The Road to a Winning Pin

Pinterest is the place to be if you’re in need of some inspiration and planning ideas. The image-based social media platform puts new, fresh content at the forefront of its consumer experience, meaning if you’re looking for trendy house inspiration (for example) you’ve lucked out. So how does one get good at the whole Pinterest thing, and produce good content? First, let’s clarify what a ‘pin’ is. A pin is an individual item, which is one of the many pins you’ll interact with on Pinterest during a single session. They’re sort of like bookmarks that users will employ to save the content that they like and enjoy. Each pin on Pinterest includes an image or a video, as well as a website link to your online store or website.

In creating a successful Pinterest pin, the main goal above all else is to produce visually attractive content. After all, it is a visual search engine! Pins that are eye-catching, interesting, or even just funny and cute will be more likely to be re-pinned by others. It is best practice to keep your pins on-brand, whether that’s being educational, aesthetically pleasing, or motivational, to name a few. So, set your brand-image from the get-go!

Let’s get into these 5 steps to pimp your Pinterest pins….

1. Vertical imagery

In terms of on-screen real estate, long and tall images or videos will always take up the most space on your screen. This is one of the most recommended tips out there, so take note. The optimal aspect ratio for long image and video pins is 1:2.1 and 1:2, respectively. Be aware that for standard, square, carousel pins etc, the optimal aspect will differ. I found a useful site here that lists what various pin aspects should be: http://ow.ly/MVLT50HQssJ

2. Image and video quality

With more and more of us using mobile devices rather than a desktop to scroll through Pinterest, we’re quite literally staring directly at the graphics. Three to four pins will usually show on the feed at once, or even just one singular pin if the user chooses to tap and enlarge it. To make your pins as appealing as possible, it’s vital they have a good resolution and avoid any stretching or pixelization.

3. Descriptive copy and keywords

When describing your pin, it’s important to use SEO-friendly, industry-specific words. This way, your content will successfully rank in search engines, thus optimising it. Don’t forget to share the most important information first, as this is what readers will see first. Pinterest allows up to 500 characters for a pin description, but descriptions of around 100 – 200 characters are usually perfect to draw the reader in, whilst also maintaining its brevity. Try to include a hook and a strong call-to-action if appropriate, but above all else make sure you’re using natural language when trying to fit in those keywords.

4. Write catchy titles and keep it inspirational

The official Pinterest statistics claim that 444 million of us use the platform every month to discover new ideas and ‘inspire their next purchase.’ This means one can presume that there will always be some customers out there that suit your content theme and will appreciate your work – AKA enjoy and save your pins! An engaging pin title is a chance to capture the audience, so it needs to be click-worthy. Think of it this way, the pin image or video is the ‘advert’ for your content and the pin title is the actual language that sells your service, idea and so on. Questions have been shown to work well, as well as phrases like, “The number ONE reason why you’re failing at…”

Some even say that including your brand name in the title (and description) are a good idea too. This way, if a pin has high amounts of re-pins and reshares and somehow becomes lost from its original source, users can see where it came from.

5. Be consistent

If you’re new to Pinterest then I don’t mean to scare you, but posting 15-25 pins per day has been recommended to experience maximum results. However, if this seems out-of-reach at the moment, rest assured that you’ll still be at an advantage if you’re posting on a weekly basis – it’s still fresh content being added to your profile.

It may be worth creating a weekly schedule specifically for Pinterest, to ensure that you’re staying on top of your game. This schedule could include content ideas, images, videos or even the optimal posting times for your audience.

I hope these tips will be useful in making the most out of your Pinterest pin creation. Remember that no one has it all figured out at the start, and even implementing just a couple of these tips is sure to pimp your Pinterest pins.

Happy pinning!

Eve Gokcen