If you haven’t been capitalizing on Pinterest to help you get the word out about your world class online life coach or online fitness pro business, you’re missing out big time!
There are actually 4 Musketeers when it comes to social media marketing right now.
Now that visual content is king, Pinterest is one of the big 4 must-use social media and content marketing platforms. It used to be just Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Instagram is on their heels, and Snapchat is making a valiant effort to catch up with it’s snowballing followership of millennial users.
In this post you get a great step-by-step guide for setting up and optimizing your business Pinterest account from scratch!
And as if that wasn’t enough!
You also get a complete how-to guide for running your first Pinterst ad or “Promoted Pin” campaign!
But first:
Not Convinced about the Power of Pinterest for Digitally Marketing Your Online Fitness or Life Coaching Business?
Let’s cover some basics and then go over a few eye-opening stats to help you understand the magnitude of Pinterest and why it’s perfect for getting the word out.
What Exactly is Pinterest and How Do I Use It?
At first glance, Pinterest might look like a simple photo-sharing site; with its seemingly endless scrolling of images, sometimes with captions, sometimes with nothing but an emoticon to describe what the image is about.
Upon closer examination you’ll see that Pinterest is really a system of organizing photos into files (boards). Each photo, or pin, is usually just a visual bookmark for a web page.
We create boards, such as “Vacations I want to take” and “Haircuts that are better than mine” (is that even possible?) and then pin images from sites that help us organize our thoughts or bookmark clever ideas we can return to.
Some of the most common boards are food-related, fashion, and (*uhem, cough) fitness related.
That’s right. Workouts, workout advice, workout clothes, workout-friendly diets and recipes, motivational workout quotes, the list goes on and on.
You can follow other people’s boards if they’re a friend or have content you think is useful.
Every time they pin something, it will show up in your newsfeed and you can choose to ‘repin’ it to your own board if you find it helpful.
And this is where Pinterest becomes really useful as social selling tool.
If you’re pinning great photos that lead to genuinely interesting content, you can capitalize on the power of the repin – and that would make you a pinning ninja – a pinja!
I’m not Convinced. Show me the Stats.
- Over 80% of pins are repins, illustrating the power of social reach on Pinterest. You pin ridiculously good visual content once, you get repins, ongoing, for years. And it’s not just people repinning pins from your boards. People repin your pin from any board your pin has been added to.
- Approximately 80% of Pinterest users are female (30% of which are 25-34 years old – a major niche demographic for many highly successful online fitness coaches!). If you’re marketing to women, this is the place to be. And even men are getting onboard, so I expect it will be a more robust platform to reach men in the near future.
- An estimated 110 million monthly users rely on Pinterest for ideas and inspiration according to Ivonne Teoh.[i] That’s the potential reach of your pin. Pretty significant, right?
- A call to action pin gets an 80% boost[ii] in engagement. Aren’t we always trying to get people to react to our call-to-action? Isn’t that the real key when we create content? Well, Pinterest is clearly the place to make that dream a reality. Not pinning just seems like an opportunity lost now, doesn’t it?
- Shoppers referred by a Pinterest pin are 10% more likely to make a purchase than visitors who convert from other platforms. Yes, this includes Facebook and Twitter. Sounds like an amazing place to digitally market your nutrition business
- Those same shoppers are also more likely to spend about 10% more, on average, than other referred traffic and 80% more than traffic from non-social sources. So are you ready to get started on Pinterest now?
Here’s a Step-by-Step Guide on How to Set Up Your New Pinterest Business Account From Scratch:
- Creating a New Business Account
Just like any other social media platform mentioned above, first thing you’ll need to do is create your account. And when it comes to really unlocking the social selling power of Pinterest, it’s highly recommended you make yours a business account right from the get go! .
- First, you’ll have to go to Pinterest for Business From there, you’ll see an option saying Join as Business. Just click there and fill in the information needed to continue to the next page. That means adding details such as: your e-mail address, a current or a new password, your business name and your business type, and the link to your world class business website.
- Upon completion, just hit the Create Account button at the bottom.
For pre-existing non-business Pinterest accounts, the option at the bottom will be Continue as a Business. But no worries if you fail to click on that tab the first time. You can still change a personal account into a business one. You just have to fill out additional fields of relevant information on the next page.
- After creating an account, you’ll be asked to follow five (5) topics of interest to you. I suggest that you choose five topics directly relevant to your niche business (a genuine passion you share with your ideal customer avatar) so as to target building highly relevant and useful links to your account and, ultimately, to your website.
- When your account is completely set up, Pinterest’s homepage will then show you a wide tile of images or pins from other users’ related accounts. Be sure to only add and engage with content (i.e. leave thoughtful value-adding comments under the pins) that is truly high quality, and high value.
- Setting Up And Optimizing Your Business Profile
To get to your Profile page, just click on the red thumbtack icon on the top right-hand corner of Pinterest’s home page. Your profile still looks blank right? So you have to supply the most important online info about your business. Here’s how to do this:
- You’ll have to click on the Edit Profile button on the top left-hand corner of the page. First thing on the list is your Business Account Name, which you may also add at the end of the URL of your account’s username for easy searching (highly recommended).
- Then, you’ll be asked to select an image of your account just like you did with your Facebook’s Profile Picture.
- Although you could just add the logo of your business for proper identity and simple branding it’s very important to include a great images of yourself where ever possible.
- Make sure to add a link to your business website so that people can visit it right from your Pinterest account.
- Add the Location of your business to maximize your chances of harnessing the huge in “in my area” local search trend going right now.
- Fill in as much information high-value info as you can about you and the products and services you offer to create a positive impression on what your business is all about.
- Another useful tip, always use specific keywords in your “About Me” section so your business account will appear when users search for those keywords.
- Once you’re done supplying the business information needed, just hit the Save button at the bottom.
- Creating a Business Board That Stands Out:
Your board will let you organize all your pins around different ideas (keywords), interests and plans. Ultimately your board is going to represent your brand identity on Pinterest.
- To start, go to your Profile page and click on the Create a Board
- Then you’ll have to fill in the name of your board and its description. Basically, the description is similar to the About Me of your business, so use your most high-value keywords when creating the title.
- You may also add collaborators who can help you out to pin and edit the board. Of course, such collaborators will be a team member or a virtual assistant you hired.
- When pins are added to the board, you’ll be given an option to select one image that will best represent your board. Make sure this visually stunning!
- To select your main business-board image, go to Edit Board, scroll through all the pins (or create , image and keyword optimize a new one), then select the pin you want as the cover page of your business board and click on Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
- How to Unleash the Power of Pinterest Analytics for Your Business:
One of the main reasons you want to create a business vs a personal Pinterest account is because only Pinterest business accounts have their own analytics program.
To check on your business Account Analytics, go to your Profile and click on the gear menu or click on Analytics tab.
The analytics page will show you how many views the page has, and how many followers engaged in your board and pins.
You want to create and share more of the visual content that’s getting the most engagement.
Some helpful terms and definitions in understanding Pinterest analytics include:
- impressions, or the number of times a pin showed up in the Home Feed, search result, and category fields.
- repins, the number of times your pin gets saved to other peoples’ boards and,
- clicks, the quantity of clicks people make from the pins on your profile directly to your website or business blog
With Analytics, you can also see the top pins from the last 30 days or even your account’s all time most popular pin based on the number of repins.
This will help you determine the kinds of pins that are getting the most reach and having the most impact.
You can also check the audience of your account from Analytics from your Pinterest business analytics dashboard.
Just click on “Your Audience” at the top of Pinterest Analytics. Here you can see users who interact with your pins, by saving, liking or repinning them.
The demographics of your audience is also a very important factor in determining your target market.
For example, say a large portion of your audience somehow turn out to be Spanish speakers. You might then want to consider creating some bilingual marketing messaging in subsequent content creation, or even editing existing content on your board, to fully capture their attention.[iii]
Pinning Best Practices:
OK, so you realized you’ve been missing out and you’ve just created an account.
Again, Make sure it’s a business account[iv] so you can watch your analytics and tweak your content accordingly.
Make sure each web page you want to pin has a fantastic image or graphic to catch people’s attention as their scroll their newsfeed. And …
- Pin during the day between 2 and 4pm Eastern time. Don’t forget the pin-warriors are weekend and evening people. They like to use Pinterest after the kids are in bed or on Sundays.
- Go ahead and make life easier by scheduling your pins. Buffer[v] is a great resource that allows you to pins months in advance as long as you have the available content.
- Intermix your pinning amazing content from other’s boards with clear, deep-engagement product info and content directly describing your own certified wellness coaching, online certified fitness training or certified sports nutrition coaching services. Pinterest is a resource site. People want to see what you have to offer, how they might use it, how it will improve their life, and whether it is the best choice for them.
Make sure you don’t just create dry boards that list your products and services – boring. Create boards that show people enjoying the solution your service or product create. Be among the first to share cutting edge industry defining, research and deeply motivating success stories.
Create boards that show how others are using or have used your products or services to positively transform their health, well-being and ultimately, their lives. Share content that’s super motivating and inspiring.
- Align your ongoing and future Pinterest efforts with your top-performing pins, says Alexandra Grant.[vi] Once you know what works, you’ve got the information you need to continue to improve and laser target your efforts.
- Remember, people don’t typically look for pins by browsing your boards except maybe the first time they visit your profile. Instead, they passively look at the pins that show up in their feed, which means your pins each have to be engaging and genuinely value-adding (as with all great content marketing).
- Ana Gotter[vii] reminds us to pin images that are light and bright when it comes to Pinterest. Unless your re-pinning your favorite collection of gothic romance novels or spooky Halloween decorating ideas, light and bright images are much more eye catching.
- Use your metrics. Pin the same article with different images and captions to see what works. Do product images work? Do motivational images work? What about images of food for delicious and healthy recipes versus toned bodies? How about both?
Pinners want the image to match the content on the site the image leads to, but you can play around with the image to make sure it’s getting well-deserved attention.
- Isabel Isidro[viii] reminds us to add our call-to-action, both in the image and in the commentary you can attach to show up just under the image. Pinners can change the commentary, but they can’t change the image, so use both spaces effectively.
Bonus Training: How To Create and Run Highly Effective Pinterest Ads:
Pinterest ads are promoted pins you can use for really getting your online fitness and coaching services in front a huge Pinterest audience.
Promoted Pins are Pinterest’s answers to content boosting on Facebook, and running highly effective Facebook ads.
With the help of Pinterest Ads Manager, you can create, edit and manage your promoted pins.
Here are Two Things You Need to do Before Creating Your First Pinterest Ad:
- Having a business account on Pinterest, or had converted an existing personal account into a business account.
- Added a business location. This will determine your currency for billing and the taxes that may apply.
- Creating Your Campaign
A campaign is similar to boards of Pinterest. Campaigns will help you organize your Promoted Pins from different service categories or wellness and nutrition product lines.
- From the Pinterest Ads Manager page, (ads.pinterest.com), click on the (+) button and select Create Ad.
- You’ll be asked to Select a Goal. The goal will show how your pins get delivered, so you have to choose the most suitable goal for your business.
Pinterest offers two options in promoting your products and services. These are boosting engagement through your pins, and getting traffic to your website. You’ll be charged for each pin engagement or website click.
- Picking an Already Top Performing Pin to Promote
Choosing the perfect pin out of the blue can be a tough decision to make.
Since you can only select one from among your pins, make sure to review your analytics first to check which pin has earned the highest number of organic clicks and repins.
You can start by reviewing your top pins for the last 30 days to determine which pin to promote.
Also, make sure to really pay attention to what the top coaches and fitness pros in your niche are promoting on Pinterest, to get an idea of what type of images and content messaging (for example, what top keywords are they using? What kind of image themes and colors are they using in their promoted pins?) may be resulting from their online ongoing research.
- Best Practices for Fine Tuning Your Campaign
- Start by Optimizing the name and image of the pin you’re going to promote. Make sure you’re using a ridiculously appealing visuals and that any written content is truly high value and super-engaging.
- Make sure to use the correct destination URL so that your Promoted Pin leads viewers directly to your website or finely crafted landing page.
- Interest-targets will help you locate users who have specific interests relevant to your coaching or fitness business. Select a number of interests that best reflect the type of products and services you offer.
- Keyword-targets as mentioned earlier, are critical success factor for your Pinterest marketing efforts. With niche specific keywords, you’ll be able to significantly increase your chances of connecting with and engaging more of your ideal customers (people looking to buy exactly the kind of products or services yours offering right now).
There are three (3) ways to find and use keywords:
- Search-Based.
Insert a keyword in the search box and it will generate some related keywords that you may want to add in your list.
- Recommendation-Based.
These are keywords you can find that are trending at the time you conduct your keyword search relevant to your pin. You can add from the recommended keywords list by clicking the words under Try these searches.
- Import-Based.
You can import existing keyword by copying them directly into the dialog box provided. After adding the keywords, click on the Add Keywords button below the box.
Accurate and efficient use of keywords can be a powerful tool for maximizing your search results on Pinterest and across the search engines and image searches.
- Locations are all defaulted to the good old US of A. But you can be more location-specific by clicking on the arrow next to the country you selected.
- Languages are default set to “any”. You may choose any language that will best suit your niche market.
- Anyone can access Pinterest from different devices including from their PC, laptop, or smartphone.
- You can also set the gender of your target market depending on the product or services you offer.
- Last is your maximum bid. The bid will tell you the amount you’re willing to pay for based on specific outcomes on Pinterest including clicks, website visits or other forms of engagements.[ix]
OK Team JSE! Now you’ve got an easy to use guide for quickly setting up and using your business Pinterest account.
It’s up to you to really make Pinterest happen for your business!
There are plenty of ‘pinteresting’ pins out there and there are plenty of pinners and potential coaching and fitness training clients just waiting for your genuinely inspirational and value-creating content.
Optimize it. Add an amazing call-to-action. Pin it.
Repin others pins that are truly inspiring or that add serious value to your board.
You’ll find you’re a fitness or coaching digital marketing ‘pinja’ in no time!
Join my exclusive, Private Facebook Group right now, so I can provide you with 100% free, high-value business-development-coaching and mentoring.
[i] Pinterest 2016 Statistics. Ivonne Teoh. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pinterest-2016-statistics-110million-monthly-users-ivonne-teoh.
[ii] 17 Uber-Awesome Pinterest Statistics You Should Know. Babs Reviews Blog. babsreviews.com/pinterest-statistics.html
[iii] Set Up your Business Account. https://business.pinterest.com/en/set-your-business-account
[iv] Xenia Nosov. https://business.pinterest.com/en
[v] https://buffer.com
[vi] Using Pinterest for Business: Secrets from Top Bloggers. Dara Fontein. https://blog.hootsuite.com/using-pinterest-for-business-secrets-from-top-bloggers/
[vii] 26 Tips to Improve Your Pinterest Marketing. Ana Gotter. www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-tips-to-improve-your-pinterest-marketing/
[viii] 40 Tips on How to Use Pinterest for Your Small Business. Isabel Isidro. www.startinguptips.com/2014/40-tips-use-pinterest-small-business.html
[ix] Pinterest Ads Manager Guide. https://business.pinterest.com/sites/files
