Pinterest is not a social media platform. People don't use it to connect, they use it to find what they're looking for. It isn't just for crafts and recipes but instead houses a tremendous amout of information on everything from tips on packing fine china to negotiation strategies in bidding wars. Using Pinterest to promote your real estate business makes sense.
Why Pinterest?
- Pinterest is a powerful search engine with very high ranking SEO. But it looks like a social media platform which makes it infinitely more attractive and user friendly.
- Pinterest focuses on images, not text. Much like real estate.
- Your competition is on Pinterest. Check. See? I told you so.
- Pins have a long lifespan. One of my oldest pins (created in 2014 at a brokerage I am no longer affiliated with) has 12,387 views with 8.7% engagement and 1,074 clicks in the last 6 months. And that number increases every day even now, driving people to my website 7 years later. Without any effort or input from me since 2014.
What can you do with Pinterest?
- Drive potential buyers and sellers to your website and blog.
- Build your brand with happy buyers, sold homes, and local information.
- Be the local expert ("digital mayor?") on one of the biggest platforms out there.
- Create Pinterest boards for topics your prospective buyers and sellers will want to know about: local restaurants, real estate tips, home pricing tips, window treatments, etc.
How to set up Pinterest to drive real estate traffic
- Create an account if you don't already have one.
- Convert your account to a business profile which will allow you to keep track of traffic, engagement, clicks, etc. (The Pinterest website will prompt you to do this automatically.)
- Add keywords to your account. Include things like the names of the communities you work in and the niches you service.
- Create Pinterest boards about your geographic area and niche. Here are a few to get you started:
- Buying a home
- Selling a Home
- Empty Nesters
- Downsizers
- Decluttering Tips
- Real Estate Tips
- Places in Union County NJ
- Union County Restaurants
- Union County Day Trips
5. Create pins. The ideal size for Pinterest pins is 1000x1500 px but larger or smaller is OK as long as you maintain the ratio of 2 to 3. We use Canva to create our pins. We've also found that video pins (any pin that has a moving or animated part) scores better on the Pinterest ratings. Here's how to create a pin:
6. Schedule your Pins on Pinterest. For best results, schedule your pin to appear on 5-10 boards over several weeks. Pinterest analytics boosts pins that are "fresh" or unique images leading to unique URLs. Using the same image linked to the same URL more than 5-10 times can result in your pin getting fewer views.
There are 2 ways to schedule Pins to Pinterest. Pinterest itself has a scheduling tool which works like this:
Another tool to schedule Pins to Pinterest is called Tailwind. Tailwind is a Pin scheduler which allows you to schedule the same pin to multiple boards at predetermined intervals in the future. Tailwind offers a free trial and has a fee of $15 per month or $120 per year. We are Tailwind affiliates which means that you can get $15 credit if you use our link (and we get $15 also).
Here's how to use Tailwind to schedule your Pins.
To have the best impact using Pinterest, you should aim for 15 pins scheduled per day. Pins can point to your website, a blog post, a real estate listing, a landing page to join your mailing list, or any URL. Using fresh pins with new images linked to a URL helps boost your Pinterest traffic.
Be social.
Even though Pinterest is a search engine primarily, there is a benefit in the analytics if you share other people's content. While you might not want to re-pin items linking to your competitors, you can re-pin from your affliates and vendors you work.
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