avatarLouis Petrik

Summary

The website content discusses the benefits of using Pinterest as a platform for writers to promote their content, emphasizing its potential for external traffic, content creation practice, and long-term audience engagement, particularly among female users.

Abstract

Pinterest is presented as an underutilized social media platform that offers significant advantages for writers looking to promote their content. The article highlights that Pinterest functions as a search engine, providing a source of external traffic due to its high search engine optimization and authority. It is also likened to a "gym for content creation," where the high volume of content allows writers to learn what is effective and hone their creative skills. The platform's ability to drive consistent traffic over time is noted as a key benefit, in contrast to other social media platforms where content has a shorter lifespan. Additionally, the article points out that Pinterest's user base is predominantly female, which can be advantageous for content targeted at women. The article concludes with practical steps for writers to get started on Pinterest, including creating a business account for better analytics and using tools like Canva for designing pins.

Opinions

  • The author believes that Pinterest is often underestimated by most people, despite its potential for content promotion.
  • Pinterest is considered to have a growing male user base, expanding beyond its traditional female-dominated audience.
  • The platform's competitive nature is seen as beneficial for content creators, as it encourages them to improve their content strategy and creativity.
  • The author suggests that writing content and creating pins share similarities, such as the need for a compelling headline and cover image.
  • Pinterest's long-term traffic and attention for content creators are highlighted as distinct advantages over platforms like Twitter, where content quickly becomes buried.
  • The author recommends using a business account on Pinterest for access to more detailed statistics and the ability to create paid ads.
  • The use of hashtags and alt text in pins is encouraged for better visibility and search engine optimization.
  • The article implies that content tailored to Pinterest's predominantly female audience is more likely to succeed on the platform.

Social Media / Writing / Marketing

Why Pinterest Is a Great Platform for Writers To Promote Their Content

And how you can get started

Photo by Brett Jordan from Pexels

As a writer, you want to promote your content on social media.

Maybe you’ve already tried Quora, Twitter, and Facebook. I have also tried. Then I discovered a platform that most people totally underestimate.

Pinterest has been around for years and is predominantly used by women — but now the share of male users¹ is growing.

The platform still has a lot of potentials. It may no longer be just for women looking for inspiration. That’s exactly why I’ve taken a closer look at the site and use it as a writer.

Here are the benefits of Pinterest and how you can get started promoting your content.

A great source of external traffic

Pinterest is a search engine.

Just like on YouTube or Google, people search for specific content. The site does not just benefit from its registered users.

When you go to Google Images, pay attention to how many photos come from Pinterest.

Pinterest is well optimized for search engines & has high authority — your content can benefit from this.

Thanks to possible links behind each pin, Google users can become your readers. The search engine traffic is one of the decisive reasons for the long-term views of your pins.

Pinterest is a gym for content creation

There is immense competition on Pinterest.

It’s like a cross between Twitter and Instagram — posts with Instagram quality, in the number of tweets. Feel free to pin 8 times a day; it’s not sinning there.

The strong competition and a high number of posts have a great advantage for content creators: they can learn what works well and what doesn’t.

That’s why I like to think of Pinterest as a gym — it’s set up ready for you to exercise your creativity muscle.

  • Creating pins is easy; you can get started very quickly.
  • You can immediately get impressions on your pins and do not have to build up followers first.

Believe it or not, writing content and creating pins can be very similar.

A pin can also have a headline. A pin can also have a cover image. A pin is also about conveying something to the viewer.

Thanks to free tools like Canva, you can quickly create pins & try different things.

Pinterest’s statistics help you see afterward which pins are working well and which are not.

Get traffic from Pinterest

That’s the obvious one. Of course, Pinterest doesn’t just offer traffic from the outside.

On Pinterest, you can link to something on every pin. That’s not the case with every social media site.

The nice thing is that you get long-term traffic on your pin. Every day I see the views on my pins increase.

In the case of Twitter, for example, there is only an initial boost in views. Nobody will find your tweets from one year ago.

Pinterest, on the other hand, offers content creators long-term attention.

Something else is striking about Pinterest — the site’s audience is very homogeneous. While you can find all kinds of people on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, one group of people dominate Pinterest: women.

The share of female users is almost 70%².

As I said, the trend is changing, but currently, women dominate. For content creators, this can have advantages but also disadvantages.

The disadvantage is obvious: you won’t get far on Pinterest with “typical” male content.

However, content that is interesting for most women could work very well on the platform.

Instead of being a newsfeed (like Twitter), Pinterest is more like an archive of ideas. Even after months, someone will find your pin.

Let’s get you started on Pinterest

You can create an account very quickly. I recommend you choose a business account. The reason is simple.

Such an account doesn’t cost any money but offers you much more statistics on how your pins perform. Also, you can create paid ads with your business account.

Once you have an account, you can create your first pinboard.

A pinboard is a collection of pins. It can save your pins, but also those of other creators. Feel free to create a pinboard for each topic.

Pins are nothing more than pictures. There are several strategies for promoting your content through them:

  • Only one image with a link to the article. The image could be, for example, the cover image of the article.
  • Image + headline for the article to generate more attention.
  • Image + Content on the image. List posts are popular, things like “314 good reasons why you should take cold showers”.

Yes, creating a good pin requires a program to edit images. I use Canva, which is free and has several templates for Pinterest.

With the right tools, creating a pin is easy. But you should keep a few things in mind:

  1. You can use hashtags in your captions. How much they bring is controversial. My experience is that appropriate hashtags bring a few more impressions at the beginning.
  2. You can and should use alt text. Alt text stands for alternative text and helps search engines like Google understand what your image is about. So choose a suitable description to benefit from search engine traffic.
  3. There is an option to post at a later date. So don’t post 8 times within an hour, but try different times. Your target audience may be active at a completely different time than you.

Have fun pinning!

Sources

[1]: https://blog.hootsuite.com/pinterest-statistics-for-business/#:~:text=At%2060%25%20women%2C%20the%20gender,Pinners%20increased%20by%20nearly%2050%25.

[2]: https://blog.hootsuite.com/pinterest-statistics-for-business/

Pinterest
Social Media
Social Media Marketing
Writing
Blogging
Recommended from ReadMedium