Pinterest tips for small creative businesses
Do you want to know how to use Pinterest to generate more sales in your shop? Over 10 million people see Folksy pins on Pinterest every month – it’s the social channel that directs the most traffic to Folksy. People particularly use Pinterest around Christmas and other key events and seasonal celebrations like birthdays, Easter, Halloween and especially weddings or when they’re redecorating to get ideas, find inspiration and buy.
By pinning, you can get your products in front of them, and drive more customers to your Folksy shop with just one click. But what’s the right way to use Pinterest? Should you only pin items from your shop or mix them in with other pins on carefully curated boards? What kind of photos do people repin the most and which ones are the most clickable? What are Pinterest hashtags and how do they work? We asked Dörte from Curly Carrot to share her top Pinterest tips for creative businesses.
Top Pinterest Tips for creative businesses by Social Pow Wow
Pinterest is a search engine – a platform where people go to discover, research and buy. Pinterest is set up perfectly to help you promote your Folksy shop, sending buyers directly to your product in one easy click. Here’s how to use it to get more sales in your Folksy shop.
Getting Started on Pinterest
If you haven’t already, open or switch to a Pinterest business account, ideally with the same username and logo as on your Folksy account. Consistency is key and you want people to find and identify with your brand quickly and easily. You can do that here https://business.pinterest.com/en-gb/creating-your-account
Add Pinterest-friendly photos to your product listings
Let’s start with the most important thing: to sell from Pinterest you need beautiful product shots. This is where you really need to spend your time and if you don’t feel confident taking them yourself, then pay a photographer or invest in a course and teach yourself. It will really pay off. You have put your heart and soul into creating your products so showcase them in the best way possible.
Portrait-format images perform best on Pinterest – that is photos which are taller than they are wide; vertical rather than horizontal. 600 x 900px is the optimum size. Square is also good but avoid pinning landscape-format photos as they don’t work as well on Pinterest.
So when you’re listing your product on Folksy, make sure you add some Pinterest-friendly (tall, portrait-format) photos of your products to your listing. You can have other photos (ie square or landscape format) in your listings too, but the portrait-format ones will be the ones to pin to Pinterest. Include lifestyle shots of your products in your listings too – again portrait-format if possible. These images will show potential customers the size and how your product will fit in their life – eg ceramics on a shelf, people wearing your jewellery, cushions on a chair.
Create New Pins using your product shots
Easy-to-use online image editing tools such as Canva or PicMonkey* are brilliant for repurposing your images to make fresh pins. As well as pinning your products directly from your Folksy shop, you can create new images that you can upload directly to Pinterest and then add a link to your Folksy shop using the ‘edit pin’ feature. A simple and clear text overlay works well to add context to the image. Both Canva and PicMonkey also have ready-to-use Pinterest templates that are worth looking at.
Edit your Pin descriptions
When you pin a product from your Folksy shop to Pinterest, it will automatically use your listing title to create the Pin description but you can edit this during the upload process before the pin goes live. Pin descriptions should be keyword-rich, but feel organic, about 100-150 characters. The Pin description should also include details like your brand name, what the product is and key features (colour, size) or benefits. Add phrases like ‘click to buy’ or ‘learn more’ include a ‘call to action’ so when they reach the product page, the story is complete and they can buy your product. Always check the link works too!
Read more about keywords, what they are and how to find the right ones for your products here – SEO basics – how to make Google work for your handmade business
Add relevant hashtags to your pins
Add 2-4 hashtags to your description. Use hashtags that match some of the keywords in your sentences, as well as one branded hashtag so people can find all your products quickly and easily. When you save an image from your Folksy shop, if you start typing a hashtag # you will see the popular ones that come up and how many searches each one has – this can help you choose the best ones for your product.
Hashtags on Pinterest are used differently from Instagram. On Pinterest, people use them to search for the freshest content. The most up-to-date and current pins are shown first in the results feed, so use broad term such as #handmadeearrings and pin regularly to keep reaching new customers and get seen.
Think of your Pinterest account as a lifestyle magazine for your perfect customer
Pin more than your own products
Don’t just pin your products! There are so many inspiring Pinterest accounts out there, so when creating your Pinterest boards, it’s important to include their content as well as your own. Think of your Pinterest account as a lifestyle magazine for your perfect customer and this will help you curate your Pinterest boards.
Include seasonal boards, topical boards, boards that support your values and ethos. You want board titles where you can pin your own products alongside other pins that complement them. When you share other people’s content on Pinterest strategically, your perfect customer is more likely to find your content.
Try using Pincodes
Pinterest Pincodes are similar to QR Codes. To use them, open the Pinterest app on your phone and then click on the camera icon at the top of the screen. This is your Pinterest camera. Hold it over a ‘Pincode’ and it will take you to a specific profile or board on Pinterest.
Click on your Pinterest profile picture to download your own Pincode (see above) or on Pincode symbol (it looks like a circle surrounded by smaller circles) above a board title for a specific board pincode. Pincodes are a new way to direct people to your Pinterest profile, products and boards. For example, if you’re at a craft fair and you only have a limited selection of necklaces on your stand but someone is interested in a different colour or shape, they can use your Pincode to direct them to a Pinterest board that shows your entire necklace range. They can then click on the one they like and go directly to your Folksy shop and buy it from there.
Tip: Try opening your Pinterest camera and holding it over the two Pincodes above to see how they work. Then try creating your own Pincode for your Pinterest account and one of your boards.
Click here for your free Top 10 Pinterest Tips for Creative Businesses by Social Pow Wow >
Find more Pinterest tips for creative businesses here:
- For more Pinterest success strategies and practices check out Curly Carrot
- How Pinterest can help your online craft and design business – on the Folksy Blog
- Top 10 tips for Pinterest – on the Folksy Blog
- Craft your social media: Pinterest – on the Folksy Blog
- 20 things you can do NOW to sell more this Christmas – on the Folksy Blog
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