How to make click-worthy pins and get conversions
Creating curiosity on your pins is the key way of getting clicks through to your website. The idea behind a pin is to pique their curiosity but not give too much away, causing the pinner to take action on your pin.
They will either save it to check out later or click through right there and then, with the latter being the preferred choice.
So how do you create curiosity?
The easiest way to create curiosity is in the title, description, and visual image, and in reality, it all comes down to the way you portray your post, the words you use.
If you have a pin with a text overlay which says “The 5 best secrets to making $100 right now” and then list these in your description, why would people click through?
You’ve given them what they need without even leaving Pinterest.
Now, if you have the same title but a description that doesn’t give the secret away but creates more curiosity, then you’re going to get the click-through.
People want to know things quickly, so if you give it to them on Pinterest, they will have no reason to leave Pinterest. They will take what they need and then move on to the next pin.
Your aim with any pin is to send them on a journey from finding your pin to converting, whether that’s funneling them through Pinterest to your website to purchase something or to subscribe, it’s all about the click-through.
Bonus tip: You could always do this in reverse too. If you offer something on your blog like a freebie or locked content, you could request that the reader follows your Pinterest account or repins the relevant pin to unlock the content.
Creating Viral Content
When it comes to creating a viral pin, it isn’t all about how it looks, it’s about the content and the relevance.
To have a pin go viral, you need it to resonate with A LOT of people, so it needs to be something that is going to benefit people.
Creating a pin that ticks all of the boxes doesn’t guarantee it’s going to go viral, but you are giving it the best chance you can.
Sometimes a pin just picks up, and you’re completely taken by surprise, and sometimes a pin just flops, and you’re gutted.
There is no actual formula for creating a viral pin, some things work for others and then won’t work for you. A viral pin is almost like the lottery, but not as hard to win.
So what can make a pin go viral?
The headline
Your headline is practically the first thing a potential pinner will see. The headline tends to either cover the image in some way or compliment it, but its job is to capture attention and make the viewer want to take action.
Having a powerful and appealing headline is the start of it all. So what makes a good headline?
Some of the best performing headlines come from different ‘groups’ of content ideas such as:
How to do / achieve / earn
‘How to’ posts do incredibly well because many people are looking for guidance and feel that they can find the answers by clicking on your pin.
Telling people how they can achieve or make a success of something gives them the extra confirmation that they can actually do it. Sometimes we just need to hear it from someone else.
How I did/achieved/managed…
Another type of post that does well is the ‘bragging’ how to post. These posts are about you telling the pinner what you have managed to achieve, giving them a sense of ‘if they can do it, so can I’ or ‘if it worked for them, it would work for me.’
Lists
List posts do particularly well because of the ease of information. When you read a list post, you can see at a glance the relevant information you need. Plus, many pinners are lead to pins, which are simplified and easy to read and follow.
Easy Steps
Who doesn’t love easy steps? Especially when they are easy AND effective. Marketing something as ‘easy’ instantly takes the fear out of the process and makes the reader feel like they can accomplish it quickly.
Must do
Must do posts give a sense of urgency and importance. When you see something with a must-do title, you don’t want to skip past it because you fear missing out. To must do is a command, we are meant to follow commands, right?
Mistakes to avoid
Everyone wants to know what mistakes to avoid. It’s built into us. We hate to fail, so if we can avoid failure, we’re going to damn well try. Posts that focus on the negativity of something can have the same impact as posts that focus on the positives.
You might click on a pin that says, “Eat these 5 foods to lose weight”. However, you’re also very likely to click “Avoid these 5 foods to lose weight”. If you invest in the positive and the negative, then you learn a whole lot more.
Secrets
Everybody wants to know secrets. The secret to happiness, the secret to success, the secret of how to build a six-figure blog. If you’re dishing out the juicy details which people claim to keep under wraps, then you are bound to catch people’s interest.
Guides
Guides do pretty well, especially ultimate guides. When you click a pin, which is an ultimate guide, you know you’re going to be directed to something substantial, informative, beneficial, and worth your time.
An ultimate guide covers everything you need to know about a topic, not just one little element, so you know you can find everything relevant in one place.
Big achievements
Big achievement pins are a mix between both of the how-to pins but on a much more impressive scale. Throw some big numbers into the title, and you’re onto a winner.
If you have earned some big money or made some great achievements, then brag about it…and then tell everyone else how to do it.
Free resources
Pins that offer freebies always work well because everybody loves a freebie. You might look through pins looking for inspiration for a content schedule, but when someone throws a beautiful pin in your face offering a free content schedule, you’re gonna check it out.
The content
Like we’ve mentioned, having a topic that resonates with a lot of people is the best place to start when aiming to create a viral pin.
Having a solid topic will bring strength in numbers, but it needs more than just being in the ‘cool club’.
As you’re creating pins to represent your blog content, be sure to add relevant information and keywords in your description along with a call to action.
You can’t force a viral pin. You can’t force a topic to be popular, but all you need to do is key into a popular want or need in your niche, and you might just hit gold.
Conclusion
It’s not just a pretty pin that will help your pin go viral. You need to focus on the header, description, and SEO too. Don’t forget to use Tailwind to help with scheduling your pins to publish and Tailwind Tribes to really boost your pin engagement and traffic.
If you want to learn more about Pinterest SEO then check out this article.
