Why You Need Pinterest in Your Photography Business Marketing Plan
Why do you need Pinterest in your photography business marketing plan?
You have to fish where the fish are.
If you’re a wedding photographer, where are your brides looking for ideas for every detail of their wedding? Pinterest. Where do they look for ideas for their engagement session? Pinterest.
If you’re a family, senior or newborn photographer, where do people look for ideas of photos they want during their session? Pinterest. From what to wear, to the way they want their family to be captured, they scour Pinterest for ideas and inspiration.
Each idea they find, whether it’s in their feed or as a search term result, is attached to a URL. When a user clicks on the pin, they’re taken to the source of that image. If it’s your work, they’re taken to your website or blog. Where are brides and families finding vendors? Pinterest. To be more specific as it pertains to you, where are they finding their photographer? Pinterest.
I hope you see how the dots connect because it’s pretty amazing.
You may be thinking, “Facebook and Instagram are working just fine.”
They might be getting results, but don’t you want something that can do more? Can people search for “wedding photography poses” on those platforms? How about “what to wear for an engagement session” or “bridesmaids dresses”? What about “fall family pictures” or “newborn family photography”?
All of those are exact search terms that are being used on Pinterest and when the user hits enter, they are rewarded with hundreds of images that match those keywords.
If you’re not on Pinterest, unfortunately, none of those images are yours.
The proof is in the pudding as they say.
(Or maybe I’m the only one to say that.)
Here are two notifications that were shown to me by Pinterest simply from the type of content I’ve searched for. Pinterest will also suggest “related pins” to users and if your content has the right keywords, your content can be those related pins. Nifty, huh?
Users on Pinterest are actively typing search terms to find exactly what they need. They can do that because Pinterest is a visual search engine, not social media, where your content stays forever.
(Am I sensing some Pinterest love?)
Pinterest has the search engine functionality of Google with images as the search results making it an ideal marketing platform for photographers. You have amazing content and Pinterest has set the stage for your ideal client to find that content, which means they find you.
Have you tried Pinterest and didn’t see results? Did you feel like Pinterest was a waste of your time?
My answer to you as a Pinterest manager is that something was missing and most likely more than one thing. It’s not uncommon. There’s a lot to know about using Pinterest and it takes time to learn and implement it. Fear not, though, because you can easily make changes and build a great account that will do amazing things!
To help you understand how to approach using Pinterest, I want to explain three key elements. Understanding these will hopefully give you a lightbulb moment and give you a lay of the land as you begin to navigate the land of opportunity that is before you.
What are the three key elements of Pinterest?
Keywords. Consistency. Content.
Keywords.
It all starts with keywords. They’re the foundation of your account and content. They tell Pinterest who you are and what your content is about, so they can direct it to the right people. Your Pinterest account is, in essence, another website for you and just as you make sure your SEO is spot on for your business website, you have to do the same for your Pinterest account. If you don’t have keywords, you’re not found when those keywords are searched for. There are multiple places those keywords are needed throughout your account and content, such as your board titles, board descriptions and in your profile description. They need to be quality keywords people are searching for. What does that mean? That means no snazzy board names despite how fun they are. No one is searching for “All Laced Up” as they look for lace wedding dresses. They search for “lace wedding dresses.”
Consistency
Consistency on Pinterest is crucial. Just as you have to be consistent on social media, you have to be consistent on Pinterest. That means pinning multiple times daily when your ideal client is on Pinterest. You need to show Pinterest you’re not spammy. If you upload 50 images one day and don’t pin for a couple of weeks, you’re not going to rank well. If you pin here and there just to a couple of boards, you’re not going to rank well. Showing up keeps you in the game, but doing it the right way gets you noticed.
Content
Fresh, quality content that is pinned in the right places is what will get results as well. That quality content is a beautiful pin that includes critical information so it can be found, shared and clicked on to provide results. It needs a pin title and description that includes keywords, it needs to be pinned to boards that are relevant to the content, and it needs the proper URL where the content can be found online.
Your pins also need to be vertical images - no exceptions. Since Pinterest is a visual search engine, they want beautiful images. Horizontal images don’t show off your work and get lost in a feed because of their size. Most people are on their phones when they’re on Pinterest, so you have to think about how easily they’ll spot the image and how well they can see it as they scroll down their feed. Horizontal images get lost, so save those beauties for your website. If you just can’t part with them, create a collage with a few images in a vertical pin. It’s super easy to do that on Canva.
Everything works together and all elements have to be in your Pinterest strategy and implementation. When done right, Pinterest can be the biggest traffic driver to your website. Once there, you need to hang onto them. Capture their email address so you can keep in touch!
Hopefully, you understand why you need to be on Pinterest to market your photography business. Your ideal client is there and they’re searching for inspiration and answers. You can be found in their search because Pinterest is a visual search engine. By using keywords throughout your account and content, pinning consistently and creating content that’s in the form of vertical images and utilizes those keywords, your ideal client can find you to capture the moments in life they want to be preserved.
Your time is valuable. Your services are exceptional. You deserve to be noticed, found and booked. Pinterest will enable you to do that far better than any other platform.
Join me on Pinterest where I love sharing great content about Pinterest and all aspects of growing your business.
Other posts you might like:
Pinterest SEO: How to Find and Use Pinterest Keywords
How to Use Pinterest for Business
Interested in learning more? Book a no strings attached consultation call with me to learn how Pinterest can benefit you specifically or head to my services dropdown or contact me to learn about what I offer and the variety of packages that will make the perfect fit for what you need, wherever you are on your Pinterest journey.
