Top tips for picking up more Pinterest followers

We all want more followers on social media – more Facebook likes, more Instagram followers, more Twitter followers and of course, more Pinterest followers. Because it is such a visual medium, Pinterest is an incredibly attractive prospect for many brands with the prevailing theory that a picture is worth a thousand words holding strong. After all, why tell someone why they should buy your product if you can actually show them?

The trick of course is building up a network of followers and with so much competition, getting to grips with the intricacies of just how to get new followers, can be a something of a drain on creativity and time. The good news is that you’re probably already doing what you need to do to get more followers on Pinterest. You just need to adapt the way you do it.

Start thinking outside of Pinterest

You wouldn’t dream of not having your Facebook link or a Twitter badge on your website. And you probably also have a Facebook and Twitter icon in your email footer. You already know how to do those things and know that they work. Get the Pinterest badge and add to those same places to start spreading the word about your presence on site. It will also make it easier for your customers to find you and follow you, leading them directly to your Pinterest door rather than letting them fend for themselves and potentially losing them to competitor boards along the way.

You can get the Pinterest badge and other similar tools by going to http://about.pinterest.com/goodies/ and downloading the widget.

Be more specific with your boards

It’s incredibly frustrating to go to a store and not be able to find what you need. Imagine cleaning products mixed in with the vegetables and pet food located in the coffee isle. The same applies to Pinterest. If you’re making your boards too general, viewers will find it difficult to process the confusion and hone in on what they are looking for. Create very specific boards and visitors are more inclined to follow you for the simple reason you give them what they are looking for with the minimum of hassle.

Start setting your boards out like that grocery store with specific boards for each category and type of product.

Follow People

You will already have applied the Twitter principle of follow people and they will follow you back with your Pinterest page. Considering who you are following and making a small adjustment can lead to more followers. You’ll still want to follow customers, suppliers, the majority of people who follow your boards and boards relevant to your industry but brand out. Follow big brands and popular accounts some of the time too. If just one of them repins an image you post or follows you back, you’ve created a direct link between their masses of followers and your own.

Use keywords

You already know that keywords are important for SEO and you may already be including keywords in your descriptions. Follow it through by including keywords not just in descriptions or titles, but in both. Make it easy for Pinterest users to find your boards in search by optimizing your written content. The more relevant your pin to their search, the more likely you are to increase your follower numbers.

Be On Trend

If you’ve ever posted with a hash tag on Twitter or kept an eye on its trending topics, extend that knowledge to Pinterest. Keep an eye on what’s hot by monitoring that twitter list and Google’s search trends. Be aware of what people are looking for, talking about and sharing and then post pins on that trending topic for a traffic surge.

As a general example, you may have wished your Facebook fans and Twitter followers a Happy Valentine’s Day. You could post that same message with a relevant picture and keyword on Pinterest.