Orlando Bloggers April Meetup
A couple of weeks ago, I had the honor of speaking at a local bloggers meet up. I was asked to present on graphic design and Pinterest for beginners or people who aren’t as familiar with the two. The event was hosted by a gourmet popcorn company called Pipoca Popcorn and it was delicious!
The feedback was so good that I decided to share some basic tips for using graphic design for Pinterest and other social media. I have also attached a pdf with some helpful resources for creating and pinning beautiful images and content.
3 Key Tips For Using Pinterest
Most people think of Pinterest as another form of social media, and while that is true, it actually behaves as more of a search engine like Google. People go onto Pinterest to find images and articles that relate to what they search for. It isn’t as much about the commenting and the sharing or connecting with other Pinners.
1. Searchable Pins – When you go to Pin something from your website, make sure the title of the pin and the description have as many searchable key words as possible. If you aren’t sure what people are searching for, go to the search bar and type in a key word for what your article is about, for example “picnic”, then see what automatic searches show up below the search bar. Those phrases are what people are searching for the most.
Also make sure those key words are in the descriptions of your Pinterest boards as well.
2. Pin Often – Make sure you are pinning other people’s pins several times a day. It is recommended to pin at least 40 pins a day. It can be anything. For your personal pins, once you post a blog post or product or recipe, pin that the day you upload it, a week later, then a month later. Its okay to pin the same thing over and over again. You don’t have to create a new pin each time. You can re-pin your own pin.
3. Pin Attractive Images – No one wants to save an image that is dark or blurry or at a funny angle. People love pins with words, attractive images, bright colors, and with interesting titles. I will tell you how to get images with all of these qualities in the next section below.
Tips for Creating Pin-able Photos
It isn’t as hard as you think it is to make beautiful, pin-able images. Here are a few steps to getting good images.
1. Take Good Pictures – today, the quality of the cameras on our phones is astonishing. You can honestly take pictures on an iPhone 7 Plus or higher that rival some of the best point and shoot cameras. No need to run out and buy a fancy camera if you already have a good cell phone. If you want that extra boost, get a Canon Rebel T3i or higher. The T3i has been out for a long time (they are on the T8i now) but the quality of the photos it takes is fantastic. Plus, it has been out for so long that it is only a couple hundred dollars.
2. Edit Those Photos – You don’t need fancy editing software to edit photos. There are so many apps available these days to edit photos that you can easily find something cheap if not free. Some of my favorites are VSCO Cam, Pic Tap Go, Snapseed, and Lightroom Mobile. Even the default iPhoto editing can work wonders.
3. Add Words or Banners – This step isn’t necessary but usually a good way to be more attention-grabbing. In the downloadable pdf that I have included at the bottom of this post, you will find several inexpensive options for graphic design that don’t require much knowledge or expertise.
The look on my face here cracks me up every time I look at it.
Resources
Here is the downloadable pdf for anyone who wants a comprehensive list of the tools you need to conquer Pinterest and have beautiful images Speech Sheet
If you still feel a little lost or want to take your Pinterest to the next level, visit my Etsy shop where I sell custom Pinterest Board Covers and Pin-able Image Overlays https://www.etsy.com/shop/AllThingsCreativeKV
As always, thanks for reading!
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