If you want to grow your blog or business than you should have a plan for your marketing, and strategies for your content, Pinterest, social media, product creation, sponsorships and more. Is it important to have a strategy specifically for Pinterest? With 300 million monthly users, it sure is! Take a look at these stats: “93% of active pinners said they use Pinterest to plan for purchases and 87% said they’ve purchased something because of Pinterest”. Here are the steps for creating a Pinterest strategy that will help grow your blog and business.

Retailers know that many people start their planning and shopping early whether it’s in a brick and mortar store or online. The holidays are a busy time… buying gifts, planning and attending parties, traveling to visit relatives...there's a lot to do. Holiday sales has actually been increasing each year and is predicted to hit as much as $730 billion this year!* So how can you get in front of these shoppers with your blog content and products? Figure out who they are and what they're looking for.

Just like your social media accounts, you will need to take the time to build the trust of your followers and others on Pinterest. You do that by being consistent, honest and helpful. If you do this, your Pinterest experience will be very positive and can be profitable for your blog or business.

The main difference between those who are successful and those who aren’t is trust. People like to read blogs and buy from people whom they trust. Here are 7 ways you can build trust through Pinterest and gain more followers.

It’s important to promote your Pinterest account as that is a major traffic generator.  According to Pinterest: 93% of Pinners say they find new ideas on there and 72% of Pinners find new brands and services. That's all potential readers for your blog and customers for your products. So what are some of the ways you promote your page? Well first you should integrate Pinterest with your social media accounts. Note that I didn’t say Pinterest was also a social media platform… because it’s not. Remember it’s a search engine. So when you first set up your Pinterest account, connect it with Facebook and Twitter using the tools available. Use that to find and invite the friends you already have. Be sure to cross-promote as much as possible and always mention or link your Pinterest account or pins when appropriate.

Editing your blog graphics and/or photos helps you stand out. Two reasons why your blog needs visually appealing graphics that you can customize is that it creates brand awareness and increases social sharing. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a graphic designer to edit stock photos. You just need to learn a few basics to get started. Follow these tips to start learning how to personalize stock images.

Creating pins that get shared on Pinterest is all about using great images and the words you use to convey your message. You want to attract the reader’s attention so they will stop and click on your pin to share it and to click through to your blog post or sales page. Here are 7 easy steps to help you get started.

1. Choose the Right Images – Using images on Pinterest is a necessity; without images, there is no Pinterest. But you need to ensure that you use high-quality images that are legal to use. You can find images at a variety of free online photo sites as well as sites that charge per photo or have a membership plan. A great site for feminine styled photos is Styled Stock Society. Another great resource is Creative Market.  They have quite a bit to choose from and the cost per photo is affordable.