When it comes to social media marketing, Pinterest is the platform that interior designers neglect. While each platform has its strengths, Pinterest absolutely excels at driving direct web traffic in a way Instagram and Facebook never will. Pinterest is an incredibly unique social platform since it’s primary purpose isn’t to encourage engagement between individuals, but rather to share inspiration based on an individuals specific likes and interests. Its content is uniquely evergreen.
In this post, we'll prove to you the power of Pinterest and how you can harness it with very little effort. While Pinterest is known as the place to find your next recipe or how to style those shoes that you just bought, this traffic-driver has so much more to offer interior designers looking to expand their reach.
Design: Amber Interior Design | Photography: Shade Degges
What Makes Pinterest Unique
As visual content creators, interior designers should always be thinking about where their work can be seen and how it can be searched. For many of us, Pinterest is our go-to search engine (yes, even before Google!) for lifestyle, art, food, travel, and anything in between. It’s where we all turn for design inspiration, and it’s also where most people start their journey when first considering a home project. As a visual search engine, Pinterest is the ideal platform for you to showcase your portfolio images, blog post content, and connect with people actively seeking out the services that you offer.
Unlike Instagram, Pinterest content is evergreen. Instagram posts tend to have a shorter lifespan due to the chronological nature of the feed, while Pinterest pins have a longer shelf life and can continue to drive traffic and engagement over time. For example, if your image was shared several years ago but appeals to an individual’s current interests, Pinterest will share your image with that individual (regardless of the age of the content). For this reason, your brand’s discoverability on Pinterest is invaluable. If your ideal client is likely to be active on Pinterest, you should be taking advantage of this free marketing tool!
The ultimate goal of your social media marketing plan is to increase your brand recognition and gain inquiries from your ideal clients. A big part of that is moving those potential clients from the social media platform to your website. This task can be difficult, but that is where the power of Pinterest comes into play. For interior designers, Pinterest should be your primary source of website traffic. Pinterest supplies more than 70% of the web traffic our clients receive. The more eyes that can see your Pins, the greater chance you have to convert those eyes into website visits and convert those website visits into clients. Even better when those eyes are the right ones. The platform shared that "45% of people in the US with a household income over $100K are on Pinterest." In a service-based industry like interior design, a website visit from a viable client is worth its weight in gold.
Design: Zoe Feldman Design | Photography: Stacy Zarin Goldberg
6 Steps to Maximize Your Pinterest Account
Now that you know the power that Pinterest holds, we've broken down how to maximize your account to increase your reach in 6 easy steps.
1. Clean Up Your Profile
You want to make sure your Pinterest profile is a true reflection of your brand. Decluttering your Pinterest presence may require a bit of legwork, but curating your online presence is well worth the time investment. Start by making sure that your username matches your business name (example: Jane Doe Interior Design versus just Jane Doe), and write a one to two-sentence bio of engaging copy that tells users who you are and what you do. This copy will be similar to your Instagram bio, but make sure it’s both to-the-point and polished.
Next, it's important to make sure that your profile and cover photos are up to date. For your profile picture, you can choose between a branded headshot or a business logo. Your profile image should signal instant brand recognition, so try to keep this image consistent across all your social platforms. Your cover photo is the large photo behind your profile picture. This is a great place to showcase an impactful, landscape photo from your portfolio that best exemplifies your design work.
2. Switch to a Business Account
Up until now, you might have been combining your personal and business pins into one account. But we really encourage you to think strategically about your presence on Pinterest. Similar to the homepage of your website or your curated feed on Instagram, a Pinterest profile needs to make a strong first impression. A business account has features that you can't access with a personal account. You have greater access to analytics, create and run ads, and even sell products if you have an online shop.
If you are new to Pinterest, you’ll want to create a separate Pinterest account specifically for your business that can be linked directly on your website. Creating a business account allows you to craft a branded experience for your followers by focusing your content on design-related topics rather than a catch-all of travel, food, kids, or other genres. If you already have an account with a substantial following, you can convert your personal account to a business account. Then to create a strong impression, we recommend archiving any personal boards (think recipes, workout tips, infographics, and more) by changing those board settings to “secret. You’ll still be able to pin to those boards and revisit any saved content, but they won’t be visible to your followers.
3. Consider SEO with Board Names
One of the biggest mistakes we see Pinterest users make is naming their boards or sections something too personalized or cutesy. By making your board titles straightforward and descriptive, they’re likely to appear higher in Pinterest search rankings. If you’re struggling with what to name your board, work backward. Think about what you would search to find pins similar to your board, and use that for your board name.
Similarly, don’t forget to add keyword-friendly descriptions to each of your boards. Just like you named your board, think about what search phrases someone might use to find pins similar to yours. To add a board description, simply hover over your board and click on the pencil in the lower right corner.
If you use Pinterest boards for inspiration your client projects, be sure to make those boards secret so that they aren't visible your followers. Your visible boards should include your portfolio images and general inspiration.
Design: Marie Flanigan Interiors | Photography: Julie Soefer
4. Optimize Your Portfolio Images
Strong visual content is king on Pinterest, so only include high-quality images and graphics that showcase your design work in the best possible light. Whether it's photographs of completed projects, design sketches, or inspirational mood boards, compelling imagery will capture users' attention and encourage engagement.
Anytime someone is pinning from your portfolio, you want those Pins to be pulling accurate, descriptive information that syncs back with your site. Because Google and Pinterest look to your alt tags to see what the image is about, you should use your alt tags to describe the image. In visually-driven industries like interior designers, using your alt tag to describe exactly what is shown in the image is imperative.
For example, you might have an interior design project that has a coastal and beachy vibe. For that project's alt tags, you’d want to write something like “Bright white coastal living room design.” If there are images with close-up detail shots, consider including the name of the products featured and their brand, like “McGee & Co. recycled glass beads.” Next, you want to include a short statement about you and your business similar to this: “IDCO Studio is an Austin based interior designer.” Your full alt tag would be “Bright white coastal living room design by IDCO studio.” You could take it a step further and say “Bright white coastal living room design by Austin based interior designer IDCO Studio.”
5. Customize Pin Titles and Descriptions
Remember when we said to think of Pinterest as a visual search engine? That idea is coming into play once again as we consider Pin titles and descriptions. Optimizing your portfolio Pins with search-friendly keywords is a strategy game, and we always recommend beginning with the end in mind.
When you begin writing those titles and descriptions, think about which words users are most likely to type into the search bar when seeking out this specific content. While your alt tags and image titles are the first “step” as you set up your website for optimization, these Pin titles are specifically about what the user will find when they click through the Pin to your website.
Now that you’ve written your Pin title, it’s time to shift focus to a strategic Pin description. This text will describe what’s in the image, while also informing the user exactly what they’ll find when clicking through to your website. You may have already added alt tags to your images, but you’ll want to customize those Pin descriptions, especially if your Pin links to a blog post centered on a searchable topic.
6. Automate Your Posting Schedule
The key to managing all social media, Pinterest included, is bulk scheduling and automation. To make your Pinterest strategy most effective, we suggest building out time within your schedule to Pin your own work at least once a month. The most significant way to increase your Pinterest following (and by proxy, your website traffic) is to Pin frequently and consistently. Using a scheduling app like Tailwind, Later, or Planoly allows that to happen. You can also use the scheduling feature in Pinterest to schedule pins up to 30 days in advance with a business account.
We recommend using the 70 / 30 rule to figure out what to pin monthly: 70% inspiration posts from other designers & 30% original Pins from your portfolio or blog. These inspiration Pins can come from interior design publications, blogs, or anywhere that you're finding inspiration on the internet. To best maximize your account, we recommend pinning 5-10 Pins per day.
Design: Laren Liess Interiors | Photography: Helen Norman
Whether you've been using Pinterest for years or completely neglected it, these six simple steps will not only increase your reach, but also drive new traffic to your website. Like other forms of social media, it takes intentionality, organization, and consistency to make an impact. Pinterest is such a powerful tool, and every interior designer should incorporate into their social media marketing strategy. Continue to curate quality content and share beautiful images of your own, and watch how your numbers will translate to website views, and in turn, quality project inquiries.