If reaching beyond Facebook is your marketing vision for this year, and you’re leaning toward Pinterest marketing, you’re in the right place. Consider this: 

Pinterest has a world wide reach, and there’s no real way to target a certain zip code. So you should expect people from the other side of the country to find and want your product or service. Do you have the means to ship your candle to them? Or your newest coffee blend? Can someone in another timezone book your services? Is it reasonable for Pinterest users to visit you on vacation? If the answer is no, and you need to stay local, Pinterest isn’t for you. 

If you’re ready and willing to expand your reach (or you already have) keep reading. here’s some things you need to make sure you have in place for your physical business to flourish on Pinterest (and believe me, it can!)

1. You need your own website. One that you own and can tweak with ease. Building a website isn’t scary anymore and you can do it with no coding skills- it’s as easy as drag and drop. If you’re selling products, absolutely go with Shopify.com. For a service based business, I have fallen in love with Showit. 
2. On that website, you need to house your products or services. This could look like:
   1.  “add to cart”, or 
   2. book a call with you to custom order a baby blanket that you will later ship. 
   3. Or maybe you offer a service or course that you can deliver digitally. 
   4. Book time with you (think about an elopement photographer) 
3. You get major bonus points with Pinterest if you are willing to blog. Before you roll your eyes, hear me out. When you create pins, those pins have to link back to something on your website. You can see exactly how Pinterest works here: 

4. You need new, evergreen content. Evergreen content is content that doesn’t have an expiration date. Pinterest LOVES new content, and the easiest way to create new content without creating more products/services would be to blog about the things you already have. If you’re a photographer, you could do the top 5 outfit mistakes people make before family photos. Or if you have products, you could do the 5 most popular Christmas gifts in the shop. If you are in the tourism industry, odds are you’re already blogging, so 3 Places to Visit in NW North Carolina would be perfect. This give Pinners fresh content, helps you with your Google reach, AND keeps your current audience engaged. 
5. You need something to do with the people who visit your site from Pinterest, AKA a Lead Magnet. Let them read that blog post, or browse your products, but don’t let them leave without subscribing to your email list, opting in for your free resource, or getting that coupon code. Maybe you want them to follow you on Instagram, or join your private facebook group. You need a way to capture that lead and keep them in your audience after they leave. The “follow” button on Pinterest isn’t really relevant these days, so how will you keep Pinners interested in you? 

Do you think your business is ready for Pinterest? You can book a strategy call with me for a private 1:1 meeting where I walk you through the best way to get your business on Pinterest. We can talk about your website, what you’re lacking,  and what your next best steps would be. 

Happy Pinning,

Sarah