In the world of digital marketing, Pinterest stands out as a unique platform, combining elements of social media with a search engine-like interface. With over 400 million active users worldwide, Pinterest offers businesses a visually-driven avenue to connect with potential customers. However, like any platform, success on Pinterest is not automatic. Too often, businesses make fundamental mistakes that prevent them from achieving their marketing goals. These missteps not only waste valuable resources but also hinder a brand’s ability to engage with an audience that’s actively seeking inspiration, products, and services.
Understanding why marketing on Pinterest can go awry is crucial for businesses trying to make an impact. Poor marketing on Pinterest doesn’t just happen by accident—it’s the result of neglecting platform-specific best practices, underestimating audience behavior, and failing to optimize content. To help businesses avoid these pitfalls, it’s essential to explore the common mistakes companies make on Pinterest, the factors that contribute to their ineffectiveness, and the steps to improve their approach.
1. Not Understanding Pinterest’s Unique Nature
Pinterest is not a traditional social media platform where users primarily engage with friends or follow celebrities. Instead, it serves as a digital inspiration board, where users pin images and links related to their interests, such as home décor, fashion, recipes, and more. As a result, Pinterest’s user intent is different. People on Pinterest are actively searching for ideas, solutions, and products they can use in the future, which makes the platform more like a visual search engine.
A common mistake businesses make is treating Pinterest as just another social media platform, which leads to poor content strategy and poor engagement. Content that may work well on Facebook or Instagram may not perform on Pinterest because it lacks the context or specificity users expect on the platform. For instance, while Instagram is more focused on lifestyle and personal engagement, Pinterest users are more focused on discovery and inspiration.
2. Failing to Optimize for Search
Pinterest has its own search algorithm, and unlike other social platforms, it operates similarly to Google when it comes to search functionality. This means that businesses must create content that is optimized for search in order to ensure their pins are discovered by relevant audiences. A lack of keyword optimization is a major reason why businesses fail to achieve success on Pinterest.
For instance, if you’re a home décor brand and post images of your latest collection, but don’t include relevant keywords in your pin descriptions, titles, or board names, your pins may never show up in search results. The power of Pinterest’s search engine comes from its use of keywords, which helps categorize and surface content. By failing to optimize images and descriptions with relevant keywords, businesses miss an opportunity to appear in searches that could lead to increased traffic and sales.
Best practices for keyword optimization include:
- Researching trending keywords using Pinterest’s search bar or tools like Google Trends
- Including relevant keywords in pin descriptions, titles, and board names
- Adding rich pins that provide more context and information for search engines to index.
3. Overlooking the Importance of High-Quality Visual Content
Pinterest is, first and foremost, a visual platform. Its success relies on compelling images that capture attention and inspire users to engage. Businesses often fail to invest in high-quality visuals, opting instead for low-resolution images or stock photos that do not resonate with the platform’s aesthetic. While high-quality visuals are important on any social media platform, they are especially crucial on Pinterest, where users are actively searching for inspiration and new ideas.
Poor visuals can lead to disengagement and reduced visibility. Low-quality images appear blurry when resized for Pinterest’s vertical format, making them unappealing and less likely to be shared or repinned. In contrast, high-quality images help businesses stand out in users’ feeds, draw attention to their products, and encourage repins, which is how content spreads on the platform.
When creating pins, businesses should focus on:
- Using vertical images (Pinterest recommends a 2:3 aspect ratio)
- Ensuring images are clear, vibrant, and visually striking
- Using lifestyle shots or images that show products in context
- Creating graphics with bold, easy-to-read text overlay to provide context or a call to action.
4. Ignoring Analytics and Data
One of the biggest mistakes a business can make on Pinterest is ignoring the analytics tools available to track performance. Pinterest offers a robust suite of tools that provide insights into how pins are performing, including impressions, clicks, saves, and engagement rates. Without analyzing this data, businesses risk continuing strategies that are not yielding results, and they may miss opportunities to optimize their approach.
For example, if a business is seeing a high number of impressions but low engagement, this could indicate that their images are not compelling enough, or that they are failing to include clear calls to action. Similarly, if certain boards or pins are generating more traffic than others, businesses should pay attention to these trends and replicate the successful strategies.
Without data-driven insights, businesses will struggle to fine-tune their Pinterest strategy and continuously improve. Regularly reviewing Pinterest Analytics will help businesses understand which pins resonate with their target audience and which need refinement.
5. Inconsistent Posting and Lack of Scheduling
A common mistake businesses make on Pinterest is posting sporadically or without a consistent schedule. Unlike other platforms like Instagram or Twitter, Pinterest rewards consistency. The platform’s algorithm favors accounts that post regularly and consistently because it wants to keep users engaged with fresh content.
Businesses that post only once in a while or at random intervals may find their content getting lost in the shuffle. On Pinterest, it’s not enough to create a few great pins and hope they get traction. Successful brands on Pinterest schedule regular posts that keep their accounts active and their content visible to a broader audience.
Using tools like Tailwind or Buffer can help businesses automate their pinning process and ensure that they’re posting consistently, even when they’re not able to do so manually.
6. Focusing Too Much on Selling
While Pinterest can be a highly effective tool for driving traffic to product pages and increasing sales, a marketing strategy that focuses solely on selling is unlikely to succeed. Pinterest users are typically in the exploration and discovery phase of their buyer’s journey, which means they are not necessarily ready to make an immediate purchase. Pins that are overly promotional or pushy may be quickly ignored or skipped over.
The key to success on Pinterest is balancing promotional content with inspiring, informative, and engaging content. Businesses should aim to provide value to their audience, whether that’s through tutorials, DIY ideas, or helpful tips that tie into their products or services. By doing so, businesses can establish themselves as experts in their field, foster trust with potential customers, and build a loyal following on the platform.
7. Not Leveraging Pinterest Ads
Pinterest offers paid advertising options that can significantly boost a brand’s visibility and engagement. However, many businesses fail to take advantage of this opportunity, relying solely on organic pins to drive traffic. While organic reach on Pinterest can be powerful, especially with high-quality visuals and proper optimization, paid advertising can help businesses reach a wider audience and improve results.
Pinterest offers a range of ad formats, including promoted pins, carousel ads, and video ads, which can target specific demographics, interests, and keywords. With the right strategy, businesses can drive targeted traffic to their websites, promote sales, or build brand awareness.
Ignoring Pinterest’s advertising tools or not testing ads regularly means missing out on an opportunity to amplify a brand’s reach and drive more meaningful results.
8. Failing to Engage with the Community
Pinterest is a community, and successful marketers understand the importance of building relationships within it. While many businesses focus on creating their own content, they overlook the power of community engagement. Repinning, commenting on other users’ content, and joining group boards are all ways businesses can expand their reach and foster a more engaged audience.
By actively participating in the Pinterest community, businesses can build connections with influencers, brands, and potential customers. Engagement not only helps to build credibility but also increases the visibility of a brand’s own pins.
Conclusion
Marketing on Pinterest can be incredibly rewarding for businesses, but only if they understand the platform’s unique characteristics and align their strategy accordingly. The mistakes outlined here—ranging from poor visuals to inconsistent posting and ignoring analytics—are all too common, but they are avoidable with the right approach.
To succeed on Pinterest, businesses must prioritize high-quality, search-optimized content, engage with their audience consistently, and leverage both organic and paid strategies. By paying attention to these factors and avoiding the pitfalls of poor marketing, businesses can unlock the full potential of Pinterest and drive significant traffic, brand awareness, and sales.
Pinterest is a dynamic platform, and success requires continuous learning, adaptation, and optimization. For businesses willing to invest in a thoughtful, well-rounded Pinterest strategy, the results can be remarkable.