How do I create the perfect Instagram post? Elements of a Great Pinterest Post An effective, engaging pin doesn’t just happen. Consider adding a text overlay to your image (see image to the right) to help make what it’s about really clear. If a pinner doesn’t click to expand the pin, at least s/he will still be clear what the pin is about from the image, text overlay and the beginning of the description. Clicking the pin takes you to a highly relevant page about a family’s adventure to the Grand Canyon. If the author had created a more compelling pin in the correct vertical size, she would likely have increased clicks through to her fantastic article. But you’d post your best one to Instagram. Of all social media, #HASHTAGS are most important at Instagram. Include the most important ones in your caption. Image quality is important for both Pinterest and Instagram.
Everyone knows that Pinterest and Instagram are the go-to social media if your niche is particularly visual. But did you know that there are differences between the two? These differences are so important that…
If you only have time to do one, choosing the right one may make the difference between success or failure, depending on your niche and goals. If you have time for two, understanding the differences provides a framework to develop an incredibly powerful visual campaign, each of which complements the other brilliantly.
To illustrate, imagine for a moment that you’re a landscape designer. You have a beautiful, content-rich website where you answer visitors’ landscaping questions and sell your services. As a smart solopreneur, you plan to promote your business on social media.
Since your niche is highly visual, you choose both Pinterest and Instagram as your channels, knowing that these usually do well for a visual topic like landscape design.
To make the most of your efforts on both channels, you want to know…
- How do I create the perfect Pinterest post?
- How do I create the perfect Instagram post?
- How do I choose the right channel for a specific photo? Or will the same photo do equally well on Pinterest and Instagram?
Great questions! Here are the answers. You don’t have to be a landscape designer to grow a sapling start into a magnificent, productive social presence!
Elements of a Great Pinterest Post
An effective, engaging pin doesn’t just happen. A pin needs to be…
- Beautiful — have a high resolution, visually pleasing, vertical image (“portrait”)
- Helpful — include a keyword rich, helpful text overlay and/or description
- Actionable — link to a valuable resource
How is that different from Instagram? Hold on a sec, we’ll get there.
Pinterest is a platform where people primarily focus on what may happen in their lives in the future. They discover, save, collect, categorize and plan for something that hasn’t happened yet.
When creating pins, remember that pinners will “save” (pin/collect) them to come back to later. And folks will find your pins and re-pin them for weeks and months after your original pin! Pinterest has, by far, the largest “useful lifetime” of any social media.
Portrait-format (vertical) pins perform better on Pinterest. Why? Because they occupy more screen space, increasing the chance of being seen. This is especially important for mobile devices, which the majority (80% and growing) of Pinterest users are on. The current recommended aspect ratio for a Pin is 2:3 (width:height).
Unlike Instagram, pin links play a big role on Pinterest, helping establish the credibility of the content. A good pin should always lead back to a reputable website that’s relevant to the pin’s content. Even more importantly, Pinterest’s algorithm views good quality sources as one of the most important aspects of a Pinner’s experience.
Consider adding a text overlay to your image (see image to the right) to help make what it’s about really clear. This practice is perfectly acceptable (and common) on Pinterest.
Also, take your pin a step further by including a strong description that starts with your primary keywords positioned in the first few words of the description.
At times, doing both may seem a bit repetitive, but not everyone looks at descriptions beyond the first few words. If a pinner doesn’t click to expand the pin, at least s/he will still be clear what the pin is about from the image, text overlay and the beginning of the description.
Another important difference between the two platforms concerns hashtags. While hashtags are highly popular on Instagram and are clickable, they are practically non-existent on Pinterest. Hashtags help people find what they’re looking for on Instagram, much like they do on Twitter.
On Pinterest, however, hashtags are not clickable and, therefore, don’t lead to other pins/posts with the same hashtag. Hashtags can be used for searching on Pinterest but results are often irrelevant. Occasionally a business will use a unique branded hashtag across their profile and board descriptions to help increase brand recognition. Other than that, there’s little (if any) benefit in using hashtags on Pinterest for marketing purposes.
Armed with the above information, decide what the goal of each pin is and where in the purchase cycle you wish to reach your audience. For example, do you want the pin to help…
Build awareness — about your business and products
Increase engagement — inspire people to click for a closeup or save (pin) the idea for later
Increase clicks (on the pin URL) — drive traffic to your website
Convert sales — turn pinners into buyers.
In summary, how-to, instructional and actionable pins outperform other content on Pinterest. Create pins with beautiful vertical images that help pinners solve a problem, learn how to do something (diy), plan for an upcoming life event or help them turn their dreams into reality.
Grand Canyon, Pinterest Example 1
This pin shows a beautiful, original image of the Grand Canyon in vertical format. Colors, lighting and composition showcase the canyon’s many layers, giving an almost surreal effect.
The text overlay makes it very clear what information the viewer will find after clicking the pin. The first few sentences of the description get right to the point about taking kids to the Grand Canyon’s south rim.
Clicking the pin takes you to a highly relevant page about a family’s adventure to the Grand Canyon. Exactly what’s expected.
The article is comprehensive, as the author explains amenities in detail. She includes what you need to know before you go, hotel options, driving tours, hikes, best views for watching sunrises and sunsets, where visitor centers are and more. She also has several more beautiful, original photos taken during her family’s recent Grand Canyon adventure.
This pin has all the elements needed to be found in Pinterest’s Guided Search tool – fabulous high resolution, vertical image, clear text overlay, description starting with best keywords, link to helpful article.
Grand Canyon, Pinterest Example 2
This pin also shows a great view of the Grand Canyon with a woman sitting and looking out over one of its many amazing sights.
There’s nothing wrong with the image itself, except that its size is not the recommended vertical one. The…
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