Many people are jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon. Some are on it for personal gain to get creative ideas for their home while others are using it for business.
Since Pinterest is still new, some don’t know how to act. When you use Pinterest for business, there’s a certain etiquette you must follow. It’s a social network just like Facebook and Twitter, and there are certain things that you must do to make it more beneficial to you and your followers. The following are tips for proper pinning.
1. Don’t share too much.
The images you post on Pinterest should lead your followers back to a site, so Pinterest should be considered a launching pad to generate website traffic. Some people use the captions on their images to give everything away. For example, if you’re posting a recipe, don’t put the whole recipe on the caption. Instead, just put the name of the recipe. If you put too much info in the caption, nobody will click through, and you won’t generate traffic to your site.
2. Don’t share too little.
The same rule applies as above. If you want people to click on your images, you need to give them a reason to do so. If you put a beautiful picture of a delicious dish on Pinterest and your caption is a smiley face, it’s not going to entice people to click through because they don’t know what it is or what the picture will lead them to. They don’t know if they’re going to see a recipe or the menu of the restaurant they can find this dish at.
3. Be descriptive.
Your captions should contain keywords. This will help get your pin higher in the SERPs, so if someone does a search for the keywords on your image, your Pinterest post could appear.
Some people go as far as putting hashtags in their captions. While this is good for keyword recognition, it’s a Pinterest etiquette no-no. Save your hashtags for Twitter.
4. Limit your pins.
If you are pinning something every second, you’re going to lose followers. Think of it like every other social network. If you are writing Facebook posts every second, you’ll lose fans. Pinterest is the same way. Make sure that you are not over-pinning.
You also need to limit your repins. If you repin everything your followers pin, you’re going to look like a Pinterest stalker. Only repin the items that you think are truly great or beneficial and leave it at that.
5. Like and comment.
Pinterest allows you to like and comment on other pins, so make sure you do. It’s a great way to start a conversation with your followers.
6. Categorize correctly.
Pinterest has pre-determined categories, and every time you pin, your pins can end up in the general stream of these categories and can be seen by everyone. If you don’t place your pins in the right category, you’ll lose out on the right targets. For example, if you’re pinning pictures of the food found at your restaurant, make sure it can be found in the Food & Drinks category so that it will be seen by people looking for food and drinks. If you put it in the wrong category, it will still be seen, just not by the right audience.
7. Don’t pin selfishly.
Just like your Twitter and Facebook posts shouldn’t always rave about how great you are, neither should your Pinterest pins. Instead of focusing solely on what your company does, why not make a board focused on your industry as a whole? Sharing the love goes much further than hoarding it.
If you’re on Pinterest for your business, make sure that you’re using these tips for proper pinning etiquette. Your followers will appreciate it.
Do you have any other etiquette tips to share? Or do you notice users making other etiquette mistakes? Please share your thoughts below.
Kristi Munno
Copywriter | Content Management Specialist
With over six years of professional writing experience, Kristi is a published author who expertly communicates on the importance of content in business and marketing.
Good info. I have to disagree about hashtag use on Pinterest. I encourage everyone to use them! It increases pin visibility. Anything that makes it easier for you to connect with others is a good thing.
Thanks for the tips!