How to use Pinterest for Etsy: 8 tips for success
Now that you see how Pinterest can propel your Etsy store’s visibility, reach, and profit, it’s time to get to the practical steps and start exploiting the platform’s full potential.
As with any platform, setting up an effective Pinterest marketing strategy takes time and practice, yet the following tips will get you off to a good start.
1. Create a Pinterest business account
With a personal Pinterest account, you can find and save Pins to your boards and share images linking to your Etsy store. However, you’ll need a Pinterest business account to gather analytics on your Etsy shop Pins and run ads.
To do that, you can either convert your existing personal account to a business account or create a new business account that’s not associated with an email address already in use. Note that your personal account will be immediately switched to public (in case it was private before) as you convert it for business purposes.
Pinterest offers a complete guide on how to create a business account regardless of which scenario you choose to follow. Having a business account will also allow you to connect your Etsy shop and any other social media accounts on Pinterest (Settings > Claim > Claim other accounts > Etsy). This way, your account will be listed as the owner whenever somebody pins content from those channels.
2. Optimize your profile
Once you’ve got your business account up and rolling, it’s important to complete your profile following the best practices of Pinterest SEO. Use high-quality photos for the logo (your image will seem more authentic) and header, choose a name similar to your Etsy shop’s name, and write a compelling bio that includes relevant keywords.
You don’t need a special integration with Etsy to connect your store. Just add the link to your Etsy shop in the profile settings—it’ll appear right before the bio on your profile page.
Source: Etsy on Pinterest
3. Use keywords strategically
You have your profile polished. Now, you’re ready to create Pins and build your following. As you do that, make sure you include all the relevant keywords in Pin titles and descriptions, as well as your boards, to increase your chances of organically appearing in users’ feeds and search queries.
If you’re unsure about what keywords to use, picture yourself in the shoes of your potential buyer and think about what their search intent might be and what product attributes might be important to them. For example, if you sell embroidered hats with floral designs, you may want to use “vintage,” “hand embroidery,” or “gift for women,” among other terms throughout your Pin descriptions.
Source: Pinterest
You can also do keyword research using the Pinterest search bar—the system will automatically show related terms at the top—or check what kind of keywords competitors use for similar Etsy products and top-performing Pins in your niche. Don’t try to replicate exactly what you see, but use your findings as inspiration and guidance to create your unique titles and descriptions.
4. Enable rich Pins
Have you noticed that some Pinterest Pins include the price or rating? Those are called rich Pins, which show additional information about the Pin taken from your website and get updated automatically.
Currently, three types of rich Pins are available: recipe Pins (show ingredients, cook time, serving size, and ratings), product Pins (show real-time pricing, availability, and product information), and article Pins (show the author, title, and description of the blog post or article).
Rich Pins improve user experience and encourage people to visit your Etsy shop to complete the order. To activate product-rich Pins, you normally need to integrate specific rich meta tags to your website for each page on which you want to feature product Pins. However, for Etsy, you simply need to go to the Marketing tab in your admin panel, find Pinterest, and enable rich Pins from there.
5. Create boards relevant to your audience
As soon as your Pinterest profile is optimized, start creating Pins and organize them into themed boards. Creating multiple Pinterest boards that cover various categories and content types is essential to building an engaged following and eventually driving traffic to your Etsy shop.
Ideally, you should have as many boards as the number of different products you have. For example, if you sell wall art, you may want to create separate boards for botanical prints and retro wall art or differentiate them by spaces where the artwork would be placed (living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc.).
Source: Grace Digital Art Co
Make sure you create boards that are relevant and interesting to your audience. You can find that out by checking the Pinterest boards your followers or potential customers have made themselves.
Don’t use fancy descriptions or complicated titles for your boards—give a straightforward name that includes the same keywords you use for your Etsy products. That’ll help in content discovery and improve user experience. Finally, think about how your boards look together and whether they collectively tell a cohesive and complete story of your Etsy shop.
6. Post regularly
Consistency is key to being successful on Pinterest. Aim to pin daily (the Pinterest algorithm likes that), mixing your products with helpful and appealing content from other sources. Always keep your potential customers in mind and fill your boards with different types of Pins, such as infographics, links to useful articles, or mood boards.
Again, go to your followers to see what they’re interested in or what content is lacking. You can also use your competitors as a source of inspiration, and don’t be afraid to pin their posts (even if they link to their Etsy shops) to give your boards a more natural and balanced look. You don’t want your profile to appear as a catalog but rather organically invite users to your Etsy shop.
Source: ILOVEOLIVIA
Remember that Pinterest is a highly visual platform, so always favor quality over quantity in your pinning efforts. Make sure all your Pins are related to your Etsy shop. Anything else should go to your personal account. And don’t forget to engage with other Pinterest users by following them, liking, pinning, and commenting on their Pinterest boards to increase the visibility of your posts.
7. Always link Pins to your listings
Generally, you can add Pins to your account in two ways: you either save them directly from Etsy using the Pinterest extension or add them manually using your image. The second option usually works better as you’re in more control of the text and visuals.
Remember that whenever you manually add a Pin corresponding to your Etsy listings, you should also add a link to the particular product. That’ll ensure you don’t just post pretty pictures and create inspirational boards but actually drive traffic to your store.
Source: Urban Outfitters
8. Use Pinterest ads
Pinterest can significantly improve the performance of your Etsy shop even with purely organic efforts. However, Pinterest ads can up your game and increase your reach by promoting your Pins to a broader audience.
The platform claims you can achieve an even seven-time increase in return on ad spend when you use Pinterest ads, and you have eight ad types to choose from.
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Standard Pins: Boost an existing Pin in the home feed labeled “Promoted by.”
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Video Pins: Similar to standard Pins, but they use video instead of images and are therefore more eye-catching.
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Idea ads: Compile multiple images and videos to create a story.
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Carousel Pins: A collection of 2–5 images where you can either reveal one item from different angles, several complementing items, or a step-by-step process.
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Shopping Pins: Boost product Pins to a targeted audience.
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Collections: Promote multiple products at once—a great way to combine videos with product and lifestyle images (up to 24 supporting images allowed). Pinterest also offers to create collections automatically.
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Quiz Pins: Engage your audience with a quiz (up to 3 questions) and provide a personalized Pin based on their answers.
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Showcase Pins: Show several images or videos each linking to a different page of your store—a great opportunity to display various product categories.
