Harnessing the Power of Pinterest Videos for Marketing

When it comes to image-based marketing, Pinterest is one of the best social media platforms to use. With recent changes to the platform, it is also a great site for video marketing. Read on to find out how you can effectively use Pinterest videos to promote your business.

The benefits of videos on Pinterest

While Pinterest’s video marketing capabilities aren’t as extensive as that of other sites, using video content on the platform still has plenty of benefits:

• Making pins more memorable: Pinterest’s own study reveal that people are three times more likely to remember video pins than regular ones. This gives plenty of recall value for your brand.
• Getting more information out: Videos let you provide more information than you would with just a single image. This helps in convincing people to click on any links that are included in the pins.
• Increased share ability: Videos are, by themselves, very shareable. Adding them to your pins will help in getting them viewed by more people.
• Being mobile-friendly: Pinterest’s video pins work well on mobile devices which lets you engage your audiences on the go.

All these benefits should be more than enough to convince you to add videos to your marketing pins.

How videos work on Pinterest

One thing that you need to note with Pinterest videos is that they don’t operate in the same way as those on YouTube or Vimeo. Instead of being directly hosted on the platform itself, Pinterest simply allows playback within pins. The videos are still hosted externally on video streaming sites or even your own website.

Posting your videos on Pinterest is done in the same way as pinning your images. You simply share the link to the video on the site and it is then embedded into your pin as playable content. Most video streaming sites already have dedicated buttons you can use to share content on Pinterest.

On the other hand, widgets can be used to add Pinterest sharing for your site’s videos.

One thing you should note is that pinned videos work differently on desktop computers and mobile devices. On desktops, pinned videos appear as static thumbnails on the boards. You need to click and open the pin to play the content itself. Meanwhile, on mobile devices, Pinterest provides an auto play function for the pinned videos. Just scroll through the board to get the content playing. To view the video in its full size and with audio, you just tap on the image and it opens in a separate tab.

Pinterest’s native video player

Even though the videos are not hosted on the platform, Pinterest provides a native player that can be used for playback. The biggest draw of this player is that it lets you create personalized recommendations for your followers. You can also use it to bring them to your other pins more effectively.

To present your video link using the native player, you will need to get the Pinterest Save button. Once you have installed it, search for the link to the video you want to share and use the extension button to pin it. Remember that you need to pin the video itself and not just a still image of it. Once pinned, the video will be displayed in the native player instead of the hosting site.

Promoting your Pinterest videos

Take into consideration the nature of Pinterest and how people use it when deciding which of your videos you are going to pin. Some of the main reasons people head to the site include:

• To find inspirations and ideas for their projects
• To get more information on topics that interest them
• To find more about products they want to buy

These reasons should help guide you on, not only the specific videos to pin, but also on the general direction of your Pinterest marketing campaign.

Tutorials are the most common type of video content you would want to share on Pinterest. Since it is video, you can pack the entire tutorial in a single screen. You can also do educational content like “Tips and Tricks” videos. All of them serve the purpose of providing your Pinterest followers with content that would be of direct use to them.

You also need to consider the length of your videos when deciding on the what you are going to pin. Since people go to Pinterest for quick ideas, your videos should be as short as possible. In case of longer videos, divide them into shorter parts that you can then link together in the pins.

A good description will help make your video pins more informative. The description should provide additional content that followers can use after they have watched the video. Add relevant links to your website to drive traffic back. Cap your pin’s text with a strong calls to action to get people to click on the links.

Promoting your video pins

When posting your Pinterest videos, you need to have a way for them to get discovered quickly by your followers. This is where the site’s Promoted Videos feature comes in handy. This new feature helps make your pins more visible on relevant boards. Use SocialRez’s Pinterest Repins service in conjunction with it to massively increase your pins’ reach.

As is with your other pins, you also need to optimize your videos to make them more searchable. Include relevant keywords in the description. Adding the word “video” in the description also helps Pinterest identify your pins.

If your video is embedded in a blog post or on your site, you can add the URL to direct your readers to it.

A great thing to know is that all the views that your pinned videos get counts as traffic for the site hosting it. Turn that into traffic to your own pages by editing the link on the pin after you have posted it. Instead of the video’s link, insert the link to your pages to direct the traffic back to them.

Finally, your pins should have an eye-catching thumbnail to attract your audience’s attention. The thumbnail that you use when you upload a video will be the one appearing on your pin which means you have to choose carefully right from the beginning.

Driving engagements with Pinterest videos

Just like with your other Pinterest content, finding the right time to pin your videos also plays a vital role in getting people to engage with them. You want your audience to discover and watch them when they are actively browsing on the platform. This depends on both your audience’s activities, and the video you are pinning. Videos of tutorials and DIY content are best pinned on weekends, as this is when your audience is most likely to be working on related projects.

To get the audience more interested in your content, pin teaser videos and then link to the complete video via the description section. Take this a step further by creating compilation teasers for some of your best video content and using it to lead back to your YouTube channel or website.

Find groups that cater to your particular niche to be sure that your pins will be watched. It would also help to get in touch with the groups’ creators to get a better idea on the kind of content that their members would be most interested in.

You can also create a group board of your own. If you decide to go with this option, remember that your goal is not just to have somewhere to post your Pinterest videos. Instead, use it as an avenue to build a community of followers that you can engage with. Encourage other members to post their own ideas while also getting them to share your pins on their personal boards.

Interacting with your Pinterest followers

Your followers’ interaction with your Pinterest content doesn’t end with them just watching your videos. In fact, your goal should be for them to continue to talk about them. For that to happen, you will want to create an ongoing conversation. Respond to comments and questions they may post on your pins and get them to talk about any other interests which are relevant to the pin. You can then use this as an opportunity to direct them to your other related pins, and eventually to your website, for more information.

Going beyond your own content also helps bring back more engagements. Search for other pinned videos that might have similar content as yours and comment on them. Share your pinned videos as additional resources for the participants in the conversations to check out. On the other hand, you can share their pins on your own boards. They are more than likely to return the favor and increase your audience.

Use Pinterest videos to boost your marketing

Pinterest videos add a new dimension to how you use the platform to promote your business. To get the most out of them you need to:

• Create useful pins: Think about what your followers are looking for and provide it to them via easy to understand videos.
• Make your pins easy to discover: Optimize your pinned videos with a good description. Strategically add links to your site to increase the chances of sending traffic.
• Engage your Pinterest followers: Don’t just stop with getting your followers to watch your pinned videos. Create conversations and let them talk more about what they have seen and make them share your pins.

Follow these steps and your pinned videos will soon be able to attract more people to your brand. Don’t wait any longer, start pinning them today.