In this day and age, there are numerous social media platforms just waiting for your small business. From Facebook Marketplace to TikTok reels, the options are endless. However, one platform often neglected by freelancers is Pinterest. Pinterest is a strong social media platform that provides businesses with a one-of-a-kind approach to connect to their target audience. It is particularly beneficial for freelancers to promote their work and interact with future clients.
Do you want to promote your freelancing business on Pinterest? You've come to the right place! Here at Indy, we aim to help freelancers with every aspect of the job. In this article, we will go through the basics of marketing on Pinterest, as well as tips on how to create a successful profile and use the proper keywords to increase your exposure and expand your business.
Can You Make Money on Pinterest as a Freelancer?
Pinterest is not your traditional social media platform. Instead, consider it as another search engine, similar to Google. You'll need to mix Pinterest Pins with Pinterest SEO keywords to drive free traffic to your own website or blog directly from Pinterest.
When users arrive at your website, you may direct them to subscribe to your email list, buy merchandise, or perform another activity.
According to Pinterest demographic statistics, 45% of individuals in the United States with a household income of more than $100,000 per year are active on the site. Furthermore, 83% of Pinterest users buy based on what they see on the platform.
Pinterest Business Account vs Personal Pinterest Account
When you register a business account on Pinterest, you acquire access to several Pinterest features that you would not have otherwise, opening up an abundance of new potential for your online presence.
Here are three benefits of a Pinterest business account:
1. Spot emerging trends
Pinterest is the most popular site for customers to share their favorite items, ideas, and trends. Maintain an active presence on Pinterest to keep your business at the forefront of new trends in your sector.
Not only should you follow industry leaders on the network to uncover upcoming trends, but Pinterest also collects popular content categories for users based on their searches.
2. Increase your brand's authority
When you set up a Pinterest business account, you have access to several profile features that normal users do not have:
- A header with your own personalized Pins
- Insight into the number of people who see your Pins
- A trustworthy website
Each of them contributes to your brand's authority, providing you a more credible online presence.
3. Monitor your Pinterest analytics
Another fantastic advantage of utilizing a Pinterest business account is the option to view metrics for your Pins, particularly those saved from your website.
You can observe impressions, interactions, clicks, views, and much more. You may also browse all of your pins or simply those saved from your website by selecting particular date ranges.
Benefits of Using Pinterest as a Freelancer
Still not convinced? Here are four advantages to incorporating Pinterest into your marketing strategy.
1. Increase your brand's awareness
80% of weekly Pinners discover a new brand or product on Pinterest, and users are 55% more likely to purchase a brand or product after seeing a video on Pinterest.
Unlike other social media networks, the Pins you create have a lengthy lifespan. These Pins are searchable and stay on your board indefinitely, boosting conversation and increasing brand recognition.
2. Increase website traffic
Pinterest generates the most traffic of any social media platform. And it's not just any traffic—85% of weekly pinners have purchased something based on brand Pins, demonstrating the quality of traffic. This can increase your business or blogging income.
3. Improve your reach
Users not only Pin the things they like, but they also spend money on them, which translates into a significant opportunity to increase sales and conversions if you can bring your products and services in front of your target audience.
4. Increase your sales
Sales are quicker on Pinterest than any other social media sites. This is because people use Pinterest to find inspiration, fresh ideas, and new products or services.
Pinterest also allows you to purchase directly from the platform, thanks to shoppable Product Pins. These Pins have been enhanced with metadata and structured to alert Pinterest users that these products or services are shoppable.
Whether you are a content creator, run an eCommerce business, or want to increase visitors to your blog, Pinterest may be a valuable monetization tool.
Ways to Make Money on Pinterest as a Freelancer
Now that we have covered the basics, let's take a look at the different ways you can monetize your freelancing business through Pinterest.
Drive Traffic to Your Website or Blog
Whether you run a blog or operate a website offering services or products as a freelancer, it may be time to incorporate Pinterest into your traffic-building strategy. Ranking for keywords on Google may be a difficult and time-consuming task. Ranking for keywords on Pinterest, on the other hand, might be easier and can result in significant traffic benefits.
Pinterest claims that 85% of visitors use the site to start a new project or learn something new. You might potentially catch some of this search traffic through Pinterest if you provide helpful content that fits with the terms your target audience is searching for.
For example, if you're a freelance personal trainer, you could use industry specific keywords to attract fitness enthusiasts to your website and prompt them to complete an action (e.g. sign up to your mailing list, book a personal session, or join an online fitness course).
Some tips to help you increase website traffic through Pinterest include:
- Pinterest Trends - discover which keywords are trending in your industry with Pinterest users
- Pins - Create Pins for each blog post, website article, or new product using a title, description, and image that match the trending keywords.
- Save your Pinterest Pins to business or group boards that have a title and description matching trending keywords.
What are Pinterest Pins?
Pins are bookmarks that individuals use on Pinterest to save content that they like. People may search for Pins, bookmark their favorites, and click on a Pin to learn more.
There are six different types of Pinterest Pins; these are:
Static Pin - Static Pins only have one picture. You may make a static Pin using your own photographs or images found online.
Idea Pin - Idea Pins are multi-page formats that can contain up to 20 pages of videos, photos, and text in a single Pin. You may change the background color, add stickers and text, tag goods, and do other things to personalize them. Idea Pins can be used to:
- Make a step-by-step tutorial, project, or recipe.
- Upload short films or photographs with informative text or text overlays.
- Change the colors and fonts in your Pin.
- Create a product collection.
- Tell a narrative.
Video Pin - Video Pins display a single video. They start playing automatically when they appear in your home feed and have cover images to catch your attention.
Rich Pin - A rich Pin syncs information from your website to your Pins automatically.
Collection Pin - Collections Pins are product Pins that have been organized into collections. When a user clicks on a Pin in the collection, they may shop for comparable items.
Try On product Pin - Try On is a service that allows individuals to digitally try on things found on Pinterest using Pinterest Lens. It is presently only available on mobile devices in a few countries.
How to make Pinterest Pins
- Log in to your Pinterest account
- Click the plus icon in the bottom right corner
- Select Create a Pin
- Select your image or video
- Add a title, description, and the destination (website, blog, etc.) link
- Select the business or group boards you want to save to, or select Create board to create a new one
- Click Save
A Pinterest board is a collection of Pins that users store. Typically, each board has its own distinct theme or purpose. For example, you may have a board for graphic design logos, or fitness tutorials.
Use Pinterest Ads to Attract Pinterest Users
Put some money behind your Pins to increase their reach. Promoted Pins may be optimized to achieve a variety of objectives, such as increasing traffic or growing your Pinterest followers. Promoted Pins appear in your target audience's home feed, category feeds, and search results exactly like ordinary Pins.
While the cost of each campaign and ad format differs, the average cost of Pinterest ads is $1.50 per click. You can specify a daily spending limit for your Pinterest marketing campaigns. Additionally, there are two ad group bidding options:
1. Custom bidding
You decide how much you want to spend for each action in each campaign. Minimum bids vary depending on ad type and competition, but you set the maximum offer.
For example, if the minimum bid for a click is $0.25, you may set your maximum bid to $2.00. However, if the current rate was $0.75 at the time a user clicked your ad, you will only spend $0.75.
2. Automatic bidding
Automatic bidding, which was introduced in 2020, reduces ad budget while increasing outcomes. Pinterest changes your bids automatically throughout the day, every day, to get the most impact for your budget. It's similar to having your own personal advertising manager.
There are several ad types accessible, such as shopping advertising that is drawn straight from your product catalogue.
The Pinterest Creator Fund
Pinterest announced the Creator Fund (Pinterest creator rewards program) in 2021 to assist creators in growing and monetizing their content on the site.
Participants in these cohorts have access to special brand relationships as well as tools and resources from the Pinterest team to help them improve their reach.
Create Sponsored Content
Pinterest may be a profitable platform for influencer marketing. Content creators may collaborate with advertisers to generate sponsored material specifically for Pinterest, or they can negotiate higher pay for sharing sponsored blog and social content from other platforms with their Pinterest audience.
How to approach brands and write effective proposals
Most freelancing professions are very competitive, and a solid proposal might be the difference between closing the transaction and rejection.
Here are a few tips for writing an effective proposal.
Write a cover letter
The cover letter is not required to be included with the proposal, but it is a fantastic place to start once you've located a potential customer and they've encouraged you to make a proposal.
Cover letters are frequently the first thing a prospective customer reads. These letters are brief and concise, and they should provide clients with a thorough understanding of who you are and how you do business.
Create a title page
The title page's content is straightforward. It includes your name, the name of your client, and the title of your proposal. The page should be professional and inform the client that they are about to read a document produced by an expert on the proposals topic.
Include a table of contents
Include a table of contents unless your proposal is only a page or two long (and some brilliant proposal designs adopt this simple approach).
Give a brief overview with an executive summary
An executive summary is simply a setting for the remainder of the proposal. Introduce yourself and provide a summary of what the reader may expect in the coming sections.
Outline your proposal
After the executive summary has been completed, it is time to move on to the details. This is where you outline your proposal to the customer, including deliverables, dates, and specific duties. Consider this your job description—this is precisely what you'll be doing for the client.
Finishing off
To finish off your proposal, make sure to include:
- A detailed pricing list so your client knows how much your services cost and how much they pay you for various parts of the task.
- An "About Me" section—concentrate on what distinguishes you, and explain how you perceive a relationship between yourself and the client's project.
- Add any testimonials and reviews (if deemed necessary) to show proof of previous experience with similar projects.
How to write and send invoices to brands
An invoice is a statement that shows how much money your client owes you after you finish a project or provide a service. It explains what items and services your business provided, how much they cost, the payment due date, and how your client may pay you.
There are three important terms to consider.
- When you are going to be paid:
- Typically, most freelancers charge for their services 30 days after content is posted. However, you may wish to be paid immediately after work has been approved.
- How you are going to collect payment:
- Make sure to establish how you want to get paid by the client. Your agreement could include something like this: "freelancer will be paid per payment instructions on invoice."
- When and who you should invoice:
- Check that you are sending the invoice to the correct person and at the correct time.
An invoice should be issued after you have completed a client or customer’s order—this could be for products, services, or both. If your business provides physical products, typically an invoice will be generated shortly after delivery.
If your business provides services, for example content articles or graphic design, the invoice is typically generated after the service has been approved by your clients.
Pinterest Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing isn't limited to blogs. You may also connect to eye-catching Pins using your direct affiliate link. You may earn a percentage on purchases if Pinners click on your unique affiliate link and make a purchase.
Additionally, you may also drive visitors to affiliate-related material, such as blog articles or videos, to get your audience warmed up before they buy.
Here are four tips for affiliate marketing through Pinterest:
- Create Pinterest boards
- Write descriptions
- Use high-quality content
- Follow Pinterest's Affiliate Guidelines
Follow the instructions in the above section on writing and sending proposals and invoices!
How Indy Can Help With Pinterest Marketing
Indy wants to help freelancers, and there are several ways we can help with Pinterest marketing. Our online invoice software can take the hassle out of invoicing, with a generator that produces simple invoice templates in seconds. Our invoice tools also make it easy to send professional invoices at set intervals—perfect for freelancers with recurring clients.
That's not all—here are some other ways Indy can help you with your business needs.
- Make captivating, professional-looking proposals and estimates with Indy's easy-to-use proposal software. Indy takes the uncertainty out of writing a great proposal by providing you with a clear, easy-to-follow template that is ready to submit in minutes.
- Our Time Tracker tracks your hours for you. If you are billing customers based on hourly rate, Indy's time tracking widget shows you how many hours have been billed, or still need to be billed, and can be filtered to your projects for easy timekeeping.
No matter the industry, Indy is simple, effective, and can help you manage your projects and business all on one platform. Sign-up now and try it for yourself!
Conclusion
Pinterest is a strong social media platform that provides businesses with a one-of-a-kind approach to connect to their target audience. Unlike traditional social media platforms that focus heavily on how many followers your business has, consider Pinterest as another search engine, similar to Google. Particularly beneficial for freelancers and online business owners, Pinterest can increase your brand's awareness and generates the most traffic of any social media platform. From Pinterest Pins to customizable ads, there are numerous ways to earn money through Pinterest and set your business up for success from day one!
Pinterest isn't the only social media platform you can use to market your freelancing business. Check out our Ultimate Guide to Using Social Media as a Freelancer!
