Pinterest Marketing for Freelancers: 6 Steps to Pinning and Winning

Have you thought about Pinterest marketing to find leads?

Wait. Isn’t that the social media platform where crafty-stay-at-home moms, DIYers, and amateur cooks show off their creations?

You might not think of Pinterest marketing as the first way to showcase your blog or writing portfolio.

But if you’re not tapping into the power of Pinterest with 175 million users, you’re missing out on potential leads.

For example: Did you know two-thirds of the 50 billion pins on Pinterest represent brands and products, according to Ad Age?

With that kind of volume, you can bet businesses and marketing managers who need to hire freelance writers are paying attention to this platform. Today, Pinterest is so much more than an amusing social platform to collect pins.

With a Pinterest marketing plan, it’s a place where you can harness a niche, share your content with a community, and ultimately generate freelance writing leads.

Want to learn the art of pinning and winning with Pinterest marketing? I’ll show you how.

My Pinterest marketing epiphany

I was on Pinterest before I started using it to find freelance writing leads. And my pins were a random mish-mash of the usual stuff.

Fortunately, a social-media savvy editor convinced me that the topics I write about (home decorating and real estate) were perfect for using Pinterest marketing to find more freelance work. So I decided to give it a try. And it worked.

Follow these six steps to get started:

1. Create a Pinterest business account

After my writer website was complete, I cleaned up my existing, but languishing, personal Pinterest account and switched it to a business account. This is crucial to be able to use your business name on your profile and monitor analytics.

Tip: On your personal website, ensure any blogs or pictures have the “Pin It” button available if a reader hovers. Also add the Pinterest social media follow button.

2. Use the Pinterest search bar to find key phrases

You might think only niches with visual appeal on Pinterest will work. But, even less visually appealing topics like investments or insurance absolutely have a place on this platform. Tap into your niche by identifying key phrases people are searching for.

Here’s how: Just use the Pinterest search bar, and start typing in a key phrase in your niche. As the list populates, you’ll also see similar key phrases Pinners are looking for.

For example, I searched the words, “home staging”, and Pinterest returned the terms: “home staging ideas,” “home staging to sell,” and “home staging before and after.”

Tip:Aim to find about 15 key phrases in your niche, before moving on to the next step.

3. Boost your Pinterest profile and bio with SEO

After finding about 15 keywords, incorporate these into your profile and biography. Craft a couple sentences about your personal story and writing skills. A professional picture is necessary to attract followers.

4. Build Pinterest boards with key phrases

If you haven’t spent a lot of time on Pinterst, don’t worry. This is easy: Here’s how to create a board:

• Click your profile button at the top of Pinterest.
• Click the “Create a board” box at the top of your list of boards.
• Choose a name and category for your board. You can also choose to make the board secret or invite others to join the board.

Part of the Pinterest marketing strategy here is to connect with an audience that’s similar to the audience of your ideal freelance client.

• Break down your industry and create boards that serve your readers.
• Provide answers to problems relevant to your target audience.
• Use a mix of your own content and freelance work, as well as pinning content from others.

For my Home Staging board description, I used the key words “real estate” and “sale.” My pins include some blog posts that I’ve written, as well as other content by other writers in my niche.

Tip: Start with a board dedicated to your own writing, and position it first where followers can find it easily.

5. Use Canva to create pinnable graphics

Right now, Canva is the Pinterest go-to for creating visually appealing pins for your writing. There’s a learning curve if this totally new, but Canva is very user- and Pinterest-friendly. You’ll want to experiment with branding and how to compliment your website. There’s an art to figuring out which templates your readers prefer.

Tip: Choose your best performing posts and create three similar, but different, pins and watch to see which style and shape performs better.

6. Set a daily pinning goal

Remember, this is a Pinterest marketing strategy. It’s no different than sending out query letters and LOIs consistently. Frequent pinning is a must. Each day, aim for about 50 re-pins.

If this sounds daunting to do manually, start smaller. I often don’t pin that much. But my audience keeps growing, and I still get inbound leads.

Tip: Consider paid scheduling helpers like Tailwind and BoardBooster to increase your exposure. Joining and creating group boards also puts your pins in front of new followers. So does following like-minded pinners in your niche.

Winning with Pinterest marketing

Just after the holiday lull, two new potential clients contacted me for meetings: A real estate agent and the VP of a residential mortgage lending company. Pinterest marketing is paying off. Traffic is up, my audience is growing, and so are the number of inbound leads I’m getting.

If you want to grow your freelance writing business, building connections through website traffic, community engagement, and social media will help you. Pinterest marketing is one more strategy you can use to move up and earn more.

Have you used Pinterest to find freelance writing leads? Let’s discuss on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Dawn M. Smith writes about the real estate industry and home decorating. She’s also an expert on military life and the art of storytelling to engage clients and their audiences.

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