How To Plan a Pinterest Promotion

Currently, there are more than 500,000 business accounts and 70 million users on Pinterest.

The question is: What makes Pinterest such an intriguing place for so many businesses?

Pinterest is a powerful tool for generating traffic. You can pin an image on Pinterest and link it back to any site you want.  You can attract an audience by using an inspiring picture and then complete the sale by using your website or custom landing page.

A business can also attract attention by running a Pinterest promotion.  Pinterest contests can be very effective and with careful planning, your contest can be a great success.

How To Plan a Pinterest Promotion

1. Choose The Right Promotion For Your Brand

There are several types of Pinterest promotions and determining which one will meet your goal is very  important. You also need to consider your target market – what will create excitement; what would encourage them to spend time creating a new board and pinning. Then consider the goals of your contest;  if your goal is to receive more clicks, then you should repin using your board or pin directly from your website.  If you want more followers, then the promotion to chose is “follow to win” To boost engagement, you should repin from your board with your brand name in the Pin description.

2. Design a Custom Landing Page For Your Promotion

Any pin on Pinterest is limited to one Pinterest photo (238 pixels). This leaves limited room for content, so we recommend that you create your Pinterest promotion on a landing page. From here you provide the information the entrants need to know to enter your promotion AND the contest rules. You can publish your landing page as a Facebook app or to the web. However, it is recommended that you publish to the web in order to easily promote it across social networks.

3. Make it Easy to Enter

There is no easy way to track pinned entries in a Pinterest contest, however, you can create an entry form directly on the landing page of your contest.  You should keep the requirements fun and easy to enter by asking them to fill out a short form and pin several images.  If you make entering the contest too complicated, you may be disappointed with the amount of entries.

4. Promote your contest on other all your networks

The most crucial step in any promotion is promotion on different platforms. Ensure that you are promoting your Pinterest contest across all marketing channels such as your email, website and social media channels.

5. Have something worth pinning

Photos are the main focus on a Pinterest promotion and not every business is a good fit for a Pinterest contest. If you do not have photos that are worth Pinning, then consider another network for your promotion. Facebook, for instance, is an alternative network that can work to achieve your goals in your promotional efforts.

A Sample Pinterest Promotion in 2014

Better Homes and Gardens have a large following on Pinterest.  They created a “pin and win” contest that people had to create a board (called “Better Homes & Garden), write a specific description for that board, and pin 15 pins from the BHG website or repin from the BHG Pinterest page on your board to showcase your own style.  The contest entrant fill out the form with their name, email address and their board url.  If you do not want their newsletter, you have to unclick the check box.  You can create an entry form from a plugin on many websites like WordPress, for example. The grand prize is $2,500 and will also have 10 winner for a prize of $250.00.