Why Are You Still Skeptical That Pinterest Can Work For You?

Why Are You Still Skeptical That Pinterest Can Work For You?

Reader Comments (47)

  1. I’ve just started to use Pinterest… especially as I have also recently learned how to make simple but informative infographics (the perfect type of post for my pin-board).

  2. Thanks, Beth, for the article.

    I’d like to add that Pinterest can bring you “interests” not only when you have your own website audience, but when you just start from the scratch.

    Al you need is to participate in Pinterest community.

    Here is a short outline of the strategy for it:
    – Create several thematic boards,
    – Follow users,
    – Like other user’s pins,
    – Pin other users’ pins (it is believed that proportion 1:10 is a very decent strategy – 1 your image, and 10 re-pins of others),
    – Comment on other users’ pins

    And the like-minded people will follow you back, they’ll like, pin your images and comment. It’s like in many other communities.

    Also, I’ve noticed that people like to pin something with brandable elements (what they already know) or what is beautiful . They even don’t read your article or the details of infographic – they just pin what looks authoritative or cool 🙂

    • Hi Michael – yes, I’ve noticed that on Twitter, too. People tweet articles based on the headline, and a lot of them don’t actually read the article. I guess it’s probably true on most social networks.

      And I agree with you about participating in the Pinterest community. I tell my clients to be patient, and build their followers slowly….there is no magic formula!

  3. For some of my sites I’m seeing great results from Pinterest – for others it’s a little bit more of a struggle.

    But those sites that Pinterest is performing for are doing great. I’m generally following the advice you gave above, though as well as following/pinning/liking others I’m also using group boards in an ethical manner to grow my following and repins.

    • Group boards are a fantastic way to build your following and get more traffic. The only thing I have to be careful of is that I’m not joining a group board that is too similar to one of my existing boards. I don’t want to have too much overlap. But I agree – they’re a great part of any Pinterest strategy.

  4. Lets clear up the misconception once and for all.

    Men use pinterest. Even “manly men”

    One of my clients is in the tactical gear and survival industry. They sell weapon accessories, etc. I don’t do Pinterest optimization for them at all. Its mostly on autopilot. It still brings in the most referral traffic of all social networks. We are going to add in a dedicated strategy to Pinterest once we relaunch the site.

  5. Beth, Pinterest has been my favorite platform since I started blogging a year ago. Besides pinning content, I use them as future story boards, save things that I want to research later or just add neat looking pictures. Five of my boards are dedicated to the martial arts that I teach. You just have to be careful to put time limits on your pinning. You can very quickly lose track of time. Great article.

    • Agreed – I have to set a timer, or I’ll be lost down the rabbit hole for hours. Thanks for reading, and I’m glad Pinterest is working well for you as a blogger!

  6. Hi Beth,

    I created an account on Pinterest but till now, I haven’t got much traffic from Pinterest. I am wondering if Pinterest will work for me but I think the right kind of strategy can work. I have yet implemented any strategies. According to your suggestion, I will add a Pin It button to my article pages.

    Have a nice evening…

    Mainak.

  7. Beth – For my own site, I am a little bit on the fence about using a large (tall) image for the main image. Im concerned it will detract people from reading the opening sentence. Especially since I usually reuse the headline in the image. I guess what I am trying to say, is i would like people to see the headline, the post image and then the opening sentence without scrolling. Maybe Im strange?

    • I can see your point on that, Darren — I think you’d be fine with doing it the way you’re describing. I just recommend that you put the image close to the top so people can see it right away, but you’re right — I don’t think it HAS to be at the very top of the article, before your opening line.

      • I wanted to jump in here because I just had this discussion with some members of the Freelance Writer’s Den. Even though we site/blog owners used to be told to put a half-column picture to the right of our opening paragraph, most people are now accessing your site through their phones. Phones can mess up this right-aligned formatting, so your best bet is to always use a full-width picture (though apparently placing it before or after your first paragraph is still up for debate in its effectiveness!).

  8. Okay, I can see I need to get to work on Pinterest. I’ve been putting it off because I don’t really understand it, but I guess I just need to jump in and try it out. I’ll have to read the post about the 5 ways boring businesses can succeed on Pinterest. That sounds like it might be for me!

    Thanks Beth for sharing this and motivating me.

  9. Okay, the one thing I’ll give you is that Pinterest has been proven to convert the best out of all the social platforms. I’m not sure if that’s because Pinterest visually separates its categories or because its demographics are primarily female. Or both?

    But anyway, thanks for writing this! I know patience is a virtue in building just about any platform, but is Pinterest worth the effort for a male audience? Just curious what you think.

  10. The data on Pinterest is really hard to resist. And since I keep hearing how great it works for businesses, so looks like its time to get going on my Pinterest game. It just seems like the smart thing to do!

  11. Great article! I am going to give Pinterest another try.

    I am completely confused by the title of this article, however. I read it several times before my brain made sense out of it like this: “Why are you still skeptical? Pinterest can work for you!” If this weren’t a site about writing, I wouldn’t bring it up, but I expect a lot from Copyblogger!

    • That’s an interesting comment Claire. If the headline were “Why Are You Still Skeptical That Pinterest Can Work For You?” would that have prevented confusion?

        • What made your comment so interesting to me is that I spent (no joke) 20 or so minutes going back and forth between those two — reading them silently, reading them out loud, looking at them in tweets, seeing how they affected the spacing of the headline on the post page, etc. It’s always interesting to see how different people read it, and I thought some may read it as you did. As to breaking it up into two sentences, I always try to side with LESS punctuation in a headline, since I think it can look cluttered.

      • I tend to want to leave “that” out in situations like this, especially when it kills spacing … but leaving it out tends to hurt comprehension. I’ve learned to love the “that.” 😉

  12. Yes, I’ve been resisting Pinterest for far too long.

    I like to do my research on Twitter. As I find things of value, I share with my followers [#HICM, in this case]. It allows me to be social with a purpose as I educate myself. Serendipity would have it, that this week we were slated for Pinterest.

    I’ve got so many questions I need answered. Personal or Business account? How to make best use of hidden boards? Now they are unlimited, right? How to optimally size the graphics? What are the break down steps to the trifecta of traffic booster: Blog–>Pinterest–>Google Plus? And the list goes on….

    Pinterest is a major consideration in how I would like my new blog home designed. And I’m still working all of this out.

    Thanks for more information to ruminate on, Beth. And another link to tweet for the cause.

  13. Beth, thanks for the tips on creating a visually interesting badge for a blog post. I do believe that your visual content needs to be tailored to the audience you are trying to attract and needs a great headline as well.

    With so many images around on platforms like Pinterest what would be your tips for creating visually compelling badges and content that stand out from the crowd?

  14. Beth, thanks for the informative post. Your title captured my attention right off the bat. True, when working with Pinterest, there is still some skepticism but this is an eye-opener. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to Facebook, Twitter and G+ to even bother with Pinterest and how I wished that it won’t work too because it’s just an additional task. But anyway, with these numbers, it’s high time to start working with Pinterest. The numbers and results can’t be denied. Thanks for shedding light into this subject, will use your tips to get started.

    • Hi, Azalea – I think it’s worth giving it a try. You might look at your analytics and decide to turn your attention away from one of the other networks, if it’s not results in traffic and conversions (thus making time for a Pinterest trial). I always push my clients to put their energy in the networks that are actually paying off, in terms of getting real leads. Good luck!

  15. I’m assuming that people wanting to pin anything that might be commercial need a business account? I’m not seeing a very welcoming front page…just a slowly scrolling page and a big blob to sign up, no About page.

  16. Thanks this great info Beth. I really love Pinterest & Google plus so much or I can say lover than Facebook. 🙂 mostly traffic to my money sites is from Pinterest & Google+.

  17. Thank you for this article. I can’t seem to find the statistic about “Pinterest drives more referral traffic than Twitter, StumbleUpon, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+ … combined” on the link that you provide – did I miss it?

  18. Note to self: do not read life-changing (ok, marketing-changing) information while walking. I almost fell over. This was exactly what I needed in order to understand how Pinterest could work for my business. I was in the category of people who were ready to ignore it. Not because I didn’t think it had influence, but because I couldn’t conceive of how I could make it work. Not only do I know how to make it work, I have a freaking outline of instructions. Thank you! Oh, and PicMonkey is a lifesaver for those of us who prefer words to pictures. 🙂

    • Yeah, I use PicMonkey for SO much now…it’s a poor man’s Photoshop. I’m glad this post was useful, Michaela! Be careful where you’re walking, though! 🙂

  19. Thanks for the informative read, Beth. It’s easy to forget that if you want your content/pins to be shared, you have to ask! A lot of helpful links in this article, too.

  20. Greetings Beth,
    Got a question (or two) for you. With the simple Pin it button widget you can get for free off of Pinterest, I take it you must create a new Pin it button for every blog post and tie it with the awesome badge with killer headline, correct? That’s my take, just wanted to verify.

    Also, would you consider doing a post of how (i.e. case studies) graphic designers and artists have successfully used Pinterest to land a new client and or sell their works? Both are of professional interest as that’s the world I’m in. Thanks so much! ~ Kristin

  21. Beth, I’ve had great success gathering email subscribers from one of my pins. I created a vertical pin in Picmonkey using 4 images plus a center box with my call to action: How to Rock Cowhide in any Decor. Click link below for ideas. The link to my signup form is in the description AND in the source box, that way if someone changes the description when repinning, my signup form is still available. I first pinned this several months ago and I continue to get several new signups a week. I’m going to take your advise and pin it again now that I have 1,000 more followers than I did when I first pinned it.

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