We’ve previously covered how interior designers can use Instagram in their business marketing, and now we’re talking about Pinterest, which interior designers can use to share images with the public, with individual clients, and to gather ideas privately for themselves.
For interior designers wondering how to use Pinterest for business, you should know that Pinterest is essentially a digital catalogue of your image library within a social media platform. It’s great for interior designers because it lets them create and share a cohesive aesthetic by using the platform’s board organization tools. Pinterest can widen your audience, let you share ideas with clients, and, if used properly, it can strengthen your position as an expert in the interior design business. It does also present some challenges, particularly having to do with image rights.
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Using Pinterest in your interior design business requires a thoughtful strategy, so let’s explore how to use Pinterest to your fullest advantage:
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Be organized:
Take advantage of the structure Pinterest provides through boards and sub-boards. Categorize your posts appropriately and be intentional in the names you give each heading. No other social media platform allows the user so much control over image organization, not even the Highlight reel tool for Instagram stories. -
Use pin descriptions for SEO:
Pinterest does not recognize hashtags and derives SEO from pin descriptions. So it is vital that you give each pin not just a clear heading, but also an accurate description of the image using terms that users might search for in Pinterest search. -
Reinforce your brand:
As in all marketing, including social media, it’s important to maintain consistent visual brand elements. Use the same fonts and formats for your posts, selecting those that share or compliment your company fonts and logo. Determine an aesthetic style for all of your pins and remain consistent. -
Post original content unique to your Pinterest:
People will quickly realize if you’re just posting the same content on all of your social media platforms, and they will not judge you kindly for it. You should post original content to each platform, including Pinterest. You can post about the same topics and promote the same events, blog posts, and projects, but create original images for doing that. -
Show your process:
Interior designers who have a large audience on Pinterest post photographic stories of how they work, how a project progresses from start to finish, and what they are doing day to day. Studio McGee is widely praised for this, and is evidence of Pinterest’s power to heighten community engagement. Another way to use this format is to post step-by-step tutorials on how to accomplish a specific design task. -
Use professional-caliber photography:
Using high-quality images reflects your level of professionalism as an interior designer. If you or a team member are capturing your company’s images for social media, invest in a good camera and save the iPhone pictures for times when you have no other option. -
Engage:
Pinterest users can pin your images to their own boards, share them with other users, and comment on them. Track how users react to your pins to what and how people are inspired by your ideas, and go a step further by engaging with them in the discussion through comments. -
Consider promoted pins:
Promoted pins appear in the home feed and search results like a regular pin, except that they’re intentionally pushed and targeted to relevant users. Using this can be a good way to reach a new audience if you’re looking for new sales. -
Be intentional about your audience:
Because Pinterest is designed to promote sharing, you can quickly develop an expanded following beyond target users. It can be difficult to curate your following to reflect your intended target audience, but you can try by being very intentional about your posts and specific in the information you embed into the descriptions. -
Prevent image theft:
Because of the ability for users to reshare images, uncredited use of images – aka image theft – happens on Pinterest a lot. Plus, Pinterest lets you embed Pinterest buttons on your website images that allows website visitors to quickly add your images to Pinterest. To prevent image theft, intentional or not, consider adding subtle watermarks or other signature details to all photos you post to Pinterest and on your website. -
Use Pinterest actively, frequently, and consistently:
Studies show that Pinterest users should post 11 pins per day, and that 80 percent of those should be re-pins (sharing work and inspiration from others). But be careful about re-pins: Your Pinterest should have a visual consistency that clearly represents your aesthetic and brand, whether the images are your or others’.
The structure Pinterest provides in many ways makes it the perfect platform for interior designers, who really benefit from the ability to categorize images and present them in a cohesive, storytelling manner. While its promotion of sharing and lack of image rights protection make it more time intensive to manage, it can be worth it to grow your following and strengthen your position as an interior design expert. Follow these tips to a successful Pinterest strategy and watch your business grow!
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