If you want to create pins on Pinterest that get SEEN, follow these 9 simple steps below.
Bold Headings
Use bold headings in your pins that are large and stand out. Don’t know what a heading is? A heading would typically be the same as or similar to your blog post title. BUT, it certainly doesn’t have to be the same! I encourage you to make multiple pins with different headings. So, for example, if you had:
“An amazing chicken soup recipe” to share- your heading might look like this:
“The tastiest chicken soup you’ve ever had!” OR “A simple hearty chicken soup recipe.”
Use Subheadings
Pins with subheadings almost always get better engagement. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s because it gives the reader a little bit more information about the article or it gives you a chance to use those power and emotional words. It gets people to click, so either way, you want to use them whenever you can.
An easy way to do this is to put one sentence into parentheses or use an arrow icon element to “point” to your sentence (which should be one-two sentences long). So, continuing from my last example of the “tastiest chicken noodle soup recipe ever”, your subheading might look like this:
“(& it’s really simple to make!)” OR “(+ we use super simple ingredients!)”
Entice & Engage
One of the most important things to keep in mind when designing pins is to make sure that you’re engaging your ideal reader. You want the entirety of your pin to look enticing. So, for each pin this will look different. Sometimes you’ll focus on eye catching images. Other times, your copy may be the most important thing. Either way you want to make sure that you’re catching your readers attention. (Ideally, your pin will do/have all of these things)
Eye Poppers
One of the best design hacks to increase engagement is shadows. This is incredibly underused and understated. The easiest way to make your images or text stand out on your pin is to underline the text with an “outline text” or shadow that will make the text stand out even more. For images, this would look like a shape or a splash or any other kind of element that will go behind the photo to make your pictures stand out and POP.
Related: Editable Pinterest Canva Template Bundle
Copywriting Tips
The easiest way to increase clicks on your pins is to use the right words. I can’t stress this enough but using the right words in the right way is one of the best ways to ensure that you’re speaking to your person. You want to use the same words and terminology that your reader uses. Aren’t aware of how your ideal reader speaks? Find out where they “hang out” and snoop around. Read the struggles they’re sharing and inject some of those same words into your copy, your pins.
Word of Caution
This doesn’t exactly relate to designing pretty pins but it’s really important to creating pins that convert, so I wanted to include it here. If you write about touchy topics or topics that typically render professional advice- be sure to avoid using those “medical” red light terms. So, for example, if you are a mental health blogger and you’re not a certified counselor, I would caution using terms like- “depression” on your pins. Instead you might use the words, “down” or “sad”. Pinterest filters out content that yields professional advice because it doesn’t want to circulate bad, incorrect, or unsafe data. A hidden or suppressed Pinterest pin won’t convert. Avoid medical/health words!
Related: How-To Create Beautiful Pin Images In Canva The Easy Way
Who Are You Talking To?
When you’re designing your pin-decide how you’re going to address your reader. HOW you address them will change the feel of the words on your pins. I always recommend creating at least five pins per post and this is one of the reasons why. You should create pins with different angles on your copy. Let me explain.
Think of it this way:
- I/Me
For this pin, the wording (copy) on your pin is focused on YOUR experience, thoughts, opinions, etc. You are the “focus.” Continuing from my previous example of chicken noodle soup. (I have no idea why I went this route hahaha. Ya girl loves to eat, so there’s that)
It would look like: “My favorite chicken noodle recipe” OR “The best chicken noodle soup I’ve ever tried.”
- You
Here, is where the text and headlines of your pin focus on THE READER. Now, you handed that baton over and the spotlight is on them. Here is where you make them feel special. So you’ll be focusing on their experiences and them as a person. The headline of our pin would look like:
“You will LOVE this easy chicken noodle soup recipe” OR “You won’t believe how easy this recipe is”
- Us/We
The tone of the “us and we” pin is a COLLECTIVE one. In this pin, you’ll talk as a group. A tribe. You and them. We. This type of pin creates unity, empathy, and understanding. Like a “we get it” vibe. That’s us!
Here’s an example: “A quick & delicious chicken noodle soup we can make that our families will love”
- Them
This one is the judger. Outing others, drawing lines in the sand. It’s you and your reader against someone else or another tribe. Check out the example below:
“The chicken noodle soup recipe we love but they’ll hate because it isn’t organic” Perdue anyone?
User Intent
When you’re designing your pins you always want to keep the end goal in mind. The user intent. What do you want your reader to do? What “thing” do you want them to complete? An easy way to remember this is CTA. Which is short for “call to action.” Every pin should have a call to action (CTA). Basically something or somewhere you want your reader to go and do.
This may seem like a lot at first, but I promise it gets easier and you’ll get the hang of it in no time!
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