You’ve likely heard the buzz… 🐝
A relationship coach you’ve chatted with in a Facebook group is getting leads for her programs using Pinterest.
A woman in your mastermind sells an Instagram course – and credits Pinterest with growing her list to 3,000 subscribers this year.
The brand designer who produces your favorite podcast? She’s mentioned it too! She’s leveraging Pinterest to get 1:1 clients…
But… Pinterest marketing is still a mystery to many brilliant online business women. (And maybe you’re one of them!)
Because, frankly… the strategies are not obvious – and not being discussed as much as social media platforms.
So, it’s still not quiiiiite clear for YOU how Pinterest (the platform we love for recipes, wedding planning, and decor ideas!) could be leveraged to make money in YOUR business, right?
(After all, you’re not a food blogger or an Etsy seller…)
And yet… you know these others in your space are using Pinterest to market their courses, services, and coaching programs.
Well, I have exciting news… What you’re hearing is true!
When set up strategically, Pinterest can be a highly effective, low-maintenance (and free!) way to generate targeted leads and grow your email list.
(Pssssst…. If you want to learn how this is done, you’re in the EXACT right place. 🙂 I will warn you… This post is a liiiiitle longer than my usual posts, because I want to be comprehensive. I promise – if you stick with me – you’ll walk away with some invaluable knowledge and inspiration!
That being said, if you learn better by watching and doing, you can skip the post and enroll in my e-course – Pinterest with Purpose – at this link! In it, I’m teaching you aaaalll the steps to get set up right – including how the keywords work!)
✅ So – Yes, online course creators can capitalize on Pinterest to grow a list of action-taking course buyers.
✅ Coaches and service providers can generate targeted leads using the platform.
✅ Online experts in all niches can leverage Pinterest to expand their audiences and drive traffic to their content and opt-ins.
Sounds amazing, right? (It totally is… I promise!)
… Take Sara, for example, whose Pinterest account I set up. She messaged me recently to tell me that she booked yet another client discovery call from Pinterest… (P.S. – the first one signed on to her 6-month 1:1 coaching program!)
… Or my client Kaye (a course creator and brand strategist), who is gets about 2600 targeted visitors every month from Pinterest to her website and lead magnets – on auto-pilot:
… Or my client Lisa, who 10x’ed her website traffic, and experienced ideal clients reaching out about her coaching packages – almost immediately after we set up her profile.
Are you excited, seeing these results?
I know! It’s super exciting… You want in on this powerful marketing strategy… and you need to know how it works.
Well, Dear Reader, I’ve got you. 😉
Because, in this blog post series – The 4 Pillars of Pinterest Success – I’m digging into the details of exactly *how* Pinterest works to build your business – and make you money. So read on!
Note: As we review my framework, keep in mind that my Free Pinterest Marketing Masterclass can fill in some gaps for you. In it, you’ll learn the basics… five things that will make Pinterest marketing (and keywords) make so much more sense! 😉
Add your name and a good email below, and you’ll get free access!
A Note About My Approach to Pinterest: Keeping it Simple.
While Pinterest (like any visibility platform) is sophisticated – you can keep it simple and be successful.
There are always new ideas you could try… new features to learn about… new ways to use Pinterest. (I like to leave those to the early adopters – and then learn from them before I tackle a new tactic!)
But – and this is critical – no matter how much the platform has evolved and added features, etc… I’ve found that there are FOUR pillars of lead generation and list building success. And those pillars stay the same.
And, if you prioritize them – and avoid getting distracted by other Pinterest features, ideas, and strategies that simply aren’t that critical – you will see results with Pinterest.
Those 4 Pillars of Pinterest Marketing Success are:
1) Keywords;
2) Visuals that convert;
3) Consistency; and
4) Time
In this post, I’ll be covering what you need to know about Keywords – the first Pillar. In future posts, I’ll be outlining the other three Pillars – Visuals that Convert, Consistency, and Time.
Let’s dive into Keywords. Ready? (I know you are!)
So, let’s go…
The First Pillar of Pinterest Success is: Keywords.
So, we know that you can grow your list and generate leads on Pinterest. But, you don’t want just any old person on your list, right?
There are 400+ million people (and growing) on Pinterest every month – but they’re not all your people!
You want the targeted prospects to discover you there and get into your orbit.
What do I mean by “targeted?” Targeted prospects are people who:
- are already interested in what you offer – through your content, your freebies, and your paid services and products.
- fit your “ideal client” profile.
- would be likely to take action on your offers – both free and paid.
Another way to look at this: They are people who you want on your email list, in your Facebook community, consuming your content…
Let’s look at an example: My client Andi, the brilliant online dating coach.
Andi helps successful single women navigate the online dating landscape, use the experience of dating as personal development, and ultimately find their soulmates. Her blog posts, free guides, and paid coaching packages all help provide these results – for single women.
So, we want single, successful women who are interested in dating to discover Andi’s content on Pinterest.
If her Pinterest pins are being discovered by married women – or women who have no desire to date – then… well… Womp-womp.
They won’t be interested. They’ll likely scroll on by, and certainly not click the pin to learn more. And, even if they do click out of curiosity, and even opt-in to grab a lead magnet… having them on her list won’t serve Andi’s business.
So then, the question becomes… How can we get discovered on Pinterest by the *right* people? The *targeted* prospects?
Pinterest is a search engine, so we target our ideal audience with Keywords.
On Pinterest, the way to get discovered by the right people, and send you *targeted* traffic, is through your account’s keywording.
Pinterest uses keywords to match your content with peoples’ searches and interests.
So, when someone is searching for solutions and ideas, and your content and offers can help… she can discover the solutions you offer through your content, freebies, and paid services/products!
Right now, there is a woman (and likely dozens of women, in truth) searching on Pinterest for “what to write in an online dating profile..” or “photos for dating profile…” or something similar. We want Andi’s pins to surface in those searches.
(We also want her pin graphics to catch the pinner’s eye, convey a clear message, and incent her to click to Andi’s blog… but that’s the topic of another blog post!)
Keywords aren’t the “sexy” part of Pinterest. But the results they get you are sexy! 💋
The number one mistake that I see women making with their profiles?
They set them up BEFORE they are clear on their keyword strategy, and BEFORE they have actually conducted any keyword research.
And, I get it. I really do! Most online business women would rather cut right to the “fun” parts of Pinterest – curating and organizing boards full of pretty pins from other people… creating graphics in Canva… adding board covers…
Keywords aren’t the sexy part of Pinterest…. I know. (sigh…. 😉
But, you know what is sexy?
- a steady stream of quality, targeted leads – on auto-pilot.
- an email list that grows every day – even without you.
- an expanding community of action-takers who can’t wait to see what you offer next…
And… the security of knowing you have leads coming in all the time, and your list is growing every day… even when you step away from your business.
Yep, those Pinterest results are sexy – and can only be achieved with a real keyword strategy. So let’s talk about what that looks like… and how to properly keyword your Pinterest account – in 3 steps…
Want to reference this article later? Pin it to your “PINTEREST MARKETING” board on Pinterest! 📌 👇
How to properly “keyword” your Pinterest account – in 3 steps:
When working with clients – and teaching students my methods in my course – Pinterest with Purpose – I use the following three steps to keyword an account.
Keywording Step 1: Get clear on your keyword strategy.
This is really just a fancy way to say “Know who you are targeting on Pinterest.” ☺️
Who (exactly– be REALLY specific here) do you want to discover you on Pinterest?
- Mompreneurs with bigger-than-average families / 4+ kids?
- Corporate women executives who want to learn to meditate?
- Medical professionals who need help with resume writing and career / job searches?
- Gen Z-ers trying to get pregnant?
- New wedding photographers who want to get more clients?
Then, once you’ve determined who your ideal action-taking Pinterest audience is… Then we can move on and determine how to connect to them on the platform.
Keywording Step 2: Do your keyword research.
Find out what keywords (and keyword phrases) your ideal audience is actually searching on Pinterest – around the topics you create content about and help with.
Start by brainstorming a list of words and phrases that you think your ideal person is searching on Pinterest. Here are a couple of pointers for this step:
Remember to avoid jargon – and instead list words that your ideal person would be using.
For example, remember my client Andi from above? She might teach and coach about “dating mindset,” but I can tell you (because we’ve done the research!) that women aren’t searching for that. They are searching for “dating profile photo,” “where to find men to date,” and “dating profile examples.”
Meet your ideal person where she’s at. Solve the problems she thinks she has – not the problems you think she has.
Take for example, Melinda – my client who is a Messaging and Business Coach. She knows that her clients see huuuuuge results when she helps them to (finally!) stop being wishy-washy and nail their messaging. But no one is searching for “how to fix my messaging” on Pinterest. That’s not the problem they think they have. They are searching for “how to get clients,” “how to write blog headlines,” “how to write my website about page…” etc.
Next, once you’ve brainstormed your list of potential keywords, plug each one (one at a time!*) into the Pinterest search bar to see what’s actually being searched.
Note: Keyword research for Pinterest should be done in the Pinterest app itself – on desktop, ideally. Unlike for google or Youtube, there is (at this point) no third-party keyword research tool that offers anything you can’t access / do on Pinterest itself. (So don’t be fooled into buying a third-party app!)
Finally, once you have your researched list, go through it and decide which keywords and phrases are the highest priority for you – which you really want to rank for on Pinterest. I suggest you choose about 40 to 50+ to start.
Okay, before we move on to Step 3… I’m sensing you need a quick pep talk! 😉
So let’s take a sec and address the elephant in room here…. Yes, I know keyword research is tedious. Yes, I know it takes some time. But it’s a critical step… if you want your Pinterest profile to work hard for you – not just sit there looking pretty. 😉
AND, be encouraged! … Because you only have to do this once – or perhaps once a year or so! – and then you can move on to the more “fun” parts of the Pinterest strategy…
AND, this work is so worth it! Remember, those sexy results…. Picture targeted leads flooding your email list. Discovery calls booked while you’re at lunch with your mom. Waking up each day to course sales notifications… Yep. Soooo worth it.
*AND (Last ‘and’ I promise 😉 , if you prefer to have help doing this research, I offer an intensive session in which we do this together – so you can feel confident that you are setting a strong foundation for your account. You can book that here!)
Keywording Step 3: Keyword-optimize seven places on your Pinterest account.
Congratulations! You’ve done the heavy lifting.
You’ve determined who you want to find you on Pinterest…
You’ve determined what those people are actually searching for – around the topics that you teach and help with…
The last step is to add your researched keywords to four areas of your account.
When setting up Pinterest, many course creators, coaches and online experts miss some of the keyword real estate, so here’s a run-down of the FOUR areas you need to keyword:
- Your profile name
- Your Bio / “About Me” blurb
- Your board titles
- Your board descriptions
(Note: You’ll also add these keywords when creating pins – to 3 more places (7 total!)… your pin titles, pin descriptions, and pin graphic text overlays… So your keyword research is going to REALLY serve you well here!)
In Conclusion… Keywords are the crux of your Pinterest strategy.
Keywords are what connects you to your ideal, action-taking audience on Pinterest. The process that I described above is my tried-and-true method for this first of the “4 Pillars of Pinterest Marketing Success.”
The work on this pillar is high-leverage work, so invest time and thought into it… and then you can get to the more “fun” parts of your Pinterest strategy ;)… with the confidence that you’ve laid a solid foundation for your account.
Ready to learn more? If you’re an online coach or service provider, a great place to start is by learning my 5 Secrets for Using Pinterest to Get Clients.
In this free and valuable session, I’m pulling back the curtain on how to use Pinterest to get real results for your business.
You’ll learn how to…
- Ditch the overwhelm that comes from aaaaaallll the Pinterest advice you’re hearing.
- Know what to focus on – and what not to waste your time on – so you can generate a steady stream of quality, targeted leads for your offers.
- Set yourself up for long-term, consistent sales – and even for success with those passive income offers you’re planning!
- Figure out what your ideal clients are really searching for – and get them to pay attention to you – on Pinterest!
Ready? Sign up here – for FREE! Add your name and a good email address, and I’ll send you access immediately.
