Pinterest is one of the world’s top resources for finding inspiration, making it more important than ever for your interior design company to have a presence on this incredible online database. Pinterest is an ideal resource for driving traffic to your website, building your brand, connecting with potential customers, and establishing yourself as an expert. If you’re exploring how to use Pinterest as part of your marketing efforts, then the detailed tips below, in addition to this beginners’ Pinterest guide, will be a great start.
These targeted tips will help fine-tune your approach to using Pinterest for both organizing yourself and marketing your company.
Related: How to create a Pinterest account
Getting organized
The layout of Pinterest allows it to be used as a great organization tool. By using pins and boards you can easily find what you’re looking for.
Organizing client projects
Over the course of your interior design career, you’ve likely learned that each client project has a lot of moving parts to keep track of. While using Excel spreadsheets and sticky notes is always an option, Pinterest has really revolutionized a more visual way to keep track of the details for each of your design clients, and it’s also likely one of the more underutilized approaches to using Pinterest boards as a design professional.
Why not let Pinterest categorize and display all of the resources for your clients by creating a Pinterest board for each them?
You can even break down your boards to identify each of the rooms you are working on in a client’s space. This level of organization allows you to easily see what items and ideas you’ve already designated for the spaces, and you can delete boards when each client project is over, or save them to pull from for future projects.
Organizing ideas and resources
As an interior designer or decorator, having a vast range of design resources at your fingertips is a must. Accommodating a variety of design styles, budgets and lifestyle needs can be difficult and necessitates having your own database of furniture providers, décor shops and service providers to pull from.
Put Pinterest on the case!
For example, you can create a board for each category of service, furniture and décor provider and include a photo of their work to help you visually catalog your resources. Sure, you can create a list like this in an Excel spreadsheet, but it’s more tedious to scroll through (and less visually appealing) than a Pinterest board.
Becoming inspired
There are two areas of inspiration you’ll want to keep top-of-mind as an interior designer. The first is design inspiration, and the second is general aesthetic inspiration, which can go beyond pinning photos of interiors. For example, consider keeping abreast of styles of décor beyond your preferred or signature style. It’s nice to know what else is out there and you never know when you’ll be inspired to create something fresh and different.
You might also want to save and create boards for other aesthetic-related Pinterest finds beyond interior design — such as graphic design, food photography, art and editorials — that can bolster creativity and inspire your work.
Jumpstarting your marketing and engagement
One of the great things about using Pinterest for marketing is that it has an expansive reach. You can easily attract customers from across the country and beyond by sharing (and creating) engaging content.
Wondering what type of content to pin to market your design services? It depends on your focus area, but whether your style is DIY or luxury, one thing is the same: You’ll want to show the viewer how to do something and not simply inspire them with your content.
Whether it’s a DIY project or tips for redecorating, showing your Pinterest audience how to do something will help establish you as an expert in your specialty.
This will also encourage them to pin and ultimately save your content, increasing your overall web traffic. Consider showing how to do something you’ve already accomplished and pin this online content to your company’s own Pinterest board. Another easy approach to using Pinterest for marketing is to share your design work.
Pro tip: Remember to not only share it on your own company’s Pinterest board, but also participate on group Pinterest boards that share similar content to further expand your marketing reach.
And you’ll definitely want to check out this database of group Pinterest boards to identify other places to pin your design work.
Creating eye-catching images to promote your company
Pinterest is a highly visual platform, so if you don’t have eye-catching images, you’re not using it to its fullest. Be sure to use high-quality images and create beautiful banners to keep people pinning.
Photography
Choosing photos with Pinterest in mind is definitely the way to go. Consider whether each photo to be Pinned is engaging and interesting. Take time to ensure that there is something eye-catching about your images, even if that necessitates re-shoots. Dark or grainy photos will immediately deter your audience from saving your Pins, so be sure all your images posted on Pinterest are bright and crisp.
Using a DSLR camera is the most foolproof way to achieve great quality photos.
Additionally, one of the easiest ways to achieve an editorial-looking Pinterest image is to create a “flat-lay” photo arrangement. This means taking the main subject of your image and surrounding it with a few other attractive and complimentary items to create a picture-perfect vignette. Consider using leaves, plants, or items like candles to create a flat-lay, editorial-ready image everyone will want to Pin.
Further, be sure not to overlook the size of the image you decide to Pin. The smallest image size that should be used for Pinterest is 736 pixels wide. For further assistance in creating your best Pinterest images, review this great article featuring Tips for Styling Pictures on Pinterest.
Related: Social media image sizes — The 2018 cheat sheet
Headers
Give your Pinterest audience a clear idea of just what they’ll get when they click on your pin. The best way to accomplish this is to include a title or header on the actual image featured in your post.
For example, if you’re showcasing the best of traditional style, create an image header that says just this. If you’re showing your reader how to create a gorgeous bathroom remodel, then make that clear in a short header at the top of your image. If you are new to adding text to your photos and images, try one of the following resources:
- Adobe Photoshop, which has a monthly fee, but allows you to try a free trial.
- Movavi Photo Editor, a free service that offers a range of unique effects.
- Photoscape, another free resource that allows you to add text to your images as well as various filters.
Related: 5 must-know Photoshop tricks for beginners
Fonts
Font selection is sometimes an afterthought when using Pinterest, but it’s actually incredibly relevant to your engagement success. When selecting the ideal font to attract Pinterest customers, first analyze the style and aesthetic of your brand. If your style is more farmhouse-chic, consider a more casual font or even perhaps a more traditional script style font. For modern and contemporary interior design companies, a clean block font might be best.
Stay away from choosing overly trendy fonts or fonts that cannot be read clearly at first glance.
Choosing the wrong font can immediately send the wrong message. Show your Pinterest audience you have a great aesthetic eye that’s worth paying for.
Delegating Pinterest and social media management
I would be remiss not to mention that using Pinterest for business marketing is not a “one and done” approach, but rather something you should be using weekly, if not daily, to bolster your company’s online presence. Publishing content on Pinterest with regularity can be a mission on its own, but absolutely worth the time and resources. The most successful business owners protect their time by knowing when to delegate assignments and projects.
GoDaddy now offers services to assist you in managing all of your social media accounts, from Pinterest and Twitter to Yelp.
GoDaddy Social is the new resource for delegating your Pinterest and social media brand representation. Let their team create your social media content and post on your company’s behalf. With GoDaddy Social you can review and approve content before it is published, saving you time while building your online audience.
Last tips for how to use Pinterest for your business
Think your business is ready to conquer Pinterest? Here are a few last words on how to use Pinterest to maximize your design business. Remember to pin on your company’s boards consistently, aiming for three times a week, if possible. Also, keep in mind that Pinterest is not a social media platform that responds to hashtags for keywords. With Pinterest, the proper technique is to simply use the keywords in your pin description. Lastly, be sure to take time to learn more about Pinterest SEO tactics.
With these Pinterest tips and guidelines, you’re sure to catch the eye of prospective clients, not to mention all of the organizational perks, too! The secret is out: Pinterest is the interior designer’s new best friend.
