Long gone are the days of searching for inspiration through magazines or all sorts of traditional media. Instead, everything is done through Pinterest!
Interestingly enough, when people hear “Pinterest”, they usually correlate it to finding recipes, interior design ideas, wedding dresses, and so much more. Since the platform is heavily visual, many users find it the most trustworthy source to purchase certain products or figure out how to do something. According to the most recent data from Pinterest, over 80 percent of its users have used it to make a purchase based on pins from brands or various group boards.
While Pinterest can be used by anyone, businesses find the most benefit from it. The platform now boasts over 498 million users, and according to a 2024 report, over 36 percent use it to follow certain brands and products. With that said, Pinterest beats all the other social media platforms for brand and product research. In other words, if you’re a business looking to monetize your services globally and expand your online presence, this app is worth exploring.
Since you’ve landed on this page, you’re probably wondering how to use Pinterest – this is where we come in for help! In this guide, we’ll teach you the basics of the platform and show you how to get started. If you want to delve deeper into the subject, you might want to check out the rest of our blogs!
What is Pinterest?
In essence, Pinterest is “a visual discovery engine used for finding inspiration for recipes, clothes, interior design, and more. The platform resembles a physical inspiration board where you can create, save, and reshare ideas represented by ‘visual cards’ called ‘pins’.
Each user can create pins with photos and videos. Additionally, many users also subscribe to services like Canva since they help create visually attractive content with the help of templates and various design elements. In turn, this helps businesses generate more traffic using appropriate links and descriptions. Furthermore, you can save pins within the app itself, or images you find online using Pinterest’s browsers extension.
Since you can literally find anything on Pinterest – and we can’t emphasize this enough – you’re encouraged to create specific personal boards. Not only will this help you with idea organization, but if you’re a business, you can use them to attract more customers coming your way. Of course, you also have the option to keep your boards for your eyes only.
Who is Pinterest Best For?
As previously mentioned, Pinterest can be used by anyone. If you’re a “standard” user (not a business), you can use the platform to gather inspiration for anything you want, be it your style or your next DIY project. Alternatively, content creators or people who offer products or services prefer this platform the most since its marketing game is unmatched.
The following niches are some that have been reported to perform the best:
- Interior Design
- Beauty
- Style
- Fashion
- Travel
- Parenting
- Health & Wellness
- Food
- Gardening
- Wedding
- Jewellery
How To Start Using Pinterest
Once you’ve decided whether Pinterest is the right platform for you, the next step is to get on it and start building your presence! Again, how you use Pinterest will be determined by your goals, so take this guide as a navigation on how to get started.
Step 1: Sign Up For Pinterest
This step is pretty self-explanatory – head to Pinterest.com and click “Join Pinterest”. Enter your e-mail address and password, and head back to your inbox to verify the account. Alternatively, you can also use your Google, Facebook, or X account to sign up. The latter option will help you find your friends and acquaintances easier.
Step 2: Follow People With Similar Interests
Now that you have an account, start following people with similar interests. If you’ve connected your Pinterest with other social media apps, the platform will already have some suggestions for you. In contrast, on the landing page, Pinterest will ask you what kind of content you want to see on your feed based on selected categories and recommend the appropriate accounts. Naturally, this will change as you start pinning content since the platform’s algorithm will know what exactly you are searching for.
Step 3: Create Boards
Pinterest is undoubtedly the best app to have your ideas all in one place, be it for interior design, travel, or anything else. For that reason, it’s best to keep your profile organized at all times. You can do this with the help of personal boards.
To create a new board, go to your profile in the upper right corner, hover over it, and choose “Boards”. Then you should click “Create Board”, and give it a title and description. We recommend you keep titles general and broad at the same time. You can also create categories within the board itself to be more organized. For instance, ‘Home Decor’ can be the name of your board while ‘Kitchen Ideas’, ‘Rugs’, and ‘Furniture’ can be categories. In essence, the more specific you are, the better.
You should also know that people can find your boards and contribute to them with the help of keywords, but we’ll teach you how to do this another time. For now, if you want to keep it for your eyes only, set it up to be “Private”.
Step 4: Start Exploring Your Main Page
With your account all set up, you can start navigating through your main board. In the beginning, most of the content you see will be pretty general i.e. it won’t be tailored to your needs. That’s why you need to teach Pinterest what you’re looking for and you can do this with repinning.
To do this, simply hover over the pin you’ve found and save it to one of your boards. You can also open the specific pin in a separate browser and Pinterest will provide you with similar content. If you’ve found a creator you like, ensure you follow them – this will make your account feel more personal and will give you the results you’re looking for.
If you’re not seeing anything you like on your main page, direct your attention toward the search board. Since the platform is rather specific, you should keep your search queries in the same manner. For instance, if you’re looking for a ‘white double-breasted men’s suit’, this is the query you need to enter in the search bar. In contrast, if you just put in ‘Men’s suits’, the content you receive will be pretty general, so you’ll need more time to find out what you’re looking for.
Step 5: Liking and Commenting
Like most social media apps, it’s encouraged to be as social as possible. That said, if you find a pin you like but it’s not really appropriate for any of your boards, you can simply like or comment on it. Your followers won’t be informed of this, but the pin creator will be notified that you’ve shown interest. As you can imagine, this will also help to make your account feel more personal.
This is all you need to know about getting started with Pinterest! Don’t hesitate to go in-depth with your searches – you’re bound to find something you love!
If you’re thinking about using Pinterest for business purposes, you might want to read the rest of our articles. In the meantime, have a great time pinning!
