Weekend Warrior: 5 Powerful Pinterest Tips

Having a strong Pinterest presence is important for brands, especially as the holiday season approaches. After all, Pinterest is the go-to social network for sparking gift ideas, and Piqora data shows that referral traffic from Pinterest continues to grow at a significant pace.

To obtain some of that referral traffic, brands must position themselves as a must-follow "pinner" on the social network. Even though it can take time to build authority and increase engagement rates on Pinterest, there are a few things that brands can do to create a stronger presence on the social network in just a couple days. To get started, check out this edition of Website Magazine's Weekend Warrior, with five powerful tips to help brands strengthen their presence on Pinterest.

1. Be Informative

It is important for brands to optimize the about section of their Pinterest profile for multiple reasons. Not only does this section provide potential customers with valuable information about the brand, but it can also influence their decision to follow the brand.

To optimize your brand's about section, make sure to write a description that informs visitors what kind of business your brand is and what kind of products and/or services it offers. It is also important to include keywords in this section, as these words will help visitors decide if they want to follow your brand or not. Take Martha Stewart Living as an example. The brand keeps its about section short and to the point, as well as includes keywords like "recipes" and "crafts" so consumers know exactly what kind of content they can expect to see in their home feed if they decide to click the follow button.

2. Plan Board Placement

When someone arrives at your brand's Pinterest page, the boards that are featured above the fold are going to be another influential factor in their decision to follow. This is why brands should place their most popular boards ahead of ones that aren't as popular. Similarly, a brand can position its boards that coincide with a time-sensitive campaign - like holiday gifts or Thanksgiving recipes - ahead of ones that do not.

Whole Foods, for instance, persuades consumers to hit follow by featuring mouth-watering boards like "Who wants dinner?!" and "The Fabulousness of Fall" above the fold. While the Fabulousness of Fall board is a good choice because it is relevant to the current season, the Who wants dinner?! board is likely a fan favorite. This makes it a better feature choice than some of Whole Foods' other boards, such as "Delicious Art," which can be found by scrolling further down the page. For help deciding which boards your brand should feature above the fold, try leveraging Pinterest Analytics for insights into your brand's best performing content and then organizing your board placement accordingly.

3. Get to Know your Niche

One of the biggest challenges for many brands is finding content to post that will be engaging for their audience. Fortunately, Pinterest's Analytics offering provides such insights. In fact, the Analytics dashboard provides brands with a visual look into the topics their followers like. Brands can leverage this insight to tailor their content strategies to subjects that will resonate better with their audience.

Moreover, it is important to note that Pinterest spruced up its discovery functionality this year, making it easier for users to find new and unique content. Because of this, brands can learn more about the type of content audience members within their niche are interested in by visiting the social network's menu bar and using the Guided Search feature. For instance, a pet store owner could choose the "Animals" category in the menu bar, and then choose more specific sub-topics, such as "Fish" or "Pet Care" via the Guided Search functionality. By doing this, brands can get an idea of the type of pins that are being posted within their niche and optimize their pinning strategies accordingly. Moreover, this strategy can help brands find industry influencers, which brings us to tip number four.

4. Interact with Influencers

Just like on other social networks, it is valuable for brands to interact with industry influencers on Pinterest. This can be done by simply following influencers and engaging with their content (liking, repining and sharing). Doing so will make these consumers more likely to engage with your brand's content, which will increase your brand's visibility on the social network.

5. Launch a Contest

Perhaps the best way to increase engagement on Pinterest is by launching a contest. Although this tip may take a longer than a weekend to implement, it is certainly something that brands can get the virtual ball rolling on.

Platforms like Piqora, for example, can be leveraged to help brands grow their audience and increase engagement on Pinterest via social contests. In fact, Piqora helps brands develop contest concepts, create customized landing pages and measure contest engagement. Launching a contest is a quick way to strengthen a brand's presence on Pinterest, and can be a great way to attract attention on the social network during the upcoming holiday season.