One of the big problems with Pinterest is that there’s lots of well-meaning but not always accurate information out there. That’s why experienced marketers turn to specific people to get the best information and be sure that they are following best practices. There are also some really common mistakes that people continue to advise beginners to make. Here are 5 mistakes marketers make with Pinterest that you can easily avoid.
Mistake 1: Treating Pinterest like a social media site
This is the easiest mistake to make because there are some social media elements to Pinterest. There are comments and followers and even groups (boards). Google Analytics even lists it under the social tab but it is always important to remember that Pinterest isn’t a social media site.
Instead, it is a visual search engine, a search and discovery platform. It is more like Google search than Facebook, despite those social media style features. Therefore, it is important to approach it like a search engine with things like keywords being front and centre of what you do.
Mistake 2: Focusing on monthly views
The monthly views figure is prominently featured on your profile when you look at the saved or created tabs. So it is logical to think it is an important metric that you should track. Lots of people get excited by reaching a million or other milestones with this figure.
But the reality is that it tells you little about how your account is really doing. That’s because it is based on the whole account including any content from other people. And the view is like an impression – it means the pin has appeared on someone’s screen. But it doesn’t mean they took notice of it, clicked it for a closeup, or clicked the pin. Because we are focused on clicks o the website, the monthly views figure doesn’t tell you anything useful.
Mistake 3: Stressing about follower numbers
This is another carryover from social media marketing – being stressed about follower numbers and focusing on growing it, without any context. After all, more followers are good, right?
Wrong! Followers who are interested in your stuff, will repin your pins and click your links are good. People who save your pins to their boards are brilliant. But just random people who inflate a number but never interact with your content aren’t helping at all. So don’t stress about increasing followers, focus on improving your SEO and getting more clicks.
Mistake 4: Not doing keyword research
This one applies to both Pinterest and organic traffic. If you don’t do your keyword research, you run the risk of using the wrong words, and people can’t find your stuff. Now there are no dedicated tools to do keyword research on Pinterest like there are for Google search. But you can look at terms in the search bar and see what long-term and associated keywords appear.
Plus if you are researching keywords for SEO, there’s a good chance these will work on Pinterest just the same. Remember, visual search engine!
Mistake 5: Expecting quick results
With SEO we are taught that it takes 12-18 months at least for Google to trust our sites and start to send consistent traffic. But people often expect Pinterest to be much quicker. While it can be, it still takes a good amount of time to get that consistent traffic.
Most experts will say that you need at least 3-6 months of consistent pinning with quality pins and content to start to see good results. Sometimes it can be longer if you are in a very saturated niche. But lots of people get disheartened when they’ve been pinning for a few weeks and nothing happens.
Don’t fall into that trap – start with the knowledge that it takes time.
Avoid these common mistakes
Mistakes are a natural way of learning and there’s nothing wrong with them. But you can avoid these common mistakes with Pinterest marketing and you can enjoy the benefit of others who have made them and bounced back to get ahead with your efforts.
If you are working on building your blog Pinterest profile, make sure you check out these other great tips.
