How Pinterest Can Help Grow Your Wellness Business
It’s easy to overlook Pinterest. This visually-driven medium is no longer the new kid on the block, and some of it’s buzz has been stolen by trendier social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. But Pinterest is holding steady in the market with nearly as many users as Instagram, and has several important advantages over competitors:
Pins stick around longer: Chronological feeds like Twitter and Instagram push older content ever downward. Within the Pinterest world, a popular pin can circulate for years and years.
Pins are curated: Pinners follow specific boards and other pinners whose tastes align with their own. Pinterest’s algorithms further ensure that users are shown content related to their hobbies and interests. This means that when your pins float into someone’s feed, that person is already inclined to be interested in your work.
Pins are links: When created correctly, pins capture live links to individual web pages, blog posts, or other online content. This means each pin is a tiny, pretty portal leading directly to your blog post or Hey Marvelous sign up page!
Pins let others promote you organically: While you want to take an active role in growing your online wellness practice, you needn’t do it all single-handedly. When readers pin from your site, they are instantly and organically promoting your work. When those pins get re-pinned, the cycle of promotion continues.
Pins can go viral: The vast majority of pins you see on Pinterest are actually re-pins, which means the medium is something of a closed system. Each time a user re-pins your content, their followers can see your image and have access to your link. If just two of their users choose to re-pin your content, your reach grows exponentially.
Pinterest is a relatively apolitical space: While Facebook and Twitter feeds can be overtaken by political (and personal) arguments, Pinterest has remained a fairly peaceful, inspiration-focused space. This makes it ideal for wellness practitioners.
Most pinners are women. In fact nearly half of online women in America use Pinterest, while only 17% of men participate. This is great news if your wellness services target or appeal to women, but don’t be discouraged if you mainly work with men. Studies show that Pinterest is the most valuable social network for driving direct purchases. (Translation: Pinners are shoppers, primed to buy.) And since Pinterest activity is user-curated and interest-driven, the pinners who are exposed to your product-related pins are doubly likely to spend on your services.
CREATE PINTEREST-FRIENDLY IMAGES
Before we dive into best practices for using Pinterest itself, let’s talk about the images on your own website. You’ll need to do a little reverse-engineering to ensure those images are enticing to active pinners. To do this ...
Make your featured image a vertical one: Pinterest flows vertically and vertical images are more likely to get re-pins. Save your horizontal photos for mid-layout placement.
Overlay some text on your featured image: Include a headline, question, or call-to-action in text on top of your first photo. This will give users a hint about your content and a reason to click through. Pop your business name, logo, or URL into one of the bottom corners, too, to build brand recognition.
NAME YOUR IMAGES! Letting a photo titled image00089.jpg to be posted live on your website or blog is a crime. Name your images with a short, keyword-packed summary phrase related to the content they adorn. When those images are pinned, the image name is captured, saving the pinner the trouble of having to re-name or caption the pin. To further optimize your images, include keyword phrases in the title and alt text fields, too.
Create a consistent style for your images: This is another brand-building tactic that reinforces your visual identity. Use the colors and fonts present on your wellness website when creating your Pinterest-friendly images, and pick a layout style with some consistent visual elements.
HOW TO USE PINTEREST EFFECTIVELY AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
Convinced that you should be leveraging Pinterest as part of your online promotion strategy? Great! Here’s how to ensure your pins actively help grow your wellness practice.
Sign up for a Pinterest business account: Regular pinners aren’t quite as invested in metrics and stats, so a standard account is fairly stripped-down. Pinterest’s built-in analytics can help you refine and tailor your messages, so be sure to join as a business.
Install a “pin it” button: If you want readers to pin directly from your site, make it easy for them! Most platforms have installable plug-ins or simple settings that create a “pin it” graphic whenever site visitors mouse over your images.
Pin from a specific page or post, not your homepage: When you pin from a website, Pinterest captures whatever URL is in the search box. Since you want pinners to land on a specific page or blog post, make sure your pins originate from those specific pages.
Use gorgeous, visually enticing imagery: Pinterest is a visual medium, so make sure the images you use are compelling and beautiful in addition to being relevant. Here is our favorite resource!
Curate Pinterest boards that are relevant to your business: It’s totally fine to have a board dedicated to cute kittens or one that’s chock-full of craft ideas. In fact, doing so gives your followers a tiny peek behind the curtain at your personality and hobbies. But the bulk of your boards should be related to your business: Yoga poses, healing recipes, self-care practices, chakra work, HiiT workouts, wellness trends. This account supports your business, so focus its contents on your business.
Don’t just pin your own content: Use Pinterest as it’s meant to be used and gather up quality content from all over the web. Pin articles written by colleagues, infographics from reliable wellness sites, images from yoga teachers whose work you admire. If your Pinterest account does nothing but regurgitate items from your own site, followers will lose interest fast.
Be active on Pinterest: The more you pin, the more likely you are to be re-pinned. Create an active strategy to keep your boards brimming with fresh content. Pin from your archive, pin from your own blog reading list, and pin daily if possible (aim for 30 pins per day when you’re getting started). Tools like Tailwind are priceless for scheduling pins, and allow you to automatically pin the same content to multiple boards over time.
PINTEREST IS THE NEW GOOGLE
You may be reluctant to add yet another account to your long list of social media tasks, but consider this: A certain segment of the population is more likely to use Pinterest to seek out products, services, recipes, ideas, and inspiration than Google. Pinterest has become a steady, reliable source of referrals for countless bloggers, shops, entrepreneurs, and online personalities. And although it takes some strategy to use properly, Pinterest is one of the least labor-intensive social media platforms out there, and it can yield one of the highest returns-on-investment.
If you’re not ready to dive in with both feet, start small. Make sure your site includes a “pin it” button, and optimize your most recent 10 posts for pinning. Then start incorporating these other best practices as time allows. Once you do, you’ll be amazed by how quickly an active Pinterest presence will drive traffic to your website.
