#166 – Creating a Pinterest Strategy for Etsy

Those of you who are in the Etsy and eCommerce space have been begging me to do a post about how to promote your shop without a blog. So, we looked high and low for the right person to discuss creating a Pinterest strategy for Etsy and we finally found her.

If you’re not an eCommerce/Etsy seller, go ahead and listen to this episode to learn more about how to promote the selling platform you use.

If you’re new to Pinterest, we’d love for you to sign up for our Start series. This helps you get that firm Pinterest foundation built fast.

Tara Jacobsen has 2 Etsy shops, (one digital and one vintage) and 20 years of marketing experience. She runs 3 blogs, including Marketing Artfully.

Tara has a friend who refuses to blog for her shop, and so she’s found a way to get products onto Pinterest in a diversified way that gives the seller a vast reach.

When the Business Coach Is Wrong

Tara and her husband adopted three kids through the foster care system. At the time, she was running a marketing services company, but it wasn’t working well  for their family after the children came along.

So she paid to get some marketing coaching. At the end of three months of coaching, her coach told her that she should only work with realtors from that point forward.

Tara decided to buck her coaches suggestion. Instead, she opened a digital product store in 2015 and sold over $25K of worksheets throughout the year.

Currently, she is spearheading a challenge with her Facebook group where she posts one new product a day for the month.

The Power of Pinterest

Because Tara was a blogger, she knew the power of Pinterest when it came to selling her products. When she started to consistently pin the vintage items she was selling on Etsy, she noticed that they started selling much faster.

Recently, she started to ramp up her pinning because Etsy has changed its rules about its search option. If you’re not willing to offer free shipping, they push you down in search.

It was vital that Tara take control of her Etsy store traffic.

Pinterest and Etsy SEO 

In the beginning, Tara would just pin her listing and hope that would be enough. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works.

Etsy SEO is very different than Pinterest SEO. It can feel overwhelming to have to learn both systems.

Use the Pinterest tabs to learn more about the products that show up when you search for something specific. For example, if you search for “necklaces” the tabs that might show up are “layered” “simple” “classic” etc…

If you click on one of those, you might see one of the same words from the last tab section pop up there as well. This allows you to do product research, as well as Pinterest research, at the same time.

Knowing this allows you to have more product options and gives you new ways to show up on Pinterest. You can create new images based on these results and what the audience is looking for.

Use the keyword “Etsy” in every description for your pins. This allows you to know that you will show up in search results. Learn all about Keywording on Pinterest here.

A Pinterest Strategy for Etsy

Use Sections As Categories

Some eCommerce sellers just don’t want to write blog posts. They don’t want to come up with “5 Ways to Style Your Favorite Necklace.” (related: Do Product Sellers Need a Blog for Pinterest?)

The best way to utilize Pinterest without a blog is to link your pins to your different Etsy store sections. You have 20 sections available to you in your Etsy store. You can put all of your necklaces in one section, and your pins will lead to that section.

You can put in a ton of work on Pinterest pinning to specific products. BUT… if you stop selling a specific product, those pins will lead to your competitors on Etsy because of how they offer related products. Change your pin link to go to your section instead of your product listing so that your pins always lead to your own products. 

This strategy allows the user to find more of your products and gives them the opportunity to buy from you.

Create Multiple Pins 

The most successful strategy for Tara’s Etsy shop has been to create multiple pins for each category of product. The best way to know what kind of pins you should be creating is to spend some time searching on Pinterest to understand what Pinterest views as great content.

Use two of your Etsy-size pictures to create the traditional long “blogger” Pinterest image that fits in with the competition. Make your own templates (Canva is a great tool for this!). Pinterest likes a variety of different pins. The more variety of pins of the same products, the better.

We talked about this in episode 164 when we dove deep into Pinterest visual search. If you want to be found in the “more like this” section of search, you need to have multiple of images of your product.

Create Five Boards for Each Section 

One key piece of advice when it comes to Pinterest marketing that Tara shared is to create 5 boards for each of your store sections.

Many Etsy sellers have a main product board, but that doesn’t necessarily serve the user well. Use the 4 other boards to share different types of products, as well as products from other sellers.

Keep in mind that by following this tactic, you’ll be helping your audience.

If you share someone else’s tips on how to make a knitted hat look great, they will then want to buy your guide on how to make a knitted hat. It’s a win-win. 

We talked about how to name your boards specifically and how that helps you attract the user in our episode about 2019 Pinterest Best Practices. Be sure to check it out.

Remember that awesome statistic — 90% of Pinterest searches are unbranded. On the Pinterest platform, you can compete with brands if you keyword well and create great images.

Stocking Stuffers 

Tara has a Christmastime trick for Etsy sellers who don’t want to blog.

You should be getting your Christmas content out now (read more about seasonality on Pinterest here). Have a section in your store all year long for items under $20. At the end of October each year, change the name of that section to “Stocking Stuffers.”

Now you have a section under $20 to generate more sales, and a great resource to create more pins that show off these stocking stuffers.

It’s like you’re giving Pinterest viewers a preview of a mini-store full of awesome stocking stuffers. If they can get all their stocking stuffers in one place, they will. Bam. You just made life easy for them.

And that, my friends, is how to create a Pinterest strategy for Etsy without a blog!

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Tara was kind enough set up a page on her website just for SPM listeners. You’ll find links to her stores, a post all about writing descriptions, a section with her videos, and one of her courses. Make sure you go check out all the free content!

And you can find Tara around the web at these places:

• Artsy Fartsy Life / Accidental Fashionista
• Paperly People
• Glamorously Vintage

TIME STAMP:

Intro
5:05 – When the Business Coach Is Wrong
8:47 – The Power of Pinterest
10:50 – Pinterest and Etsy SEO
14:15 – Using Sections As Categories
19:45 – Creating Lots of Pins
24:58 – 5 Boards for Each Section
28:37 – Stocking Stuffers