outdated tools and focus on growing your business.