Pinterest Workflow for Beginners | 3 Simple Steps To Get Started!
Over the past little while, I’ve had a few business owners tell me they want to use Pinterest, but they just don't know how to get started with it and feel overwhelmed when they try to get started with Pinterest.
The advice I like to give to anyone who’s wanting to start out with Pinterest is something basic and simple, that they can maintain, as they get more comfortable with the platform, and build confidence with knowing they are connecting with audience members, and their Pins are being saved, clicked & shared.
I love that you are eager to start learning the proper Pinterest strategies and techniques to grow your business, but I always caution that specific techniques and strategies to grow your business shouldn’t be rushed in to. Anything you consider for your business should be crafted as carefully as possible to avoid any upset in your business structure.
That’s why I want to go over 3 simple & effective tips I feel is best for you to start out with, especially if you’re in the beginning stages of learning Pinterest. These tips will help take the pressure off, so you can enjoy the growth and expansion of your business, and more importantly, you can start to build out a workflow incorporating Pinterest into your marketing stream.
1. Take stock of what social media channels you use & don’t use - then get Pinterest.
If you find there is a social media channel that you were not using as much or you find that it just doesn’t resonate with you as you had initially thought, I suggest that you totally remove it & not even think about it.
Yes, friend. I did say that!
Now, I should preface to say that Pinterest is technically not considered a social media channel, although it gets lumped in that category quite often.
Pinterest actually is a discovery site where people pin content to reference back to at a later time. I like to say to anyone inquiring about Pinterest, to consider your Pinterest account, and that of others, as an online editorial magazine where you get to catalog all the fun & exciting things that you can’t wait to try or share with your friends and family. On Facebook, you want people to see your change in status; on Instagram, you want people to like your photo. Pinterest doesn’t function the same as these platforms do because the focus of Pinterest is to collect & share content that is inspiring and useful.
Okayy… I’ll stop myself about that topic and actually focus on what I want to say.
When you look at your social media outlets, I want you to clean up the apps you’ve collected over time, thinking it would be something “fun” to try, but never really got into trying at all.
I’m am sooo guilty of this and found myself downloading Tik Tok the other day, simply because I thought, it would be fun to try. Although I downloaded the app to try using it for my business, can you guess how many times I’ve actually been on the app?
Twice.
And that was because my sister showed me something on it, not because I was using it for my own enjoyment.
As business owners, you are going to be inundated with so much information, you’ll eventually start to catch a case of '“FOMO” (fear of missing out) every time something new comes along.
A lot of people suggest when you’re starting out your business to “secure your handle” on all your social media apps, just in case it gets taken by someone else. I know I did the same thing, which is what lead me to signing up for Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram… pretty much all of the sites I could think of.
But what you’ll notice over time is you’re only really using Facebook and Instagram and you can't even remember the last time you were on Twitter. If that’s so, just forget about Twitter (or any of the others you’re not using) and replace it with Pinterest.
Many people don't realize that there are over 336 million active users on Pinterest a month! That means you have a ton of eyes on your content and profile, and you have the ability to reach so many more people on Pinterest.
As I’ve been in my business for less than 6 months now, and my business is starting to gain traction, I find the more I complicate my social media platforms, the more it only ends up giving me more stress & anxiety because I feel like I HAVE to be on the platform, instead of me wanting to be on the platform.
Being a business owner (especially a solopreneur!), you quickly realize that you don’t (and won’t!) have the time or energy to waste on unnecessary things that will take traction away from your main goals - which are to make connections with your audience and sell your much needed services.
I tell anyone inquiring how to start with Pinterest to keep their social media outlets simple - possibly, a maximum of three - and only use the ones where they know their audience will be hanging out.
Many times, if your audience is on one platform — have it be Instagram, for example — the chances of your audience being on Pinterest would be high as Instagram and Pinterest are both visual platforms that people love to be on for inspiration.
2. Use Pinterest because you enjoy it!
The second thing to can take into consideration when using Pinterest to not feel overwhelmed is to use Pinterest, simply because you enjoy using Pinterest!
For example, I am a former home decor blogger and I used Pinterest all the time for my DIYs and planning stages of my room makeovers.
After my kids would go to bed, I would quickly settle myself on my couch with a nice, hot cup of tea, my cozy blanket & tablet in hand. I would hop on Pinterest, start scrolling & pinning, and immediately go down a rabbit hole for hours in a sea of ideas, colors, patterns, plans, and styling all the time.
My boards would quickly fill up with #allthethings I wanted to do, try, experience, and show off to my family & friends to proudly boast, “Yup, I did that. I found it on Pinterest!”.
The more time I was on the platform, the more I enjoyed my experience and the more I found people enjoyed my content, pins, and inspiration I was saving.
As a home decor blogger I used Pinterest out of enjoyment and loved the experience. If you’re like me and enjoy being on Pinterest, can you imagine how much fun it would be if you did the same when it came to your business? You would LOVE Pinterest even more, especially if you’re connecting with your dream audience, they’re saving your Pins & following you because you have something good to offer.
That right there is a good jumping off strategy, my friends. And when that happens, your business will start to transform before your eyes.
3. Pinterest has got your back!
If you’re an avid fan and follower of Gabrielle Bernstein, like I am, then you know that I pretty much got this line from her ;)
But in all reality, Pinterest really, truly does have your back.
Because we as business owners, quite frankly, have many things on the go. We are parents, caregivers, a spouse, a friend, the list truly goes on.
Life will get in the way and you won’t always have time to “show up” on your social media outlets like you had hoped for. When you have Pinterest in your corner, Pinterest will continue to show up for you & get you in the right places at the right times, without you having to stress about your stats dropping because you’re not favoring the algorithm with your daily content.
There have been many times that business owners had to step away from a platform for various reasons, some, even for as long as a month.
Even if this happens, your content that you pin or create will still continue to circulate and be shared amongst your followers and new audience members for up to 7 months!
That’s right.
Your content lasts almost 7 months long on Pinterest, as opposed to an Instagram story content lasting only 24 hours & then it’s gone.
Why wouldn’t you want to be on Pinterest!?!
Pinterest truly has your back & wants to support your efforts in connecting with your audience. Pinterest definitely loves when a user is active and consistent on the platform, which is where my favorite scheduler comes in handy: Tailwind. >> Yup. This is an affiliate link!
Tailwind is a Pinterest-approved content scheduler that allows you to queue up your content to be continuously shared on Pinterest at the most optimized times your audience is on! Tailwind is one of my favorite tools to use in my business because it uses specific data collected from your Pinterest account to determine the best times when your audience is most active on Pinterest, so it can automatically share your content!
If you are a Tailwind account holder and are familiar with the scheduling tool, then you know what’s up. If you’re unfamiliar with Tailwind but are curious to try it out, I encourage you to check out my affiliate link of Tailwind where you’ll get to schedule and publish up to 100 Pinterest Pins and/or 30 Instagram Posts before you need to decide if you want to pay. It’s overall what saves me hours of time when I schedule content for my clients & for myself every month.
The more present you’re on Pinterest (with the additional help of Tailwind), this will signal to Pinterest that you are an active user and Pinterest will go out of its way to find YOU great content to Pin & share.
Win-win in my books!
In conclusion
There are a few simple steps that anyone can get started with Pinterest for your business:
Take a look at the social media accounts that you currently use, and the ones that you don't. Remove the ones that you are no longer using or have no interest in using, and replace it with Pinterest. Don’t feel like you have to use all social media channels out there to connect with your audience.
Get on the Pinterest app and use it because you enjoy the experience! Pinterest users are often in discovery mode and love finding content and ideas for inspiration. Pinterest boasts over 336 million active users per month, and growing! You are bound to connect with your dream audience whether you are strategic about it or not.
Know that Pinterest has got your back! Even if you step away for a period of time, your content and the content you Pin continues to circulate up to 7 months strong!
What tip best resonated best with you? Leave a comment below! Let’s chat.
Do you follow me on Pinterest?
If so, YAY! If not, let’s connect. Join me there so I can get to know you more & follow you back!
I also post little nuggets of wisdom on Instagram! Follow me there too!
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