ASK ELIZABETH
ASK ELIZABETHQuestion: I’m trying to learn more about scheduling pins on Pinterest and really using it to grow your blog. I’d love to hear what you do!
You know what is fun? This series! I am loving all the questions coming in and these Friday posts are turning into some of my favorite ones to write! It is like a chose your own adventure except for you are choosing it for me! As the questions pour in, I am noticing they fall into two categories – business or personal. Since I started Vol. 1 with a business theme and then Vol. 2 was more personal, I think I will switch back and forth between the two so it keeps things fresh! Now that you know my plan 😉 … Let’s move onto today’s business themed post!
PINTEREST. Lumped into the social media category but let’s be real, it should be classified as a search engine. Yes, you can follow your friends to see what they post and yes, you can include a bio but this is a place to search for things not socialize. This is great for those of us who have content to share. Did you know that Pinterest is my #1 referral? It is! So many of my friends, family, and followers have asked how people find my blog and the answer is Pinterest!
Scheduling pins on Pinterest is definitely part of my Pinterest growth strategy but there is more to it than that! I want to share with you my tips and resources that I use to grow my blog by using Pinterest!
CONTENT
It all starts with content. You need to be sharing information people are looking for. This does not mean you need to start blogging about what everyone else is or creating click-bait posts for Pinterest (I shared about this in How to Keep Blogging) BUT you do need to be creating content your audience will find helpful or creative or fun or inspirational which will make them want to pin your post. It is important to create content out of your sweet spot – content that fuels and inspires you but also connects with your readers! If you are passionate about it, someone else is also and you can use Pinterest to find them! Create quality content that you can share.
IMAGES
Pinterest is a visual platform. It is like a search engine of photos. When you type in “Best Chocolate Chip Cookies” a bunch of photos of cookies start popping up. The majority of those pins are linked to recipes and the ones with the prettiest cookies get the most clicks. I mean right? You find the cookie you would like to eat and you click through to see how to make it. This is what Pinterest can do for you. People can find your style post, your 4th of July meal plan, your blogging tricks, or your advice on cleaning the hot-tub… Your content can help answer what people are looking for but you need an image to go with it!
Here are some quick tips for creating images for your posts:
- Vertical Pins perform the best on Pinterest. Make sure you have some in your post to be able to pin. Also try to always make your header image vertical!
- Add text when needed. Not all pins need text but sometimes they do – this camera bag post is one of my all time top pins (with text) but so is this photo from an outfit post (no text.) You can also see that this current post you are reading has an image with text for sharing on Pinterest!
- Use Canva:This is my favorite places for making graphics for my blog. It is so easy to add text and make your images consistent.
- Take advantage of Stock Photography! Do you feel like you cannot always create the images you want to share? Buy a set of photos to use for blog posts! I take the majority of the images I use on this blog but this photo is from Elah Tree Stock Photo. I bought it to have more desk flat-lays when I didn’t want to take the time to create the image! I love Elah Tree Stock Photography because they are high quality yet super affordable!
MAKE IT EASY FOR READERS & FOLLOWERS
When readers are on your site and reading your latest post, make sure there is an easy way to pin your content! Include a Pin It button on your photos or at the bottom of your posts. You can see that I have a Pin It button at the bottom of every post on Oak+ Oats to make it easy for my readers to Pin if they wish and one that appears when you hover over the images. Don’t stress out if you do not feel tech savvy enough to add this button –Pinterest has a step by stepguide to add a Pin It button to your website!
In addition to having an easy way to pin, make sure that your blog is linked to your Pinterest and your Pinterest is linked to your blog. That way new readers can follow you on social media (including Pinterest) and people who follow you on Pinterest can find your blog. This one is simple enough but makes a big difference.
PS: Make sure you are pinning your own images! Every new post should be pinned to your Pinterest in a category that fits. Some people will pin directly from your site but others will only end up repinning from your Pinterest. Just like any other social media, you need to be sharing your content on it! Pin those images and let them travel!
SCHEDULING PINS
Now that we have optimized our blog and posts for Pinterest, let’s talk about being active on Pinterst. The more active you are on Pinterest, the more followers you will get and the more the Pinterest algorithm will like you – yet that can be SO time consuming. Enter: Scheduling Pins! Pinterest schedulers have saved me SO much time and helped me grow faster than I was able to on my own.I can catch my audience when they are on without always being on at the same tim.! This saves me time because I can plan (in my schedule) to spend 45 minutes scheduling pins and that will take me through the week.
This is the one you have to sign up for now. It starts with a free trial but it is totally worth the money (you can spend as little as $5 a month!) The thing that I LOVE aboutboard boosteris that you can set up “looping” where essentially it repins the pins already in your Pinterest boards. Then after a bit, it deletes the one of the two with less repins. This is great because it keeps your Pinterest active (repining like 50 pins a day) without you doing a thing and breaths new life into some of those buried pins! And the best part is that you don’t need to worry about doubling up on images because it takes care of that too!
I currently use them to loop all my boards. They also have great stats and I’ve grown from 2K followers to 7K followers since I started using them! So worth it!
So my #2 Pinterest love is Tailwind. It makes it so easy to schedule for Pinterest! Right now when youuse this linkyou get $15 credit to try it out (there is also a free option to play around with!!) I have a Tailwind bookmark and I schedule pins like crazy when I am reading blogs or articles. Every time I share a new post, I use it to schedule all my pins but I also use it on other sites all the time. Having a variety of quality pins in your account is so important. Pinterest (and followers) wont like it if you ONLY pin your stuff!
Ahalogyis a newer company for scheduling Pinterest pins but they also have sponsored opportunities. I am part of their program to do the later because I do all my scheduling with Tailwind. I do like that they suggest pins for you to pin (which I schedule occasionally) and their sponsored content is heavy on pinnable images which is the kind of sponsored posts I like to do!
PINFINITE GROWTH
While we are here, I wanted to share with you one more resource that has helped me as well –Pinfinite Growth! Pinfinite Growth is an ecourse from Melyssa Griffin and it is amazing. It teaches you not only why you need to focus on Pinterest as part of your strategy for growth but HOW you can grow and what tools to use! I really love her classes and have learned a lot from her! If you are wanting to dive in deeper and really be intentional about making Pinterest work for you, this is you course!
Whew! I think we made it through everything! Do you still have any questions about Pinterest? What are some of your pinterest tips? Make sure you are following us on Pinterest (here) and say hello!
ASK ELIZABETH
Do you have any questions you have been wanting to ask?! Click on the button below to submit your question and it may be the next “Ask Elizabeth” question featured next Friday!
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