The only thing constant in business, is change — especially when it comes to marketing. What worked last year doesn’t always translate to now. My favorite marketing platform, Pinterest, has changed a lot over the past few months. I’ve been testing different forms of content and am sharing the best pins for promoting a product business right now on Pinterest!
Learn to Love the Algorithm
I’ve seen so many people complaining about how Pinterest is no longer working for them. As a business owner, it is your job to pivot and be adaptable when these platforms change. Does it suck? Having to change up your strategy can feel uncomfortable, but it isn’t always a bad thing.
Whether it’s Pinterest, Etsy, Instagram, whatever, these businesses are constantly finding ways to give users a better experience. As someone utilizing these platforms for your own business benefits, it’s really in our best interests that users have a great experience too. It’s what keeps them coming back!
Change your mindset. Learn to love the algorithm. Have fun experimenting. Understand that change is inevitable. When you’re able to adapt, your content is going to stand out even more and the right people will find you.
Video Pins
It’s no secret that video content is king right now. I don’t think anyone is surprised, it was a slow move toward this and literally anyone who knew anything about marketing predicted it. Etsy is even starting to utilize video in their listings!
Pinterest has confirmed that they are prioritizing video pins over static pins. I also can confirm after months of experimenting that video pins are my top performers on the platform.
Creating video content for your product business might sound overwhelming. I promise it’s not.
You don’t have to pull out the production team, hair and makeup, or professional editing software to capture your products in action. Just use your camera, do a quick recording (Pinterest recommends a length of 6-15 seconds, but must be a least 4 seconds to upload), and bam! It can be really easy!
My top performing pin on Pinterest is SO SIMPLE and has almost 6k saves, or repins. I quickly recorded this as an Instagram story to show off a new design and then uploaded it to Pinterest. (For real, press play to see how not fancy this is!)
Yep, that’s it!
The best part? I’ve had people actually clicking over to my Etsy shop and buying this product! That’s always the true test of a pin’s performance, in my opinion.
My next best pin is also a video – another really simple, repurposed Instagram story. This boomerang turned pin has 2.6k saves alone.
You can make a short and sweet video showing off your product to use for Pinterest so easily. I’m challenging you to post one today!
TikTok Pins
After seeing the results of these simple Instagram story pins, I decided to upload some TikTok videos to Pinterest.
Note: I am not a TikTok expert, but am having so much fun on the platform. I’m so inspired by all the Etsy shop owners and other online businesses there, I wanted to try it out! You can check out my product business here and I just started an account for this blog, zero to biz, here!
As of now, I can’t comment on the long term results of these videos since the first one I pinned was less than a month ago. In that short time, I did see some immediate engagement but it dropped off pretty quickly (like within 24 hours!).
To be honest, my original video pins above didn’t take off immediately either so there’s still hope. It’s definitely enough of a response for me to keep experimenting with it. I’ll continue to repurpose my TikTok content and will report back with the results!
Blog Post Pins
One of my favorite ways to promote my product shop is by creating complimentary blog content. Since I design wedding invitations, there are plenty of topics to cover.
Whatever you’re selling, brainstorm ideas of how you can serve value to your buyers. One of my favorite ways to create blog post topics is by the questions I’m asked frequently. You can also write about the process, behind the scenes, do a round up of products, how to take care of it, etc!
Brainstorming ideas is one of my favorite things to do, so if you think you don’t have anything to blog about, leave your product in the comments and I’ll give you a topic!
On Pinterest, I’ve found the best blog post pins are the controversial topics. The “no kids” pin has almost 1.4k clicks to my website — IN THE LAST 30 DAYS. I’m sure there are bloggers out there getting that traffic daily, or even hourly, but for me that traffic coming from one pin is really outstanding.
This one about “mistakes” used to be my top pin. It’s a little older and has slowed, but still does well. I think people see it and are immediately clicking over to my website because they’re curious about the content.
What issues in your niche are somewhat controversial and how can you turn these into Pinterest content?
Informational Pins
Along with blog content, think about turning a frequently asked question into an informational or infographic pin. One major issue with my niche, wedding invitations, is people often inquire to order them too late. I wanted to educate couples on when they should order and mail, so created this infographic. It did so well I updated it with new colors (Pinterest loves a fresh pin!) and both have done really well.
Although this one technically links back to a blog post, I would consider it informational! Wording is always a big question when ordering wedding invitations, so I created a post about it I could send to my clients. Turned it into a pin and ta-da, instant traffic!
Experimenting with Pinterest
Every business and audience is a bit different, but these are the best type of pins for my product business right now.
To get to these top pins, there have been LOTS of flops. Every Pinterest fail is feedback on what doesn’t resonate, which is super valuable! It gives me insight on what to create next. Don’t give up if you don’t see results immediately!
I’m challenging you to try at least one today and see what type of engagement you get!
Need some help starting your Pinterest business account? Check out Begin to Pin, my course for online business owners who want to grow traffic to their shop. I’ll walk you step-by-step through setting up, strategizing, and growing your Pinterest account!
Want some help with your existing Pinterest? Book a one-on-one strategy call with me! I’ll look through your account, offer suggestions, and work with you to create a personalized Pinterest plan that helps you grow your biz!