Pin This for Later: Using Pinterest to Grow Your Real Estate Brand

Remember: Pins should be beautiful, interesting, and actionable.

You’ve done it! You took the leap and decided to give Pinterest a whirl. You made sure that it was a good fit for your target audience and set up your business page (not there yet? Check this piece out first then come back). 

So...now what? You know you need to set up boards and start pinning - both with your own Pins, and by curating others. But where do you even start? And how do you make sure that your new virtual pinboard fits with what users have come to expect from brands on the platform? 

Pins need to be beautiful, interesting, and actionable...

...in that order. Pinterest users want something that will answer their questions and inspire their creativity. The platform began with a heavy focus on creative pursuits (like home improvements, cooking, and DIYs) which remains a core part of their mission. Because of that, focusing on both the aesthetics and the usefulness is important. So how do you do that?

Focus on aesthetics.

Remember, first and foremost, Pinterest is a beautiful place. Spend five minutes on the platform and you’ll see that the most popular Pins are fun to look at...along with being useful, educational, etc. In other words, aesthetics matter on Pinterest (a lot like on Instagram). 

So how do you make sure that your account is beautiful? 

• Pay attention to your images: seriously, make sure that you only use high-quality photos and graphics. That poorly lit, grainy photo wouldn’t cut it on a listing...so why would you use it here? Of course, you don’t have to rely solely on your own photography skills. Stock photos are a great option to add into the mix! 
• Get graphic: well, sort of. Graphics are really popular on Pinterest! From infographics to quote images, creating simple graphics is a great way to break up the photos on your boards. And with platforms like Canva, you don’t need to be a designer to create killer graphics. 
• Follow the “Pinterest aesthetic”: i.e. use lots of bright, warm, complementary colors. Pinterest puts together a list of top trends every year. While they won’t all be relevant to you, the styles, coloring, and image choices of the list itself is a great example of the platform’s aesthetic.

Teach people something.

Content that teaches users something new is extremely popular (remember, interesting and actionable!). After all, some 98% of users go out and try the ideas they find on Pinterest. Pinners want content that teaches and/or inspires them. And since planning life events (like buying a house) is really popular, you can turn your expertise into a ton of great, educational content!

Generally speaking, Pins are tied to web-based content. So if you’re already blogging (which, you absolutely should be), think about any blogs that you have/could write in this teaching perspective.

Here are a few ideas to get you started: 

• How-to guides: write blog posts and create Pins around things like a guide to finding your dream house, a guide to finding an agent, tips for first-time buying, tips for throwing a great housewarming party, how to stage your home, how to prepare for a mortgage, etc.
• DIY Pins and boards: use a mix of your own content and Pins with curated content from other accounts to set up DIY boards about things like easy ways to upgrade your kitchen on a budget, decorating your house to make it feel like home, easy projects to make your property more welcoming when selling, etc. 
• “Inspo” boards: highlight your luxury listings by making Pins from the listings and creating “dream home” boards...or dream kitchen, yard, bathroom, etc.

Hashtags and Pins and searches, oh my!

Once you start putting great content out through Pins and boards, you need to get more people looking at it. 

One of the best ways to make your Pins more discoverable is through hashtags. On Pinterest, you can only use hashtags on Pins (not boards or anywhere else) and you can use up to 20 tags per Pin. The most important thing to remember when using hashtags on Pinterest is to keep it topical. Don’t use irrelevant tags in an attempt to reach a larger audience. All that will do is put your content in front of the wrong audience. Using tags that don’t fit your Pins is also a major platform faux-pas, and your account will lose followers and credibility.

While you can’t use hashtags other places like your boards and profile, you can still use relevant keywords to help users discover your account. Make sure that your profile description, board titles, and board descriptions all incorporate things users would search for. So, for example, if you have an inspo board about planning your dream home, you’d want to include words like “dream home” “inspiration” “inspo” “dream kitchen”...etc. Think of what someone would be looking for that you can answer for them, then include those words where possible.

Bonus: Pinterest Ads

Like most social platforms today, Pinterest offers a variety of ad opportunities. If your Pinterest presence is working well and you want to try using it in your paid strategy, you have several different options to choose from. 

• Promoted Pins: these show up in the home feed and search results like a regular Pin would, but they’re boosted and targeted to reach more people. 
• Promoted Carousels: similar to a promoted Pin, except these have 2-5 images which users can swipe through, each of which can have different text and can go to a different landing page. 
• Promoted Videos: similar to a promoted Pin, but with a video instead of an image. Videos also autoplay once they’re 50% in view. 
• Pincodes: these are Pinterest-specific QR codes. Users scan the code with the Pinterest app to launch some sort of content on the platform. These codes can be a fun way to bridge the gap between physical events and the virtual space.

Bottom Line

If you’re going to use Pinterest, it’s important to use it the right way. Pinners expect content on the platform to have a certain look and feel; they also want to come away with useful, actionable info. Make sure that your Pins and boards follow these best-practices. Use hashtags and keywords to make your pages more discoverable. And like all social platforms, Pinterest is happy to take your advertising dollars to expand your reach. All that’s left now is to get pinning!