So you’re an Etsy store owner struggling to get more potential buyers.
You might need a new platform to get new leads and traffic.
If you’re looking for a platform to promote your Etsy store, Pinterest should be on your list.
Promoting an Etsy shop on Pinterest is a great way to bring more traffic to your listings and get more sales.
In this article, you’ll learn how to promote your Etsy shop on Pinterest and grow your Etsy business.
Table of Contents
Why Promote Etsy on Pinterest?
You might ask, “Why is Pinterest a great place to market Etsy listings?” There are several reasons to market on Pinterest. Here are just a few of them.
Pinterest Users Are Ready to Buy
The average Pinterest user is much more ready to buy than other social media platform users. One study shows that 90% of weekly pinners use Pinterest to make buying decisions.
Up to 78% of Pinterest users also find content from brands valuable, meaning they’re more likely to visit and follow boards and view Pinterest pins from businesses.
Because users on Pinterest are more ready to buy, your conversion rates are higher on this platform, giving you more sales out of your efforts on your Pinterest account and content.
Accordingly, it makes sense to market Etsy shops on Pinterest.
Growing User Base
The growth rate of its user count has been phenomenal.
There are now over 478 million users on Pinterest, up 30% from the year before.
While that number is far from the billions on platforms like Instagram or Facebook, it’s still considerably massive.
Pinterest is also a place for people to look for ideas for their shopping, decorating, and fashion needs.
That also contributes to higher buying behaviors on the pin-sharing platform.
Branding Congruence
People like to go to Pinterest to search for do-it-yourself crafts, decoration designs, and other creative ideas.
Etsy carries that same brand association as it’s mainly a marketplace for handmade crafts, vintage items, and craft supplies.
So there’s a lot of brand congruence between Pinterest and Etsy.
When a user sees attractive pins that promote an Etsy listing, it doesn’t feel out of place.
That makes the experience more seamless.
More Etsy Sales!
All this to say, using Pinterest to promote your Etsy shop is a great way to get more Etsy sales.
You don’t want to pin images for the sake of pinning them. You want to see conversions.
So the more you use Pinterest for Etsy store promotions, the more likely you’ll get customers.
How to Create a Pinterest Profile for My Etsy Shop
Now that you know that Pinterest is a great way to market your Etsy shop, it’s time to learn how to use it for Etsy.
You’ll have to do a few things before those sales start coming through your Product pins.
Here are steps for Etsy sellers who want to tap into the power of Pinterest marketing.
Step 1: Set Up Your Pinterest Account
The first step is to set up a personal account on Pinterest. Setting up an account should be relatively easy.
First, you’ll need to head over to pinterest.com.
Next, sign up and enter your email and desired password.
You also have the option to Continue with Facebook or Google, so you can use your details on those accounts to create a Pinterest account.
After that, you’ll have to answer a few questions to help Pinterest determine what your interests are.
Once that is done, you’re ready to go!
Confirm your account via email, so you don’t lose your account in the next few days.
If you have an existing Pinterest account, clean it up.
You want your Pinterest to reflect what your target customers are interested in, not what you’re interested in as a user.
Step 2: Add a Nice Header
Once you’ve created your account, you’ll want to brand it accordingly.
The best way to do that is to add a nice header to your profile.
Don’t put too much information. You can set your business’s name, logo, and tagline.
You can add some links to your Etsy site and other channels too. But don’t clutter your header too much, as that could overwhelm your visitors.
Make sure your design matches your Pinterest profile’s overall look and feel.
Other Etsy sellers might create a mood board or color palette so that their header matches the rest of their content when they start to create pins.
Step 3: Create Your Pinterest Boards
Start creating your boards. Your Etsy shop pins will go inside these boards.
But take note that you don’t want to bombard your users with just your content and products.
Mix them with other content that adds value to your visitors.
You will want to start with at least fifteen boards in the beginning and start building upwards.
There are three kinds of Pinterest boards that your Pinterest profile should have.
Product Boards
These boards are a mix of your products and other people’s products.
They’re a great way to showcase your products’ appearance when used. For example, if you’re selling printable wall art, put them on a mockup of a painting in a living room or a bedroom.
Mix your products with other people’s products, too, so you have a good ratio of promotional and value-giving posts.
That’s because you don’t want your board to be too salesy, which could drive away visitors over time.
Create five product boards to start and slowly build up with time.
Interest Boards
You’ll also want to create interest boards.
Pin other content that your target audience will love. If you’re a jeweler, share some outfits that could go well with your handmade jewelry.
If you’re a Macrame artist, mix up your designs with wooden furniture pegs.
You can also add other content ideas that could enrich others.
Pin image pegs that link to other resources, such as a link to a tutorial video or blog post. You can also start with five interest boards.
Brand Boards
The last board you want to create is a brand board – a set of boards with just the listings on your Etsy shop.
These boards are where you can pin Etsy items.
This type of board is what you fill up with as many of your pins as you can and direct people to your Etsy shop.
These boards can help create Etsy sales and give repeat customers a place to check out your new products and listings.
So now the appropriate question is, “How do I get my Etsy listings on Pinterest?” The best way is to add a link to your Etsy listings or Etsy shop to the link area.
This section appears on top of the pin title.
You can opt to add it to your pin description, but that won’t be clickable.
You can also link Pinterest to your Etsy account so people can go directly to your store. This is something we’ll discuss a little later in this article.
Step 4: Start Pinning More Content
After you create stunning pins for your account, you don’t want to stop there. Keep making more boards and pinning more content.
The Pinterest algorithm tends to favor fresh content.
So having new content is a great way to keep reaching people browsing through the Pinterest feed.
Create multiple boards and try to stay as organized as possible. You’ll also want to create numerous pins within your boards.
Get other pins from other Pinterest profiles to mix up your content.
You might want multiple Etsy pins per board.
But ensure that you don’t overwhelm viewers with various pins that don’t go well together.
Have around 15 to 20 pins per board to keep it nice and clean. Try mixing up vertical images and horizontal ones too.
Tips When Marketing Your Business on Pinterest
Know that you know how to sell on Pinterest from Etsy; let’s keep growing your Pinterest following and driving Etsy traffic!
Here are some tips when marketing your Etsy shop on Pinterest.
Know Your Target Audience
Your account should reflect the different Pinterest boards your target customers will like. So ensure that you optimize your content for them.
This step entails knowing who your target audience is. What kind of pins are they looking for online? What designs would appeal to them?
Try Investing in Promoted Pins
Paying for Pinterest ads might be a good idea if it’s within your budget.
When you don’t have that many Pinterest followers, you might need the help of paid ads.
When you use Pinterest for Etsy marketing, think of your ad spend as an investment, not an expense.
But make sure that you’re measuring the results too. There’s no sense in paying for Pinterest ads if they’re not converting to traffic or sales.
Eventually, you’ll want to wean off ads and direct people to your Etsy store through organic traffic.
You can also use your ad budget for other paid promotions, such as on Facebook, Google, Instagram, and Etsy.
To access Pinterest settings and setup for ads, follow these instructions:
- Click on the Pinterest button that says Ads at the top of your dashboard
- Click Create ad
- Click Ads in the left-side navigation of the screen
- Select the pin or pins you want to boost
- Click Review selected Pins to add more details
- Click Launch
Optimize for Pinterest Search
The best way to get your Pinterest pins and, consequently, your Etsy listings more visibility is to optimize your Pinterest posts for search.
This Pinterest strategy involves creating boards and placing keywords that people would type on the Pinterest search bar.
You also want to find Pinterest keywords related to your brand or products.
Perform keyword research and add a few keywords to your Pinterest board names and pin descriptions so that they appear on searches more often.
The Pinterest search engine depends on a few factors when ranking results. Some of them include the following:
- Domain quality
- Pin quality
- Pinner quality
- Topic relevance
Learn From Other Pinners
Other Etsy business owners use Pinterest for Etsy.
They could be excellent sources of idea pins and strategies too. So take the time to look at other pinners and learn from them.
Other Etsy shop owners on Pinterest are a great source of ideas to promote your Etsy store.
So check out other Pinterest accounts and see what they do to promote their Etsy shop on Pinterest.
Many other sellers adopt a Pinterest strategy or two from other accounts.
There’s no reason you shouldn’t, too, given that the Pinterest platform is an open space for people to share ideas.
Make sure you add a personal twist to your boards. Don’t rely on other people’s ideas. Tweak those ideas and make them your own.
Use a Pin Scheduler
Board posting can be a little time-consuming. But you can use Pinterest for Etsy and still be efficient.
One way to do that is to use a Pin scheduler to post boards and pins.
One great tool you can try is Tailwind, which allows you to schedule out pins in advance so you can spend your precious time on other tasks relating to your Etsy business.
Check Your Analytics
Your Pinterest analytics can tell you how well you’re doing or what you can do better. So checking pin stats and other reports on your account should be a habit.
Double down on ideas that drive the most traffic and start weeding out the ones you don’t convert.
With time, you will only find better ways to promote your Etsy shop on Pinterest if you keep an eye on the numbers.
You will need a Pinterest Business Account to access your analytics on your pins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Claim My Etsy Store on Pinterest?
When promoting your Etsy shop on Pinterest, you have the option of claiming an Etsy store on Pinterest. Doing this will allow you to get rich pins, which is a great thing to have.
Users will know that your pin is a product pin with rich pins. Moreover, people will be able to see more information on your pins and boards, including the product price and additional pin descriptions.
If you want to learn how to connect Etsy to Pinterest and get rich pins, the following FAQ entry will help you out.
How Do I Claim My Etsy Store?
An Etsy Pinterest connection will do wonders for your Etsy brand. However, this feature is no longer available on Pinterest.
There is a workaround, though. You can choose to claim your website instead and add a link to your Etsy store there. To learn how to link Etsy to Pinterest, go to this help section on Pinterest’s website.
Do I Need a Pinterest Business Account?
A Business Pinterest Account gives account holders more capabilities, including:
- Pinterest analytics on your pins (as mentioned above)
- The ability to upload catalogs
- The ability to create all forms of pins
Overall, having a Pinterest business account should be more than helpful for Etsy business owners. So, you should consider moving your account up to a business one.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, these steps, tips, and practices will help you set up a Pinterest account that will drive traffic to your Etsy store.
Which of these tips will you start doing first?
By tapping into the power of Pinterest, your Etsy business could be on the brink of exponential growth.
The only way to find out if it’s for you is to try it. Besides, what do you have to lose?
You can also visit my blog for more Etsy tips and strategies.
