Once viewed as a craft and DIY site for moms, Pinterest has become one of the top social media platforms for businesses to use. Since its initial prototype launch in 2012, Pinterest has gained an impressive 70+ million users, with 40 million active each month. In addition, a study by Shareholic revealed that Pinterest can generate more traffic than Twitter, and it is also noted as the second highest source of traffic to websites after Facebook.
However, while Pinterest has garnered the attention of major brands worldwide, one component of the social network has remained overlooked: video.
Pinterest not only allows users to pin images, but also supports videos as pins. Video is in fact the most engaging visual format on Pinterest, but also the most underused. If you aren’t already leveraging videos on Pinterest to increase your overall engagement, now is the time.
How to upload videos to Pinterest
Note: before you start pinning your videos, make sure you have selected a thumbnail on YouTube or Vimeo that will stand out and capture your audience’s attention. Here are a few tips on best practices for video thumbnails.
1. Click the + button to add your pin.
2. Choose Add from website to add your YouTube or Vimeo video.
3. Copy and Paste your YouTube or Vimeo URLs and hit Next.
4. Select the video thumbnail you previously created.
5. Pick the board on which you want your video to be hosted.
6. Write in a description for your video (tips below!).
7. PIN IT!
Videos on Pinterest: more tips
1. Create a visually engaging thumbnail before pinning your video to help catch your audience’s attention and stick out from the crowd. Pinterest is an image-focused site, which means the competition will be high for interesting visuals. Get creative!
2. Don’t just pin your videos on one board… Boring! Instead, create a number of different boards to categorize your videos in. This will help to diversify your boards and create a better chance of your videos being seen and repinned by others.
3. Create a detailed description for your video. This will help users understand what the video is about and can also help them discover your content when searching on Pinterest.
4. Video descriptions about 200 characters long are the most repined, so don’t go much longer than the average tweet. Including a link in your description is a nice shortcut for pinners to get them where you want them to go. Lastly, using hashtags and keywords is crucial on Pinterest to help pinners find your pins.
5. Use video annotations to get people to pin your video or visit your Pinterest page. This is an easy way to send traffic directly to your page.
6. Add the Pin It button onto your website to get people more likely to pin your video from your website directly.
As a visual social platform, Pinterest is a no brainer for businesses with compelling video content. With more share activity than Facebook and Twitter users in 2013, Pinterest might just become your number one social media network!
Are you putting your videos on Pinterest? Post a comment and let us know how you’re using the network to engage with customers.