It’s no secret that Pinterest has been changing. Since its launch in March 2010, the platform has undergone many changes and is now the number one platform for inspiration anywhere on the internet.
Its demographics have broadened, and more people join every day to search for ideas, inspiration, products and services that can make their lives better. And it’s ideal to use Pinterest as a marketing channel.
I have been thinking a lot about where Pinterest is going next. Pinterest users need to know the steps to take and the direction to go. You need something that’s simple, easy, actionable, and modern. You need a plan that keeps up with Pinterest’s changes and helps you be adaptable and flexible.
“You need a plan that keeps up with Pinterest’s changes and helps you be adaptable and flexible. “
We need a new approach. And this new approach, it will save you time, work, and money, and you’re going to be the first to know about it!
This new approach is going to help you look at Pinterest as a channel. In order to show you just how different it is, let’s first talk about the two most common approaches to Pinterest as a marketing channel:
- the Pinterest professional approach and
- the social media manager approach.
Both of these have issues that I know the channel approach will solve.
The Professional Approach to Pinterest as a Marketing CHannel
Many Pinterest professionals came to the Pinterest world because they were bloggers. Back in the day, Pinterest was a place where bloggers would come to and share images that would link back to their main website. The sole intention of sharing the images to Pinterest in the form of pins was to attract pinners to click and go to the website. The traffic generated to blog content on that website would be monetized in various ways, like page ads and sponsored content.
The goal of this approach was to get people to leave Pinterest. In this approach, Pinterest was a traffic generator. Pinterest has always been a visual search engine, and pinners were conditioned to leave the platform, just like how users will leave the search results page of any other search engine to view the answers to their queries. Pinterest is still a huge traffic source, especially when we compare it to social media, but things have changed.
When we look at how Pinterest has changed as a platform, we can see that things like shop integration and the emphasis on Idea Pins will actually encourage people to stay on Pinterest. This means that the old blogger’s approach, which is designed to get users off of Pinterest and to your main site as fast as possible, isn’t going to be a effective as it used to be.
RELATED: Best Pinterest Marketing Practices for Bloggers in 2023
The Social Media Manager Approach to Pinterest as a Marketing Channel
Another popular approach with diminishing returns is the approach that many social media managers take to Pinterest. When you treat Pinterest like social media, it’s going to fail because Pinterest is not a social media platform, it is a visual search engine.
Pinterest is not the place for social updates. The content shared on Pinterest should also have an evergreen nature as it will circulate for a long time.
One of the primary goals of the social media manager approach is high volume sales, but Pinterest users aren’t in that phase of the buying process yet. Pinners use Pinterest for discovery. Much of the time, they don’t even know exactly what they’re looking for. Instead, they come to the platform for inspiration and ideas and they will know what they want when they see it.
When you treat Pinterest as a product catalog or a simple storefront, without providing additional content and context, you’re not cultivating your audience. Pinners seek out products that are inspiring, products that they see working for other people. If you’re not connecting with your audience and nurturing that connection, it’s not going to be effective.
“When you treat Pinterest as a product catalog or a simple storefront, without providing additional content and context, you’re not cultivating your audience. “
The Best Approach to Use Pinterest as a Marketing Channel
So if those main strategies don’t work, what does? This is where I think things get really interesting. Pinterest is an ideal platform for organic audience growth.
You want to build a community and an engaged audience within Pinterest, without worrying too much about driving traffic to your site.
When Pinterest users feel connected to you, they’ll go to your website, they’ll join your email list, they’ll buy from you, and they will be repeat customers because they don’t feel like you’re just a business. Instead, they’ll feel connected to you, and that’s how your business will grow using Pinterest as a marketing channel.
You need to use Pinterest as a place where people can know you, like you, and trust you. You need to develop all three of these layers to keep your audience engaged and connected.
“You should be treating Pinterest as a marketing channel where your audience can come to get everything you have to offer. “
In that regard, you should be treating Pinterest as a complete channel where your audience can come to get everything you have to offer.
Pinterest does offer the opportunity of creating a storefront where you can share your product catalog once you apply and become a verified merchant. Pinterest is also developing new features that will allow your pins to become shoppable. The key will be to connect the dots between inspiring, building an engaged audience and welcoming them to get to know and try your products.
RELATED: 7 Ways to Skyrocket Your Pinterest Business Account to Success in 2023
Using Pinterest as a Marketing Channel in a Complete Way
By learning to use Pinterest as a complete channel, you’ll be able to build out your identity on the platform. Your audience wants to see that you’re more than just your products.
They need to have those three layers, and this is what I continually teach. I will show you exactly how to build up those layers for your business and brand. I’m so excited to get started with you, and I hope you’ll join me again!
P.S – Are you wondering how to monetize with Pinterest? My FREE 10 Ways to Monetize With Pinterest! Download it here.
P.P.S – If you want a quick easy guide to get started on Pinterest, get my Pinterest 3.0 On Fire account setup and strategy here.
P.P.P.S – My Pinterest course, The Weekend Warrior Pinterest Course is an amazing complete resource for any business owner getting ready to use organic Pinterest marketing for growth. To learn more click here.
Want to chat with me about my services? Apply to work with me!
