You’ve seen WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram did magic with their marketing. People are reaching and gaining new customers by using these social media platforms. All this is true and they work well but there are other platforms out there one can use to reach potential customers, and we are going to look at one of them today. Pinterest.

You were probably searching for profitable ways to use Pinterest for marketing in Nigeria, weren’t you? Or maybe you were charmed by the idea of making money on Pinterest, or maybe you are just looking for a platform that is not as crowded as others. Whatever your reason might be, this article will help show you 5 profitable ways you can use Pinterest successfully in Nigeria.

Pinterest is one platform that provides profitable and powerful ways for you to drive sales and leads for your business. Pinterest is more than just a social media platform full of pictures of different things ranging from abstract art to pictures of cute dogs. With 416 million active global users monthly and 200 billion-plus saved pins to date, the revenue opportunities are undisputable. And yes, there are Nigerian that use this platform just like you use WhatsApp.

So, without wasting much time, let’s get into 5 profitable ways to use Pinterest for marketing in Nigeria.

1. Pick a Niche to Promote on Pinterest

Choose a niche that truly interests you, your passion, and focus all your efforts on that niche. One great way to start gaining followers on Pinterest and getting your pins seen by a massive audience is by being very focused on a precise niche.

It’s just the normal rule of social media. Think about it, if you are following someone on Facebook or Twitter, it is because you like what they have to offer and want to see more of it. Would you not get turned off if you followed, let’s say a comedy profile and end up seeing a lot of cooking posts in your feed? That is not why you followed the person in the first place and if they continue, you will most likely end up unfollowing them.

The same energy is used on Pinterest.

You will have more success making money on Pinterest if you’re giving people what they came to you for. Not a group of random pins that they have no interest in. That way anyone who comes to your feed already knows what you are selling and has a higher chance of being converted into a customer because they are on your feed with a purpose in mind.

2. Build Your Profile

The first thing your customer always sees is your profile. If it’s not attractive and compelling, they will swipe left without thinking twice. Your profile is one major way of marketing yourself or your business, making it compelling and expressive as much as you can to capture and keep a new audience.

You should also build a captivating profile that includes your business name, tags, and relevant keywords related to your niche. This will make you get found for not only your business but also for the types of things you’ll be promoting.

Again, use relevant keywords that people are looking for. Lastly, you will want to connect your Pinterest account to your other social media profiles such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to build an all-rounder profile.

3. Affiliate Marketing

One thing I love about affiliate marketing is it works effectively on all platforms. It doesn’t discriminate and you can use one strategy on multiple platforms including this one Pinterest.

Making use of affiliate marketing as a means to make money on Pinterest is possibly the most popular way to get paid to pin. 

In case you don’t know what affiliate marketing is, Affiliate marketing is essentially promoting products that you use and love in exchange for a commission. Whenever someone buys the product or service you are promoting, through your affiliate referral link, you earn a commission.

So, once you sign up on an affiliating program to promote a product, you are given links aka your affiliate referral code. This is how the companies whose products you refer know that you are the person that made the referral. It’s kind of a tracking link to know who sold the goods.

Many companies show you where to sign up for their affiliate program, typically in the footer of their website. You can also contact the company of products you want to refer and ask them if they have an affiliate program. Ensure you let them know you plan on using the links on Pinterest so they are aware and are ok with it. Some companies don’t publicize their affiliate program on their site, but it never hurts to just ask.

Now, you can post those affiliate links directly through pins on Pinterest. When someone clicks on one of your affiliate links, they are taken to the merchant’s website to complete the sale and you get a commission on the sale.

It is way easier to promote products on Pinterest that you feel and think your followers will benefit from.  By doing this, you not only promote these products but you also promote and market yourself or your brand as a reputable business or individual.

4. Be Relevant

A profitable way to go about adding affiliate pins and earning a commission is to add them to relevant boards. For example, you don’t want to pin an affiliate link to a come clothes on a fitness board, this is spamming and you won’t make any affiliate sales this way. 

Instead, you should create diverse boards specifically for your affiliate pins. Using the same example as above, if you create a board called “Fashionable clothes” and pin all your affiliate clothes pins to it, this is not spamming people.

And as a plus, people that are looking at your “Fashionable clothes” board are already 80% interested in what you offer. People are much more likely to buy because that is what they are looking for and in turn, you make more money with your pins.

Start by creating at least 10 boards that are very relevant to your business, Pinterest business account, and the sorts of product you plan on promoting.

Ensure you also fill in your board descriptions with a nice paragraph on what the board contains. Again, use relevant keywords throughout your descriptions without keyword stuffing.

Fill these boards with your pins as well as popular pins from other users that are relevant to your niche. As such it is advised you add popular pins of other users to prevent your board from looking spammy.

5. Join Pinterest Group Boards

Join group boards that are related to your business or niche. To join this board, you will need to contact the board owner and request an invitation. Most group boards have instructions in the board description on how to contact them to request an invitation.

A nice crafted email that is politely asking for an invitation is much better than just a phrase “please add me to your board”. 

Be polite, let them know you love their pins and are following them. Be complimentary, you will catch more flies with honey.

Group boards are a great way to get more awareness of your profile. Though be sure to read the board rules, if they specify no affiliate pins then don’t pin them to that board, you will get kicked out.

And even if the group board doesn’t allow affiliate pins, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t join them. Group boards are still a good way to get noticed and gain more followers. Once you grow your following, your affiliate pins will get seen by your followers in their smart feed.

Pinterest wants its users to be consistent and engaged on their site as much as possible. The more consistent you are, the more your pins will get seen. So, get ready to put in the work if you want to enjoy the benefits of marketing on Pinterest.

Bonus Tip

This is a bonus tip on how profitable Pinterest can be used for marketing in Nigeria.

Play by the rules

You must play by the rules when using Pinterest to avoid problems. First of all, if you’re getting paid to promote a product or service, you must always disclose that the link is an affiliate. You can do this by just adding “affiliate” at the end of your description.

Pinterest also requires you to use the full affiliate link. You can’t hide or shorten the link with programs like bit.ly or pretty links.

Don’t spam users with your affiliate links. This will turn off people and will result in unfollows and it could get you kicked out of Pinterest altogether.

Conclusion

It’s very possible to market your business and make money on Pinterest if you know your stuff. You just have to create beautiful and eye-catching images to get seen though there is more to it than that. But the core of Pinterest is the pictures, Pinterest is a visual search engine, so incorporate that knowledge into your strategy.

Just like Google, SEO (search engine optimization) is how your pins will show up in search results. You must create gripping SEO-rich descriptions as well as visually attractive pins that grab people’s attention.

Lastly, remember to keep your pins relevant to what your audience started following you for in the first place. You will have a hard time converting your followers into buyers if you are promoting random products and services that they weren’t looking for in the first place.

It doesn’t matter if your clientele is Nigerian or a foreigner, we are all humans and this blog post is based on our behaviors as humans. If you follow these steps listed above, you are sure to have a profitable marketing strategy for Pinterest that will get you customers both home and abroad.