Optimize your pinterest profile - a step-by-step guide for Etsy sellers
Tired of hearing everyone tell you to "get on Pinterest"? I hear you! It's one of those really lame-o pieces of advice that people offer that-- while good in theory-- don't actually tell you anything. Like, okay, I'll "get on Pinterest," and now what?!?!?!?!
I'm here to help you figure out that "now what?!?!?!" bit ;)
You can't just hop onto Pinterest, pin a few recipes you like, some DIY craft products, and a biz article you want to read and then cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Well, you could, but you'll be hearing *crickets* instead of *cha-chings* (although, lack of sales = time to try out that recipe you just pinned. Silver lining to everything, folks ;)
But let's get real- Pinterest is ah-mazing for driving FLOODS of traffic to your Etsy shop, but you need to know how to use it right. As in-- probably not the way you're using it now ;) Pinterst strategy has an entire module about itself in Mastermind Your Marketing, so be sure to join the VIP wait list HERE :)
For now, I want to walk you through the FIRST step of optimizing your Pinterest marketing strategy-- which is optimizing your profile for CONVERSIONS.
Because here's the thing: You can have TENS OF THOUSANDS of followers, but if they're just following you for the recipes or craft tutorials you pin, they're probably *not* your target market (unless, of course, you sell cooking items or DIY craft kits. Then by all means, consider this my blessing to continue doing what you're doing :)
But for the grand majority of us, the followers we started out with personally on Pinterest? Not our target market.
So how do you actually *attract* the types of people interested in buying your stuff? Well, it all starts with a little somethin' somethin' called Pinterest profile optimization, which I'm going to walk you through right now. Basically, I want you to leave this blog post with a clear-cut idea of EXACTLY what you need to do to start attracting the RIGHT people to your Etsy shop via Pinterest :)
So let's get started!
Step 0: Create a business account.
Guys. This is so, so important. If you are using your personal Pinterest account for business, I want you to STOP—right now—and convert it into a business account stat.
Why a business account? Well, there are a dozen reasons, but access to analytics and promoted pins are at the top of my list ;) You’ll also get access to RICH PINS, which are pins that contain additional information (the bold text) about the pin itself (see examples below)
Optimized Rich Pin
Non-Rich Pin (boo.)
As an added perk, Rich Pins also have a higher ranking in the Pinterest Smart Feed algorithm (we go into all the factors of that algorithm inside Mastermind Your Marketing), so it's an automatic way to boost your pin score-- pretty much a no brainer ;)
How do you enable rich pins?
They're automatically enabled for any pins coming directly from your Etsy shop, so you don't need to do anything to enable them on that end. Cheers to that!
If you are pinning from your website/blog (which I highly, highly recommend you have as an e-commerce seller), you’ll need to enable them. Follow the instructions HERE (which explain the process far better than I ever could!) to make sure they're set up and ready to go.
Alright, now that you're all optimized for business, let's get the rest of your profile in tip-top shape!
Step 1: Your profile picture.
Alright guys—it needs to be said: Your logo is NOT a profile picture. Unless you’re a huge name-brand like Nike or Apple, I want to see your faceas your profile picture.
I know you may not be comfortable in front of the camera, but guess what? Neither am I :) This is one of those “suck it up and do it” times. You can absolutely grab your iPhone and snap a quick selfie (note- I HATE that word), or better yet—invest in some professional business profile photos. Trust me—once you have them, you’ll find a million and one reasons and places to use them. They are worth their weight in GOLD, I tell you :)
Quick tip- your Pinterest profile picture should be the same as your Instagram and Etsy profile pictures as well—it’s important to maintain brand consistency, my friend!
***BONUS TIP*** Take it one step further and add some on-brand personality to your photo! If you’ve got a certain vibe or product you’re known for, by all means, show it in the photo! Here are some examples of brands doing just that!*
Step 2: Your name
Now this seems easy—you probably just think you need to type your brand name, (ie- “Little Highbury,”) and be done with it—but not so; This area is optimized for SEO, and I want you to make sure you’re taking advantage of that itty-bitty bit of SEO real estate—so include your biz name first, and then some keywords.
Your Pinterest name is searchable, so having a keyword or two in it? A FANTASTIC way to capture people's attention.
Quick tip- if you’ve got a focus keyword for your Etsy shop that you’re trying to rank for, make sure that you are using it here!
So for the example above for Morgan Nield, you can see here I’ve got: Morgan Nield // Entrepreneur + Etsy Strategist
So again, I've got my business name (Morgan Nield) and then some keywords that I want to rank for (Entrepreneur + Etsy Strategist).
Step 3: Your website
This is a no-brainer, but let’s touch base on it because there are some different options here :)
As a default, you’ll probably put your Etsy shop URL here. And that’s okay—good, even! In fact, most of the time I would recommend that, especially if that’s where the bulk of your online presence is.
However.
If you have a separate website/blog that you’re hoping to build traffic to, I want you to put it here. Meaning, if you’re on Etsy now, but you’re trying to build up your own Shopify/Squarespace/etc. store online, DON’T put your Etsy shop here—put your actual website :)
Quick tip – Link directly to your shop home page and not a specific product page. The only exception to this is if you’ve got a REALLY strong flagship product that you are known for almost exclusively—then you can link to that shop section. But as a general rule, linking to your shop home page = best option.
Step 4: Your Bio
Your bio. Oooooooh, your bio ;)
This is where it gets tricky because there is #somuchtosay, but only a small space to say it.
Basically? You’re going to want to condense your 30-second elevator pitch into about 5-10 seconds.
For this section, we're going to break it down into 2 parts:
The intro
The conversion
1- The intro
In the intro, I want you to use the first sentence to describe who you help. Don’t give your back story. Don’t link to your shop. Don’t just list what you sell. DESCRIBE WHO YOU HELP.
Bad example:
“My name is Morgan Nield and I sell baby headbands, baby hats, and swaddle blankets in my Etsy shop.”
Good example
“We help stressed new mommas incorporate beautiful design into their hectic schedules with whimsical baby accessories and products.
You want your target market to read that sentence and feel like you're speaking DIRECTLY TO THEM. This is not a time to sound formal and corporate-- infuse your brand's personality into your copy and show them that YOU are the brand they have been looking for!
2- The conversion
With traffic that lands on your Pinterest home page, we want to make sure you’re taking advantage of it—and it’s not lost traffic!
To do that, I want you to provide an opt-in incentive (or freebie) as a way for people to join your email list.
Then you'll be able tostart the “warming up” email marketing process—converting that casual browser into paying customer with a series of welcoming emails and pitch-free newsletters.
Quick tip - While it’s nice to have people click over to your Etsy shop from your Pinterest profile, it’s not likely in every case (as people aren’t always in the mood to browse a shop), however, if you provide a freebie incentive in your bio with a URL, you’re going to stand a MUCH higher chance of them clicking on it because there’s something in it for them; you’re not just asking them to buy your product—you’re giving them something designed to help them
You'll want to make sure your freebie helps your target market and NOT your competitor. For example, if you sell crochet wall art, creating a wall art pattern is NOT a good idea for a freebie—as you will attract people to your email list that already know how to crochet—and are therefore unlikely to purchase a crocheted item from you.
See what I mean?
Step 5: Your boards
Perhaps the most important factor of the equation ;) Your boards need to be focused on what your target market NEEDS and WANTS and is interested in.
If you’re like, “I have no idea what they want or need!”, then it’s time to take a step back and really hone in on and understand your target market. So stop, figure that out, and then come back to this article—I promise I’ll wait :)
Once you know exactly who you’re targeting, figuring out your Pinterest boards should be a piece of cake. Remember: you want all of them to resonate with and apply to your target market.
Here’s a quick breakdown on board creation that I recommend for product sellers (especially Etsy sellers):
(1) Sole product board
This board should be 100% dedicated to content pinned from your Etsy shop, your blog, or any other brand-specific content.
(5-10) product boards featuring your product + other products under the same category
This board should be a combination of your own product pins + others’ pins from Pinterest or the web. Follow the 80-20 rule for pinning- 80% of your pins should be other peoples’, 20% should be your own pins.
(5-6) customer interest boards
These boards are dedicated to catering to your customers’ interest and problems. These boards don’t generally contain pins from your Etsy shop, but they definitely *should* contain helpful content from your blog. However, the grand majority of content on these boards will be from other people and should be helpful to your audience.
(5+) group boards
You’ll want to make sure to add group boards to your Pinterest profile so you can be sure to get tons of eyes on your pins, even if you’ve got a grand total of 3 followers ;) I recommend using a tool like PinGroupie to find group boards relevant to your niche. Make sure these boards have high engagement, high repins, and are niche-specific (ie- “Etsy sellers only” group boards are horrible to join because they have no focus. You’d be much better pinning your jewelry on a “Women's summer fashion” group board instead)
Congratulations-- you've now got a fully-optimized Pinterest profile and are ready to start taking advantage of all the targeted traffic that will be heading your way!
How to start driving traffic with an optimized Pinterest account
So now the only question that remains: How will you actually *get* that targeted traffic? Because if you're just starting out, those 13 people you have following you probably aren't going to help you go viral quite yet....
Instead, you'll want to work on mastering the Smart Feed, which is something we go into MAJOR detail about inside Mastermind Your Marketing. But here are a few general guidelines to get you started:
Pin 50-100 pins per day
Be consistent in your pinning-- you need to be pinning every. single. day.
Make sure your pins have good, strong links; delete any broken linked pins
Keep your pins and repins on-brand
Include alt text and optimize each of your pins for SEO
There are quite a few additional factors that go into ranking you within the Smart Feed, and if you want to know *exactly* how to optimize your pins to show up higher and higher on Pinterest, you'll want to join the wait list for Mastermind Your Marketing (enrollment opens back up September 2017), which will walk you through step-by-step the process you need to follow to get your pins actually SEEN.
Any Pinterest tips you've found work well for your Etsy shop? Share them in the comments below! #communitybeforecompetition
xoxo, Morgan