I'm going to introduce you to all the reasons why I fell in love with Pinterest so you understand a bit more about the platform before you start the course.

I hear so often that business owners have fallen out of love with social media – not overnight, it's not sudden but a slow creeping feeling of unease, discontent, and lack of trust that builds up over time. There isn't one thing they can put their finger on. But some of things I hear in our community are;
 

1. I just don’t trust social media anymore 
2. Our Social Media ads are not having the same impact, and the costs are rising 
3. It changes so fast, and I am tired of learning, hacking, and competing with the algorithm 
4. I feel uncomfortable having to fit in to stand out. You know those reels or videos on TikTok that make you feel that rise of anxiety when you know you must do one to be seen?
5. I am doing all the things yet don't seem to be able to connect with my ideal audience.

Pinterest is a thinking platform that brings everyone the inspiration to create a life they love. An inspiring vision from Pinterest which sounds great but what does it actually mean?!
 
Pinterest is a visual search engine which opens you up to a world of inspiration. In fact Pinterest states that it provides a place for you to ‘plan the life you want to live’ to visually manifest the future you desire. That is a bold statement but once you spend time on the platform you can see why Pinterest can say this.

91% of Pinterest users say it is a positive place to be and Pinterest is referred to as the ‘last positive corner of the internet’ and 3 out of 5 adults are more likely to buy from your business because you are represented in a positive place.

The best analogy we use is ‘If Instagram and Google had a baby it would be Pinterest’ The beautiful image-based search engine is a glorious world of inspiration.

Pinterest enables you to serve your clients and customers at the precise moment they are looking for YOU using keywords! Genius! It's a visual Google.  

But the real magic happens because 97% of searches carried out by Pinterest users are unbranded. It sets itself apart from Google and YouTube where the big brands squash the smaller businesses with their large budgets. Pinterest champions the creatives, the small business owners and those who want to help others.

People are there looking for solutions.  

Google as a search engine is amazing, so why don’t we just keep using it and is there really room for Pinterest? When you find out that 70% of the population are visual learners it makes perfect sense why Pinterest is such a successful platform for business growth. People like to scan images far more than read through a list of text and if you don’t rank on the first page in Google how many people keep going to page 2, 3 or 4 on a Google search?

We are far more likely to scroll down images stopping at one that catches our eye or that we recognise. And therefore, we are more likely to grow brand trust through seeing their images then seeing the website listed. And guess what, its double exposure you for your business if you are using Pinterest because you show up in Google searches AND on Pinterest.

One of the reasons we work with so many people who love Pinterest is that it is the perfect place to hang out if you are an introvert and still inspire others, you do not need to be constantly going live and putting face to camera – unless of course that is your thing! You do not need to lip sync and jump around.  Pinterest puts no pressure on you to be anything other than yourself and present your business in the way you want.  

Its focus is on helping and guiding others to lean into the life they would love to create, and what is more in all of my years working on Pinterest we have experienced no negative comments.  

It truly is a positive space, with all creators signing a code of conduct. The code of conduct acts like their three sieves – for those of you who know of Socrates ‘three sieves’ it simply asks; is it true, is it kind, is it useful before anyone puts content on there.

It is the champion of inclusivity. You will find no information on breaking news or celebrity gossip, and you will also find no trolls or nasty behaviour. A creator on Pinterest is there for one reason only – to provide a solution to their customer and therefore promote their products in the best way possible be this a service or product.

Because Pinterest is a search engine people are already looking for you. Users are there looking for inspiration, solutions and actionable ideas and then this is where you step in – as a creator on Pinterest you have a unique opportunity to get in front of your audience at the exact moment that they need you. The exact moment that they are searching for what you have, it enables you to be placed in front of your ideal audience again and again.
 
There is no doubt that the retail landscape has changed in the last five years, it has altered in ways that we did not anticipate in such a short space of time. For us being online is natural, however for businesses who were not online prior to the pandemic shifting online has enabled them to continue to grow. And that growth is not slowing down.

Pinterest users have higher wages and a higher intent to buy;

With 44% of users having a high-income and 55% likely to buy compared to on other social media platforms.  

The online world saw other important shifts during the pandemic and one of those was social media fatigue. Some online spaces became toxic and many of us looked for a kinder place to spend time growing our businesses. It became apparent that an important USP for a brand was where they showed up online not just how. They started to ask themselves, did they show up with integrity and positivity to support their community and customers? Could their community and customers expect to find like minded brands sharing the same space or an onslaught of negativity? Our increased awareness of our own mental health over the last few years has made us all the more acutely tuned to our need to connect with others but in a space where we are safe and supported.

And guess what happens when your brand shows up in a place like that? Yes! Your community thrives, your business serves more people, and you make more sales. It is not all about shopping though, Pinterest is equally (if not even more) powerful for Service businesses.  

Service businesses are booming on Pinterest, as we have all used to going to the internet to find solutions. Pinterest was originally a platform dedicated to bloggers sharing their content, and this continues and is the lifeblood of of Pinterest. The purpose of blogging or vlogging or podcasts is to create a more engaging way to communicate with your audience spreading the word about your products and services. Pulling your audience in with offering them solutions and you becoming the go-to in your niche.  

With a whopping 98% of Pinterest users try new things they find on Pinterest. The space inspired through the visual images and entices experimentation and offers solutions to Pinterest users. 97% of Pinterest do not search using brand names they search using a key word such as ‘white trainers’. ‘business support’ or ‘mindfulness routines’ They will then be presented with a plethora of pins all offering a solution to their problem. The generic Nike trainers will be no more likely to show higher in the feed than a small online boutique enabling the small businesses to thrive in a supportive community.

People using Pinterest are twice as likely to say they find a brand they trust on Pinterest vs people on other social media platforms. Allowing you to build a more engaged and trusting audience. There is no ‘selling in the DM’s or 50K days spoken about – it is truly authentic and offers solution focused content.

What is more, is that Pinterest users are future – focused, we can tell what your audience is going to be searching for based on their habit, and get ahead of the curse but also be there at just the right time when they need us. So continuing to follow on from what can Pinterest do for you. One of the most asked questions is about if a particular business niche is suitable for Pinterest.  Which types of businesses thrive in the Pinterest space?  

But before we answer that question if we explain exactly what Pinterest can do for your business, then you will know if it suits your business.

Drive website traffic.  
Pinterest is a very powerful traffic driver. Hence why it is so popular with bloggers and those with high quality content in the service industry. What that means is that you put content onto Pinterest, your ideal person searches for it, finds your pin, and then clicks to your website and then you work towards converting them. Very simply put its the root of our Supercharge system which we both coach with and use for our managed clients.

Content -> Click -> Convert. This is part of your marketing ecosystem, which I will come on to shortly.

Pinterest is the only platform that is not working to keep you on the platform it encourages the Pinterest user to leave Pinterest once they have found what they are looking for allowing you to then hook them in and convert on your own website.

This has double impact as most Pinterest traffic to your website is recognised by Google as ‘direct traffic’ therefore it signals to Google that the domain has high authority and value helping your ranking. AND all your content shared on Pinterest shows up on Google searches unlike social media making it twice as powerful.  

Pinterest builds a mailing list.
Your mailing list, we believe, is one of the single most important things to grow for your business, regardless of your niche. You might have thousands following you on social media but are they engaging? Are they converting into loyal customers? Could you still engage with them if you lost access to the social media platform? You physically own (and control) your emailing list therefore it should be a main goal to grow.  
Because Pinterest is a reliable driver of website traffic it is also brilliant at getting those all-important email marketing signups. You know what they say about controlling the controllables?! You don’t control social media, but you do control your website, you do control your email marketing list, these are your controllable’s.  
So with more website traffic and a growing email list what happens next?!

Pinterest converts to sales. 
The best way for us to demonstrate this to you is through numbers – numbers are not subjective! People on Pinterest are 3 times more likely to say they’re always shopping with 40% saying they love shopping! People on Pinterest are always in the mindset for shopping which translates to a higher spend, with people on Pinterest spending three times more on Pinterest compared to social media platforms and 85% of users making a purchase based on what they have seen on Pinterest. We think it is easy to see why Pinterest marketing will equal more sales for you as your visitors have come to buy something, so they approach their decision with a strong intent to purchase which is why the stats are so high compared to other marketing platforms which do not put education and sales at the heart of their purpose.
 
But let me reinforce how Pinterest works for all niches;
Firstly, shopping across all sectors – particularly with the seamless integration of Shopify and woo commerce websites and the roll out of Verified Merchant status.  

But Next, individual creators and small businesses - Remember that 87% of searches are unbranded with people just using keywords e.g., Financial advice, how to double your income, how to profit from your passion and solopreneurs are thriving in the Pinterest space.  

Along with, Coaching and Education – since Covid our mindsets have shifted, many of us have had to adjust the way we live, and continue to look for advice, guidance, and a way to learn more skills. Any content that is Education related – therefore teaching, or coaching has the highest search volumes on Pinterest.

A whopping 77% of Pinterest users have discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest and when 45% of all Pinterest users sitting in a high-income bracket (over $100,000 per year) it makes it easy to understand why Pinterest boasts that Pinterest users spend three times more on Pinterest than on social media platforms.

Everything so far explained is available to you organically. This means you create the content, and yes you can cross purpose your content in it on Pinterest consistently and watch the traffic grow.

There is a whole side of Pinterest that is waiting for you and that it their paid advertising.  

When you advertise on Pinterest (you put spend behind a pin so that it has priority in the feed) it increases you chances of being show to someone searching with your keywords. What happens next is completely unique to Pinterest and very powerful...

After you stop spending on your ads your pin keeps working for you building on the momentum it has already made. So in other words it’s the platform that keeps on giving. Where as on Facebook your ad is only shown while you are putting spend behind it and it then disappears. On Pinterest it continues to grow and can still be a viral pin for you 6-12 months later. Genius! 

Essentially Pinterest advertising accelerates its power. For as little as 6p per click you can drive enormous amounts of visitors to your website. 

Pinterest has a similar (but thankfully simpler!) Ads management capability that has specific targeting available allowing you to get right in front of your audience at just the right time when they are looking for you. Pinterest ads are an enhancer not an interrupter.  

People come to Pinterest to dream, plan and do. They're browsing, discovering and shopping—and while most traditional marketing literature shows the customer journey as a linear path, we know that in today's world, that isn't always the case. Brands are competing for air time, screen time and everything in between.

What that means for advertisers: it's increasingly important to connect with customers at every stage of the customer purchase journey—and we know that's easier said than done. However, Pinterest ads are uniquely positioned to help. They enable advertisers to build a holistic approach to the measurement plan, take the burden off the lower funnel activity, while helping to drive better campaign results.   So what type of results can you get from using Pinterest both organically and advertising

This example shows a client of ours who is a service provider. Mostly marketing, website design and they a year ago developed online courses for businesses. They initially came to Pinterest because they were fed up with Facebook and Instagram and wanted to find a different way to build their audience.  We carried out a three-month done for you service, where we built the account, developed the strategy with them and then managed the account for 3 months. At the point we moved into a consultancy role where we handed back the account with training and continued to meet monthly to discuss and ongoing action plan.  

In the space of 18 months they;
Increased their impressions to 6 million
Drove 41 thousand website visits in the space of 12 months meaning that 54% of their website traffic came from Pinterest.
Sold 417 online resources (ranging in price) compared to the previous year where it was only 32 sales in total.
They doubled their email list, increased their engaged audience by 46 thousand and ran advertising campaigns costing only 16p per click! Impressive stuff.  

The next example was an ongoing collaboration. We worked with this client for 3 years now which means we can see clear patterns in their data. A client within the E-commerce interiors niche who until only 6 months ago only used Pinterest advertising to drive sales. They results grow year on year, they do invest heavily in their marketing, but with a revenue of over 100 thousand points from Pinterest last year averaging a ROAS of 7 it is a worthy investment.

They saw an increase of 90% in add to basket events which translated through to a 54% increase in yearly revenue with a 95% increase in the average order value.

People on Pinterest scroll slower, they are more considered in their purchases. Yes, they also take longer to convert but that is why Pinterest is such a solid, stable friend not a quick fix.

How you can utilise the power of Pinterest and Using Pinterest as part of your Marketing strategy Pinterest is powerful alone, but super powerful when combined with social media particularly within advertising. It is best thought of as part of a eco system where you ensure it sits within your whole business marketing strategy. This is where you can harness it to really work for you.

Those that I have met over the years who have said ‘I used Pinterest and it didn’t do anything for me’ have lacked the strategy behind it to make it work.

No different to Instagram and YouTube, there are things you MUST do to ensure its success. Not just create an account, pin for a few months expect miracles and walk away.

An ecosystem approach example here are stats from a client who advertised across Pinterest and Facebook. We worked with an Facebook advertiser sharing audiences where essentially, we drove traffic to the website and the Facebook ads retargeted to convert. This example meant we lowered the conversion cost by 50%.