As a visual search engine, Pinterest just makes sense when it comes to marketing for photographers. With that being said, it can be a daunting platform, which leads to a lot of business owners putting off diving in to the marketing treasure trove it is. Lucky for you, I’m here for ya! Let’s talk about the basics when it comes to Pinterest for photographers so you can feel more confident getting started on the platform.
First, you need an account.
Duh, right? Make sure it’s a business account so you can take advantage of all of the analytics and features that you wouldn’t have with a personal account.
Before you can really get into setting up the details of your account, you need to do keyword research.
Since Pinterest runs on SEO, keywords are king. My best tip is to try and put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes and think of the things they’d be searching for and what search terms they’d be using to do that. Start there!
Once you have the keywords you want to target, set up your account.
Name, bio, boards, board descriptions, etc. Create enough boards to cover all the things you can post about that your ideal client is looking for.
For example, if you are a DC wedding photographer, these are some boards you could create:
DC Wedding Venues
Wedding Dresses
Wedding Ceremony Decorations
Wedding Florals
Bride and Groom Photos
…and so on!
Now you’re at the fun part - pinning!
Pinterest takes consistency, so I absolutely recommend that you use a scheduler (I use Metricool + Tailwind for my clients). 3-5 pins per day is definitely a great sweet spot, but if you can only start with 1 per day, do it!
Those are the broad strokes when it comes to getting started with Pinterest marketing. Now let’s get into a little bit more specific tips for Pinterest for photographers.
Blogging is your friend.
And not blogging in the “I’m just gunna put a gallery on this blog page and call it a day” sense. I’m talking 300-500+ words about the session/wedding, focusing on optimized keywords to not only help with your Pinterest strategy, but also help with your website’s SEO! Blogs provide additional content you can post to Pinterest, and are the perfect addition of value on the other end of your pin to motivate people to go from Pinterest to your website.
Pinterest loooves freebies/lead magnets.
Pretty pictures are great, and your photos will get saved for just their looks on Pinterest. But the best way to reach your goals (getting people from Pinterest to your site to eventually hire you) is to give them a reason to leave the platform. The promise of a free resource? A perfect way to get them clickin’!
Location, location, location.
A lot of people think that Pinterest can’t help with location based businesses, and that couldn’t be further from the truth! Use your location in your keywords to help your local ideal clients find you. “Detroit wedding photographer” is absolutely something someone getting married in Detroit would search, so you should prime your content to show up in those searches!
Prepare for the Pinterest crop.
While you can post a landscape image on Pinterest, it definitely prefers the 2:3 portrait orientation. We’re aiming to please the Pinterest algorithm, so make sure you’re optimizing your images to fit the preferred size. If you have landscape images you want to share, I’d recommend creating a collage within the 2:3 ratio pin size, that way it’s a win-win!
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
And I’m not just quoting Taylor Swift. Make sure you’re website is ready to receive the traffic you want from Pinterest. It should have funnels set up so your ideal client knows exactly where to go and what next steps to take. If your website isn’t set up to convert, you can’t be mad when you’re not getting conversions. Pinterest marketing is working when people are getting to your website - then the website needs to take it the rest of the way.
Ya gotta be in it to win it.
Pinterest isn’t a quick fix. This ish is a marathon, not a sprint, and it takes time and patience. I know that’s annoying to hear, but it is what it is. I’ve seen it time and time and time again - people don’t start seeing true results until the 6 month mark, usually. And that’s with true dedication and persistence. Don’t give up before you’re about to strike gold!
That about covers it! As a Pinterest manager, I love working with photographers because Pinterest for photographers is so fun. It’s all about the beautiful images and sharing art and capturing special moments for people. What could be better?
If you’re ready to see how Pinterest can change your business, check out my services + pricing guide. I can help you get set up for success when it comes to DIY Pinterest marketing, or I can take the whole thing off your plate with full service Pinterest management. Let’s do it!
