Pinterest is an online pin board, where users categorize and share images. Unlike other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, you can’t publish any content unless an image is involved.

Before using Pinterest, it’s important to know the difference between the two types of Pinterest accounts you can have: a Pinterest personal account and a Pinterest business account.

Although business accounts look very similar to personal accounts, there are 5 main differences. The first difference is that to create a business account, you need to follow the prompts on this url https://business.pinterest.com whereas to create a personal Pinterest account you need to follow the prompts on this url: https://www.pinterest.com.
The second difference is that to create a business account, you need to agree to the business-specific terms of service. The third difference is that with a business account you can name your account your brand name. So instead of naming your account your first and last name, you name your account the name of your business. The 4th difference is that you’ll be able to access analytics to give you insights about your audience and your performance on Pinterest with a Pinterest business account. The 5th main difference is that a business account allows you to create “rich pins”, also known as “super pins” or “enhanced pins”.
Rich Pins are Pins that include additional information on the Pin itself. There are 6 types of Rich Pins: app, film, recipe, article, product and place.

Should you have already created a personal Pinterest account, you can easily switch to a business account by going to:https://business.pinterest.com and clicking on “convert now”.

Like any other social network, Pinterest uses its own jargon. So before you start using Pinterest, you’ll need to know the following terms:

Pins are Images published on Pinterest (the equivalent of a social media post)
Boards are Folders on Pinterest to categorize pins
A Pinner is A Pinterest user
To Repin is The act of sharing someone else’s pin with your Pinterest followers by publishing it in one of your Pinterest boards
Followers are The Pinterest users who are subscribed to your account and are able to see your pins in their newsfeed
Following are The Pinterest users you subscribe to, to see their pins in your newsfeed.
Feeds are What you see when you login to Pinterest. All the latest pins from the people you follow.

Once you’re familiar with Pinterest terminology, you’re ready to open an account and start using Pinterest effectively.

First, open your account and make sure that you write a keyword rich bio, underlining who you are as a business and how you help people. Avoid just writing a job title. Then, add a profile picture as accounts with no profile picture perform less well. Your profile picture can be your business logo if you are not the face of the brand or it can be a headshot of you. Then, add a url where you want to point your followers to. It could be your blog, or your website, etc…

The next step when using Pinterest for business is to start adding content to your account. Start by creating boards with keyword rich titles. Make sure you also select a category for each Pinterest board to help people find them and for Pinterest to recommend your Pinterest board. Your boards should be aligned with your topic and be of interest to your target audience.

The next step when using Pinterest for business is to fill your boards with original and relevant pins. Pinterest is not an online catalogue for your products. Instead, it’s a place where people look for and share unique and interesting images.

Then, to increase your chances of being found on Pinterest, take advantage of Pinterest tools. Add a Pinterest widget on your website like this one. When people browse your website and click on the widget, they’ll be redirected to your Pinterest account. You can also embed your pins, boards or profile onto your website or blog. To do so, simply go to: https://developers.pinterest.com/tool… and then add the link of the Pinterest board, pin or profile you want to display on your website or blog, and grab the embed code.

Lastly, when using Pinterest for business, you’ll want to build your audience. To grow your Pinterest followers, a good habit to adopt is following people so a percentage of them follow you back. Follow up to 100 people a day. This should get you an additional 20 followers if not more, a day. Another way to get noticed, is by engaging regularly with other pinners’ content, who attract a similar audience as yours. You can engage by liking their pins, sharing them and more importantly, by leaving interesting comments.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed this video on how to use Pinterest for business. Remember to leave a comment below and subscribe to our channel to receive the latest social media tips straight to your inbox…