Pinterest Marketing: How to Use Pinterest to Generate Traffic and Sales

Pinterest is a visual discovery platform with over 500 million active users. For businesses, it acts as a visual search engine — people use Pinterest to find ideas, inspiration, and products, with a very high purchase intent. Unlike other social networks, content on Pinterest has a lifespan of months or years.

Why is Pinterest different from other social networks?

Pinterest is not a social network in the traditional sense — it is a visual search engine. People don’t go to Pinterest to see what friends are doing. They go to seek inspiration, plan purchases, and discover products. Data from the platform reveals that 83% of users make a purchase based on content they saw on Pinterest.

Which businesses are most successful on Pinterest?

• Fashion and beauty: looks, trends, and tutorials
• Home and decor: interior projects, DIY, and organization
• Food: recipes and photos of dishes
• Weddings and events: one of the most searched categories on the platform
• E-commerce in general: any product that can be visually displayed
• Blogs and content: one of the largest traffic generators for niche blogs

How to create an effective strategy on Pinterest

1. Set up a business profile

Pinterest Business offers access to analytics, Pinterest Ads, and integrated shop features. Set it up with your brand photo, a keyword-rich description, and a link to your website. Claim your website so that pins from your domain are attributed to your profile.

2. Optimize your pins for search

Include relevant keywords in the pin title, description (up to 500 characters), and boards. Research the most searched keywords in your category using Pinterest’s search bar and observe the automatic suggestions — they reveal users’ real intentions.

3. Create high-quality vertical images

The ideal format is vertical, with a 2:3 ratio (example: 1000 x 1500 pixels). Vertical images take up more space in the feed and attract more attention. Use high-quality photos, readable overlay text, and a color palette consistent with your brand.

4. Enable Rich Pins and Product Pins

Rich Pins automatically sync information from your website — price, availability, and article data are updated in real-time. Product Pins show price and purchase link directly on the pin, reducing friction for e-commerce.

5. Organize themed boards with keywords

Create boards with keyword-rich names — not just “Recipes” but “Quick Recipes for the Week.” Mix your own pins with repins of relevant content from other profiles to build rich boards that attract followers organically.

6. Publish consistently

The recommendation is to publish between 10 and 25 pins per day, mixing your own content and repins. Use tools like Tailwind to schedule pins in advance and maintain consistency without having to publish manually every day.

Pinterest Ads: how to advertise on the platform

Ads on Pinterest integrate naturally into the discovery feed, making them less intrusive than on other platforms. The main formats include:

• Promoted Pins: sponsored pins that appear in search results and in the feed. They function like any organic pin but with amplified distribution.
• Shopping Ads: ideal for e-commerce. They connect the store’s catalog directly to Pinterest and display products with price and purchase link.
• Promoted Video Pins: short videos in the discovery feed with engagement rates higher than static images.
• Carousel Ads: allow showcasing multiple products or steps in a process in a single swipeable ad.

The CPC (cost per click) on Pinterest tends to be lower than on Instagram and Google for visual categories. The audience has a high purchase intent, which raises the average conversion rate.

Hashtag strategy on Pinterest

Unlike Instagram, hashtags on Pinterest carry less weight than keywords in the title and description. Use between 2 and 5 relevant hashtags per pin — prioritize specific niche terms over generic hashtags. Pinterest’s algorithm reads keywords in the text, boards, and image titles, not in hashtags.

Pinterest Shopping: sell directly on the platform

Set up your catalog in the Pinterest Business Hub, connect your online store (Shopify and WooCommerce have native integration), and activate the “Shop” tab on your profile. Users will be able to buy directly from the platform without leaving Pinterest — significantly reducing funnel abandonment.

Recommended tools for Pinterest

• Tailwind: the most used tool for scheduling pins. It offers analysis of the best times and content suggestions.
• Canva: templates optimized for Pinterest’s vertical format, with a consistent color palette and typography.
• Pinterest Analytics: native to the platform, shows impressions, saves, and outbound clicks by pin and by board.

Most important metrics in Pinterest Analytics

• Saves (repins): the best indicator of relevant content — it means the user wants to save it for later
• Outbound clicks: visits to your website — the most important for direct conversion
• Impressions: how many times your pins have been viewed in total
• Engagement rate: sum of saves, clicks, and comments divided by impressions

How long does it take to see results?

Between 3 and 6 months of consistent publishing, traffic begins to grow significantly. Pins published today continue to be found and generate traffic for months and years — one of the only digital channels where current effort has exponential returns in the future.

Frequently asked questions about Pinterest for businesses

Does Pinterest work for Brazilian businesses?

Yes. Brazil is one of the largest Pinterest markets in the world. Categories like cooking, decor, fashion, weddings, and beauty have a very high search volume in Portuguese. Visual niche companies that are not yet on Pinterest have a real window of opportunity before the channel becomes saturated.

Do I need a professional photographer to succeed on Pinterest?

Not necessarily. Cell phone photos with good lighting and simple composition perform very well. What really matters is the vertical format, readable overlay text, and visual consistency of the brand. Canva has free templates ready for Pinterest.

Does Pinterest work for services, not just physical products?

Yes. Service companies like design, architecture, marketing, and consulting successfully use Pinterest — infographics, before and after, visual step-by-step, and illustrated guides are formats that perform well in any niche.

Want to use Pinterest to generate traffic and sales?

Focofy develops integrated digital marketing strategies that include Pinterest, Instagram, Google, and other platforms according to your business goals.

Talk to Focofy and discover how Pinterest can bring new customers to your business.