Increase Brand Awareness through Idea Pins
Faye Strange, Pinterest strategist and owner of Strange Social, discusses the importance of Idea Pins for increasing brand awareness and suggests ten ways to best showcase your products.
Using Pinterest to increase awareness of your business with brides (and grooms) has never been easier with the recent introduction of Idea Pins. If your brand is already on Pinterest, or you are keen to hold a presence on the platform, then Idea Pins need to be an important part of your strategy as we head into 2022.
What is an Idea Pin?
As Pinterest describes, Idea Pins are a multi-page canvas to share your ideas. They last forever, and help you to grow your audience. Think of Idea Pins as being similar to Instagram and Facebook stories, with a sprinkling of TikTok or Reels. They are the same dimensions as Instagram stories and TikTok (1080 x 1920px) and can be a mixture of still image, graphics and video.
One of the great things about Idea Pins is that they don’t disappear after 24 hours: they will sit at the top of your account for as long as you want them to be there. This means that Idea Pins are evergreen content, and will continue working for you long into the future! Pinterest is also working hard to make them searchable very soon - if you are tagging them with keywords your potential customers are searching for in your title and caption, they may discover your Idea Pin.
Why is it important to use Idea Pins?
Idea Pins are designed to increase in-app engagement, which does mean that there is no option to link out to your website, however this doesn’t mean that you should not utilise them. By embracing Idea Pins, you will see that they are huge drivers of engagement on your account. Creating consistent Idea Pins will, in turn, bring an increase in followers and views of your other content - it’s a win win!
The brilliant thing about this type of pin is that they get much better short-term reach than standard pins so they can reach thousands of people in the space of just a few days! Idea pins are perfect for letting your audience get to know you and your brand better. By sharing your ideas, inspiration, and products or services, you give potential customers the extra information they need to build a relationship with your brand and make a purchase decision.
How to use Idea Pins to grow your brand on Pinterest
Unfortunately, you can’t link out to your website on an Idea Pin, but you can be smart about how you use them. The secret is to use Idea Pins to strategically drive traffic to your site.
There are a couple of ways to do this:
1. Use Idea Pins to increase the engagement on your profile
Idea pins were designed by Pinterest specifically to increase in-app engagement on the platform. They are shown to more people in a short space of time and are brilliant for attracting new followers. At the end of an Idea Pin, a screen pops up inviting the viewer to follow you, all they have to do is tap the button to be exposed to more of your content. To help encourage followers, try to include a call to action button on the last slide of your Idea Pin. For example: "Was this helpful? Follow for more wedding inspiration"
2. Post related standard/clickable pins at the same time
Does your Idea Pin feature a product where more information on your website could be useful? When publishing a standard (and clickable) pin at the same time, you could add a call to action on your Idea Pin telling people to click on your latest pin for more information. Make it easy for people to find your product or service when they visit your profile. New followers may head to your profile to check out your latest pins, so think about how your Idea Pins relate to your standard pins.
3. Tag your products into Idea Pins
Pinterest is rolling out the ability to tag products into Idea Pins (currently only available on a mobile device using Android or iOS, but this may have changed by the time you are reading this).
This means you can search your catalogue or website and tag existing listings into your Idea Pin, making it easy for viewers to complete their purchase with you.
How to make the most of your Idea Pins
Always try and follow best-practice when creating your Idea Pins to ensure they are reaching their maximum potential.
● Keep your Idea Pins inspirational, upbeat and positive
● Always create a keyword-rich title & caption. This is especially important for when Idea Pins become searchable
● Use video on your first slide for your Idea Pin to help it stand out amongst others
● Try to post more than one slide: have a title, middle and end page
● Don’t be afraid to show your face or use your voice. Your followers want to see you and get to know you better!
| DO | DON’T |
| Experiment and try new things | Worry about looking silly! |
| Be consistent - Try to post at least one story pin a week | Post lots in one go - spread them out |
| Repurpose content from Instagram Stories or TikTok | Leave the TikTok watermark on - try to remove it or crop it out |
| Use your business branding | Add any website addresses to the images or the pin description |
| Research the keywords to use in your pins by using the search bar or Pinterest Trends | Guess what the keywords are for your pin |
10 Idea Pin suggestions for your bridal business
Idea Pins are perfect for sharing your ideas and inspiration and giving your followers a glimpse into life behind the scenes of your business and brand. Use them to capture people’s imagination and showcase your products and services.
1. Your customer journey
2. Showcasing products
3. The booking process
4. Luxury details in your store or that come with your product/service
5. Throwbacks to past clients
6. Reviews and testimonials
7. The creation process
8. Inspiration for the new or upcoming season
9. Sneak peeks at new stock
10. Wedding trends
Next Steps
Try to start simply by repurposing existing Instagram Stories or TikTok/Reels content. Once you become more confident creating Idea Pins, you should start to plan them weekly, alongside your standard pins, as part of your Pinterest strategy to maximise your potential reach.
Faye is a Pinterest strategist who works closely with brands to help them generate more sales from Pinterest. If you would like to chat with Faye about your Pinterest account, you can get in touch via her website: www.strangesocial.com
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