14 min read
When Pinterest first arrived on the scene back in 2010, it was hailed as a revolution in social media. However, people soon discovered that Pinterest was not only a fun social media platform, but also a powerful marketing device. This was because the popularity of Pinterest allowed it to quickly gain “authority” with Google and the other search engines which in turn made it a remarkable tool for SEO.
Since its introduction, many online marketers and business gurus have been coming up with ways to use Pinterest to fuel their SEO efforts in addition to using it as a component in their overall social media marketing strategy. Despite this, one thing still remained up in the air and was rarely addressed by any of these experts; the best time to post on Pinterest.
As the years passed and more data was collected, the answer to this question started to become apparent. Just like in the past when data revealed the best time to post on Twitter and other social media platforms, a clearer picture of the best time to post on Pinterest began to reveal itself.
That said, there’s much more to being successful with Pinterest than just knowing what time to make posts on it. The same reasoning applies to all social media. By first understanding Pinterest, one can then understand why posting at certain times is advantageous.
FACTS: As of the Quarter 4 of 2019, Pinterest has more than 335 million monthly active users. Additionally, 90% of weekly pinners have used Pinterest to make a purchase. (SMA Marketing)
The Power of Pinterest
Pinterest is a social media platform, but it’s unlike many other platforms in a variety of ways. In fact, Pinterest was one of the first image based social media platforms. Though it often gets compared to Instagram which was created around the same time, Pinterest is the better platform for businesses looking to promote themselves, and for SEO purposes in general.
The reason Pinterest is such an SEO powerhouse is not only because it has a high “authority” with Google and the other search engines, but also because Pinterest users are very devoted to their topics of interest. Take a look at these referral statistics:
(Image credit: Parse.ly)
On top of this, Pinterest makes it easy to link each post, called a “pin,” to a website. This is another factor that makes it superior to Instagram for business and SEO purposes. As long as a business isn’t just using Pinterest to spam, and treats it like a legit marketing strategy, they can really boost their SEO efforts very quickly using it.
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The Pinterest Demographic
One thing to keep in mind when it comes to Pinterest is the fact that its demographic is 66% female. The age range is 25 to 54, and 40% of them have a household income of over $100k. This means that using Pinterest as a marketing tool can have somewhat of a narrow focus. However, it also means that anyone trying to reach this demographic has an excellent platform to do it on since Pinterest gets 200 million monthly users on average.
The most amazing thing about the Pinterest demographic is that 93% of Pinterest users use the platform to plan purchases, and 87% have actually purchased a product because of Pinterest. This means that the opportunity for lead generation on the platform is extremely high, but only among the somewhat narrow Pinterest demographic.
If a business’s demographic doesn’t match well with the Pinterest demographic, it doesn’t mean that Pinterest is useless to them, but it does mean that their focus will likely be mostly on SEO, not lead generation. Pinterest is a powerful SEO tool regardless of a business’ key demographic.
FACT: There were 600 million Pinterest Lens searches in February 2018. This means, you can mostly likely find a lens to fit your business goals.(SMA Marketing)
Pinterest and Website SEO
Social media has gone hand in hand with SEO since its inception. So much so that search terms like “best times to post on Pinterest 2021,” “best time to post on Facebook 2021,” and “best times to post on social media 2021” have become extremely popular search terms. Everyone wants to know how to best use social media to promote their business, and give their website a boost in the search engine rankings.
Search engine optimization consists of many factors; some on-page, some off-page. Generally speaking, off-page SEO is all about getting backlinks from popular sites that have high “authority.” This makes getting links from social media platforms a big deal, but there’s more strategy in doing this than just spamming a social media platform with links to a website.
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The first thing to do when it comes to Pinterest SEO is to either create a business account, or convert a personal account into a business account.
This will provide access to analytics and the Pinterest ad manager. The username can be SEO optimized by being something that the desired demographic is searching for, or it can just be the name of the company if branding is more important to their overall strategy. The profile should also be optimized in a similar fashion.
There is also a neat trick that can be done with the “Save Button.”
This is a small piece of code that allows users to save pictures of the app or websites they visit to their own Pinterest boards. Think of it like this: A Pinterest user clicks on an image they like, then clicks through to the website that image is linked to. They then use the save button to take images of that site and pin it on their own board. Anyone running a business website should be able to see the huge marketing potential with this.
When to Post On Pinterest
If a person was to perform a search for “best times to post on Pinterest 2021,” the answer that they’d likely find would be 8 to 11 PM (EST). The reason for this is because 80% of the US population is concentrated in the Eastern and Central time zones, meaning that businesses looking to use Pinterest to reach this demographic should be using the platform during these hours.
However, this still leaves some questions unanswered, such as why this time is so popular. The reason for this is the fact that Pinterest actually has a rather large international audience, and gets a lot of international traffic. This can be beneficial for businesses that do business globally.
It is also worth mentioning that the best day to post on Pinterest is Saturday. This makes it an ideal platform for B2C businesses since consumers will be freed up on the weekend and won’t be burdened with work. However, this can be a drawback for B2B businesses since that audience tends to be in the right mindset to make purchases during work hours.
As far as what times are best to post on other social media platforms, it all really depends on the demographic, same as with Pinterest. Quick searches for terms like “best time to post on Facebook 2021,” “best time to post on Twitter,” and “best times to post on social media 2021” will turn up the following results:
- Twitter – Wednesday and Friday at 9 A.M.
- Facebook – Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from noon to 3 P.M.
- Social Media in General – Depends on the platform
Why Social Media Isn’t For Selling
When people hear about the amazing marketing potential of Pinterest they sometimes get carried away and begin trying to use it as a selling platform. While it is true that most of the Pinterest user base will use the platform to make purchasing decisions, using Pinterest to go for a “hard sell” isn’t the right strategy.
Regardless of the statistics, most people don’t get on Pinterest because they want to be sold to. The same can be said for all social media. Keeping this in mind, a business serious about their Pinterest strategy will instead use the platform as an outlet for branding and lead generation through positive interactions and engagement with their demographic.
This being the case, a business will also want to apply this mindset to their linking strategy. Not every link from every pin on Pinterest should be going to paid offers. People will get sick of that very quickly, and come to see the brand as one that’s pushy and focused only on sales. Instead, a business should link to useful content that gradually introduces people to their brand, and gently moves them down the sales funnel. This will allow them to establish their brand as one that’s worthwhile to engage with, and not one that’s always going for the quick sale. Here’s a great example of the Pinterest sales funnel from Anastasia Blogger:
Another strategy is to make sure that the content that is posted on Pinterest is something that people will want to share. This is a very important factor when it comes to getting as many eyes on a brand as possible. It will also increase a business’ chances of going viral, which is of course a best case scenario since it will lead more people into their sales funnel.
We hope that you found this article useful.
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Enhancing a Brand with Pinterest
Another thing that separates Pinterest from Instagram is the fact that while Instagram is for sharing and curating content that others have made, Pinterest is for sharing one’s own content. This makes it the superior platform for branding. This of course has great potential for business purposes especially among businesses that need to strengthen their brand.
There are many strategies that can be used to further one’s goal of branding their business, but perhaps the strongest is to focus content on the needs/wants of the Pinterest demographic. For example, a company that sells pet supplies can focus on offering useful information such as how to house train pets, pet health, and other related topics. This is a much better angle than simply posting pins of their products and hoping that someone shopping for them will give them a click.
This isn’t to say that a business shouldn’t use product based pins. In fact, not doing so can be a huge missed opportunity. However, this should not be over done or it will look disingenuous, and will ultimately be a poor reflection on the brand itself.
Another benefit to the “helpful” approach is the fact that it will make a brand look knowledgeable and trustworthy. Building up respect and trust among one’s demographic is huge, and will lead to more sales in the long run. This is because people want to do business with those they like, know, and trust. That’s why it’s best to try and build up a positive reputation first, then go for the sale once people are comfortable with the brand.
FACT: 33% of marketers use paid advertising to increase their brand awareness. (HubSpot)
Since conversions are much easier once trust and respect have been established, this method will also help reduce a business’ marketing budget since they won’t have to work so hard for the sale later. Even better is the fact that once people start to spread the word about the brand, a business will essentially be receiving free marketing as people tell their friends and family about them.
Following Up on Pinterest Marketing
As mentioned earlier, Pinterest is great for SEO. However, SEO needs to be focused and the link juice that a business gets from Pinterest must be used intelligently. What this means is that one needs to be strategic with the pages they link to, and think about how this will affect their sales funnel.
For example, a pet supply company may post a cute pin that links back to a blog post on how to get a puppy to learn to roll over. The link and clicks will help with SEO for that page and will boost its ranking in google, but there is no point if that page doesn’t fit into that company’s sales funnel. For example:
What this basically means is that each and every link that one posts on Pinterest should have a clear goal and every link to every page should have some kind of call to action. It could be asking the reader to join a mailing list, sending them to a product page, or even offering them a freebie of some kind. It just depends on the nature of the sales funnel.
A sales funnel should also have no dead ends, and this applies to Pinterest marketing as well. Once the Pinterest link juice starts to kick in and a company’s web pages start to make their way up the rankings in Google and the other search engines, they’ll begin to see more traffic. They should prepare for this by making sure that each of their pages leads visitors deeper into the sales funnel, and ultimately towards making a sale.
This may be a little different for blogs that rely solely on ad revenue though. Instead of leading visitors down a sales funnel, it’s important to make sure that each page and blog posts links to related content. The longer a blog is able to keep people on it’s pages, and on the site in general, the more likely they will be to click an ad.
Other SEO Factors to Be Aware Of
In addition to making sure that one’s sales funnel or linking strategy is ready for the influx of Pinterest traffic, there are other SEO factors that will need to be looked at as well. This is because SEO is made up of many different factors that all work together to determine how a website is ranked by Google. Getting link juice from Pinterest is great, but it should be a part of a larger overall SEO strategy.
For one thing, a site should be mobile friendly if it plans on getting traffic from Pinterest. This is because 85% of Pinterest users are on mobile devices. If a website isn’t optimized for mobile, most people who get to it from Pinterest will quickly click off as it won’t display correctly. It is also worth mentioning that with Google’s new Mobile First Indexing, any site that isn’t mobile friendly will automatically be penalized.
FACT: 39% of smartphone users are more likely to browse or shop a company or brand’s mobile app because it’s easier or faster to make a purchase. (HubSpot)
SEO factors such as load times, site navigation, meta data, and image descriptions should also be taken into consideration as well. Weakness in any of these areas can lead to poor user experiences which will negatively affect a site’s ranking in the search engines.
Being Successful with Pinterest SEO
Ultimately Pinterest is a powerful tool for branding, lead generation, and of course SEO. Understanding Pinterest, and knowing what to post and when, will certainly be a powerful part of any online marketing strategy, and can give many companies that little something extra they need to take their business to the next level.
However, being successful with Pinterest also requires a company to truly understand how branding works, and how social media plays its role in a branding effort. Many businesses get it wrong with Pinterest, and social media in general, when it’s easy to get it right.
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FAQ’s
Yes! Simply tap the pencil icon next to “Schedule Date Immediately”. Select and schedule a date and time up to 2 weeks in advance. Make sure you know your demographic and are choosing the times they would most likely see it.
You are allowed to schedule only one pin at a time, however, you can have up to 30 pins scheduled to go out. You can still edit the pins and choose to publish them immediately rather than waiting.
First off, open your app on your mobile device and find the plus icon. This will usually be at the bottom of the screen, tap this button. Tap Pin next, select an image from your gallery that you want to pin. Tap next. Add any title, description and/or destination website. Select which board where you want your pin published. This will automatically save it to that board.
YES! It is free and takes a quick minute or two to create a new business profile on Pinterest. From there, you can add a board (or several). Start pinning and attracting traffic to your website. Easy and FREE!
- Go to your account
- Click on analytics on the top left corner
- Select overview
- You’ll be able to see demographics on your audience. Get to know them.
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