Pinterest marketing for small business, a beginner's guide

The short answer: Pinterest is less a social network and more a visual search engine, where people look for ideas and products to try. A small business wins on Pinterest by creating pins that match what people search for and linking each pin to a useful page on its own website.

Why Pinterest is different

• People come to plan. They search for ideas, such as “small kitchen storage” or “logo ideas for a bakery”, and save pins for later.
• Pins last. A post on most social networks fades within a day or two. A pin can keep showing up in search results for months.
• Every pin can link to your site. That makes Pinterest a steady source of website visitors, not just likes.

Step 1: Set up a business account

Create a free Pinterest business account or convert your personal one. A business account gives you analytics and lets you claim your website, so your name and logo appear on pins that link to it.

Step 2: Find what people search for

Type a word related to your business into the Pinterest search bar and write down the suggestions that appear. Those suggestions are real searches. Group them into topics, and plan one board and a handful of pins for each topic.

Step 3: Create boards for each topic

Name each board after a search phrase, such as “Minimalist Logo Ideas” or “Small Business Branding”, and keep each board to one topic. A clear board name helps Pinterest understand what your pins are about.

Step 4: Design pins that stand out

• Use a tall image. Pinterest recommends a 2:3 ratio, such as 1000 by 1500 pixels.
• Put a short, bold headline on the image that matches the search, such as “5 minimalist logo ideas”.
• Keep it readable on a phone. Big text, strong contrast, one idea per pin.
• Add your brand name small at the bottom so people recognize you over time.

Step 5: Write titles and descriptions for search

Start the title with the search phrase. In the description, explain in one or two sentences what the person will get when they click, and naturally include two or three related phrases.

Step 6: Link to a helpful page

Send each pin to a page that delivers what the pin promised, such as a guide, a product page or a free checklist. A pin that promises “logo ideas” and lands on a home page loses the visitor.

Step 7: Pin steadily

Add new pins a few times a week rather than dozens in one day, and make fresh images for the same page instead of repeating one image. Check your analytics each month to see which topics bring clicks, then make more pins for those.

When to get help

Pinterest rewards consistency, which is hard when you are running a business. A Pinterest marketing specialist can research keywords, design pins and schedule them for you. You can see how this kind of help is priced in our guide to social media manager costs.