15 Food Marketing Strategies For Your Brand To Crush It On Pinterest
Have you been thinking about using Pinterest to market your food brand but not sure where to start? The Pinterest visual search engine has grown to become one of the most important mobile platforms for both men and women. Recent polls show that men consist of at least 40% new signups proving that the platform isn’t just for women.
Millennials use the platform more than anyone else for food inspiration. Despite all stereotypes of Millennials and their access to money (or lack thereof), Millennial Pinners plan to spend more money on food than people who don’t use Pinterest. Why? That’s because Millennials say that Pinterest helps them easily find ways to use different ingredients. The more that you get to visually see the outcome of a recipe makes chefs everywhere more inspired to cook!
Ready to get your food brand noticed on social media? Here’s how you can take your presence to the next level on Pinterest.
1. Promote your pins
To get the most ROI, you can advertise on Pinterest through “Promoted Pins.” Promoted Pins look natural and are less disruptive to users than traditional ads. According to Pinterest, 73% of users say content from brands make the site more useful. 61% of users say that they have made a purchase after viewing a Promoted Pin. In other words, Pinterest drives sales.
2. Optimize for re-pins
According to Curalate, you’ll get 23% more re-pins if you don’t use a face in your image. And, pins with less whitespace get re-pinned more.
3. Recipes and DIY tutorials are most popular
Tutorial content really resonates with people. Include recipes or smart tips that incorporate your food products.
4. Pin for a broader audience
Your followers on Pinterest will view your pins, but you must remember how re-pins work. When a follower re-pins your content, their followers will also view it and possibly re-pin it, and so on. Your reach on Pinterest is bigger than you might think. Pins on pins on pins!
5. Long form video is on trend
A longer form video is taking off! 60-90 second videos are being saved 50% more than short form videos. Try creating more detailed videos for your “how-to” segments. Crack a joke or give an interesting fact about the recipe. Followers will enjoy the little extras you’ll have time to reveal versus racing through instructions. This also gives you time to let your followers get to know your personality, so be upbeat and bubbly!
6. Pin for search engine optimization (SEO)
Think of Pinterest as a search engine. First, find the right keywords for your business using a search tool like Google Keyword Planner or Moz. Next, use these keywords for your Pinterest content. You don’t want to stuff keywords everywhere and be spammy. With just a little effort, using the right keywords in your board titles, captions, pin image file names, and descriptions will help your pins show up in search results. Get creative with your titles and captions. This is a sure way to draw users to your Pins.
7. Share Pins across your owned channels
Be sure to include your popular pins in emails to customers, and connect your other social media accounts to your Pinterest page. Make your own website Pinterest friendly so that others can pin images directly from it.
8. Time your posts
According to research by CoSchedule, the best day to post food-related pins is Sunday, and the best overall time to post is Saturday after 8 pm. Generally, late afternoon by 4 pm, late in the evening, or even in the middle of the night is a great time to post. Perfect for any night-owls out there! There is no better time to engage your audience than at these peak times.
Always remember to include a call to action. What do you want the user to do after they see your pin? Give them some direction that will either get them to your website or share your pin across social media to help promote your brand.
9. Post frequently
Keep a schedule for your posts so your audience can build a relationship with you over time and receive fresh content at a regular pace. Doing this keeps engagement high, rather than dumping content all at once.
10. Post your own content
Re-pinning other people’s content is a great way to engage with them, but putting in the effort to create your own inspiring, pinnable content will give you the most bang for your buck.
11. Keep up the relationship
Just like on your other social platforms, remember to respond to comments and follow other popular boards. Use your brand voice on Pinterest in every interaction! Commenting on other Pins is another way to get your brand out there and get users to follow you. Be courteous and kind when commenting while establishing yourself as an expert.
12. Connect with relevant influencers
Knowing and connecting with influencers is important to building relationships on Pinterest. Invite them to post on your boards or partner with them to post some of your original content. Key influencers who have a big following on Pinterest, and whose aesthetic and values align with your brand, can have an explosive effect on brand awareness and website traffic.
13. Always use high-quality images
The agency Omnicore has a great cheat sheet infographic that you can use for various social media platforms. Pinterest also goes in-depth into how to make great pins here. Generally, Pinterest says the ideal ratio for your pins is 2:3 (600px wide x 900px high). You’ll want to use photos with light colors as they are more likely to get more pins than dark ones. Find high-resolution photos that really show off your products and make mouths water!
14. Use text overlays
Get straight to the point by overlaying text on your image. Pins with text overlay tend to perform better, especially when the text provides clarity. The purpose of your text and any descriptions is to be immediately helpful, not overly promotional. You don’t need to be a graphic designer to add text to an image. Canva is a free program with templates to help you do so. It’s user-friendly and you’ll be able to create eye-catching Pins in no time!
15. Test, test, test
Remember that you won’t always have the answers right away, and that’s okay. Experiment and use Pinterest analytics to see which images perform the best. Be sure to place your most popular boards at the top of your business page on Pinterest where people will be able to see them easier.
That’s a wrap! We hope this starts you off on getting the most out of Pinterest for your brand. Check the ChuckJoe Blog for more tips and tricks!
