As a good social marketer, you need to explore every possibility to promote your business and generate a good return on investment (ROI). Writing high quality and informative blogs is a good step towards achieving this goal as long as you manage to attract readers and generate traffic. Hence, the tools of the social media come handy. While Facebook is the leader for sharing posts, other sites are gaining momentum, too.

Pinterest, for example, has started establishing itself as a site, where people will go not only to pin beautiful images but also to read quality articles. The question is how to attract those readers to the premium content you offer. The answer is simple – by being devoted, engaged, persistent and original.

Here are 11 tips that will help you get started with promoting your business on Pinterest and create engaging campaigns that will generate traffic back to your site.

1. Create a business profile if you want to promote your pins.

The first step in order to promote your business on Pinterest is, of course, to create a business profile. This will allow you to take advantage of the tools Pinterest offers in order to boost your online or in-store sales, raise awareness or increase traffic.

2. Create a board which is theme-related.

Once your business profile is set up, create several boards that are theme-related. Some can be dedicated to the products/services you offer. There should be a special board dedicated to your blog articles. In order to make it easier for your followers to follow the blog board, make sure to name it the same way as your blog page title. Using a keyword in the name is also a smart move since this increases the possibility of search engine exposure.

3. Add a “Pin it” Button to Your Blog

Give your readers the possibility to share your articles by adding a “Pin it” button below all your blog articles. There is a great chance that their followers and friends will read the post as well, which is great marketing possibility for you.

If you want to “upgrade” to a higher level, you can start using Article Pins. They are similar to the other Rich Pins offered on Pinterest such as Product Pins, Movie Pins and Product Pins. Check the site requirements on Rich Pins to see if you qualify and then apply. The benefits of the Article Pins are that they provide information such as title, author, summary and a link, which is more information than what the “Pin it” button gives. It’s worth the time and effort since they are a great article boost tool.

4. Embrace images

Pinterest is a visual site after all. You can refer to it as a high quality and classy magazine. So, in order to grab the attention of potential readers you need to lure them with a proper image. You need to create images in appropriate format size. Make them eye-catching. Once you have their attention, make sure to offer great content, so that you can retain it.

Infographics are also a smart option to adopt as people are easily attracted by them.

5. Don’t use your company’s name on the image unless you own Coca Cola

It’s simple – you have to focus on promoting content not company!Besides, some people may avoid clinking on or sharing your image, simple because they see it as a pure advertisement, which … well… it actually is.

6. Engagement

You need to engage with your followers, especially if you want to make them your regular blog readers as well. You will achieve this if you offer consistency in your Pins and if you pin original and good content. Then you also need to:

• Follow people, not only companies
• Follow your followers – show interest in their activities, questions, preferences
• Repin others pins, especially such that have great content or belong to industry leaders

7. Original content
   

As we already mentioned the first step to attract followers is by an eye-catching image. In order to retain them, however, you need to offer original content. Make sure that the blog posts you promote are truly informative, contain checked facts, curious information or answer specific questions. Avoid fluff. Actually, totally eliminate fluff from your articles in order to retain your followers.

8. Include hashtags

Include hashtags in your Pin description. This is a smart way to make your pins searchable and easy to find. Hashtags are also a great alternative to keywords, they allow you to avoid overstuffing a short description.

9. Don’t spam or your profile will be blocked

This is a no-brainer. If you violate Pinterest rules and start spamming your profile will be blocked. Then you lose it all and have to start from scratch. Remember, less is more.

10. Contribute to boards with many followers

As a social marketer you are aware that you need bigger exposure to get better results. While it is great to contribute to smaller boards that are focused on your product/service niche, it is advisable to join boards with many followers. You will have bigger audience and higher chances of getting traffic back to your site.

11. Be organized

At the beginning you will start with only a handful of boards that are easier to manage. In couple of months, however, your network will expand and it will be harder to implement your ideas without a proper plan. A smart thing to do is to create an excel file with a list of the boards you own. Thus, you can schedule what to post or promote on which board, how often to do it, etc. It’s a simple way to keep track of your activity and will also help you to avoid spamming and get punished by Pinterest.

As a conclusion it is fair to say that Pinterest offers great opportunities to expand your reach and drive more traffic to your site. It is no longer just a place to share beautiful and interesting images, though it remains focused on the visuals. Pinterest is like a magazine that offers great diversity to its devoted readers. Any business can use the platform to promote its services – from a natural stone tiles shop in the UK to a bankruptcy attorney in Kentucky, USA. Follow the tips above and make use of the platform it gives to boost your social media exposure.