How can we earn from Pinterest? Mobile is enough 🤑

Pinterest allows anybody to create and organize virtual pinboards on almost any topic, then share these pins (which are most commonly images but can also be in video form) to other Pinterest users and across the Internet via websites, blogs, and other social networks. Pins can either be uploaded directly from your computer or mobile device, or shared via a website. Since launching in March 2010, Pinterest's popularity has rocketed. When you consider that Pinterest is the second biggest driver of web traffic amongst social media sites (beaten only by Facebook), it is no surprise that thousands of businesses, including the biggest in the world, already use it as a place to showcase their brand to an audience of over 70 million users - over 75% of who browse the site on mobiles.

Pinterest users visit the site to search for, browse, and collate the things that they love and inspire them - and this is where the huge potential for businesses on Pinterest comes into play - plenty of them are shoppers. The most successful pins on Pinterest - whether posted by an individual or a business - all have a couple of things in common: they pair super images with content that solves a problem, inspires a user, offers something desirable, or appeals to a hobby or an activity. Think about how these pinnable traits can be applied to your brand as a way for people to discover content about the things they love that have been pinned by you to encourage engagement and conversation about your company culture, products, and services, and to drive click-through rates to your content outside of Pinterest. For example, a seller of custom dog collars might publish pins about how to teach dog tricks, or how to make homemade dog treats.

While some Pinterest users visit the site with the explicit desire to find a product to purchase, others don't or are at a different stage of the buying journey. Therefore, the mix of content you provide should appeal to and positively influence both types. In short, if the content you post makes someone want to buy from you, that's great (Pinterest users often create "wish list boards" as a stepping stone to purchasing products so you'll want to encourage them to add your products to these while browsing), but if it makes them laugh, smile, daydream or think positively about you, that's a really good sign too. Pins that aren't solely promotional, but lifestyle-based and influential by positive association with your business can be just as effective in the long run. Whether your content offers a helpful tip or motivates a user to take any action, that's just more reason for them to repin it to one of their boards for safekeeping, and to show off to their followers via their Home screens.

No matter what your business is, you should use Pinterest to inspire people with words and images. Show them their dreams and aspirations. This means creating boards not only to showcase your products and services but others that demonstrate interesting and pinnable ideas, themes, and concepts that surround it. Even if your brand isn't very visual and you don't think the site would be a very good fit, it pays to remember that Pinterest is as much (if not more) about collating and sharing images by others, as pinning your own.

For example, a coffee shop may have a board about their drinks and food, but also about the latest trends in coffee culture - gadgets, music, interior design, etc. People re-pin and follow accounts on Pinterest because they appeal to their passions and needs, not because they love your latest marketing campaign! Be a resource for pinners and pin with a service mindset, not one obsessed with profit.