The Secret to Getting Real Bride Leads with Pinterest

We know that brides are on Pinterest.  Statistics tell us that approximately 80% of Pinterest users are women.  Here is how Pinterest defines its primary uses: “People use boards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes.”

There’s no doubt that many of the brides you want to reach are on Pinterest, and as a wedding professional you likely have plenty of images, videos and tips to entice them to repin, comment and share your stuff.

But the real question is…

Can you get real bride leads from Pinterest? 

As with Facebook and Twitter, 90% of what most wedding vendors do on Pinterest does NOT result in leads and booked weddings.

If you want to use Pinterest to get real leads, you simply must have a strategy.

First, determine the action you want brides to take when they find your Pinterest account that gets them one step closer to booking you.  In other words, you need to get them to click through to your website.

Having people follow you, comment and repin your images on Pinterest is an ego boost, but it doesn’t result in real leads.  Pinterest is a place for recreation and social behavior; you’re not going to make the sales transaction on a social media site.

On the other hand, your website is (hopefully!) designed to capture leads so you can book them.

The secret to getting real leads with Pinterest is to get brides to click through to your website where you can capture the lead and follow up with them.

Once you understand that the goal of your Pinterest activities is get website traffic, it changes everything you do.  If it doesn’t work towards that goal, it’s a waste of time when it comes to your marketing efforts.

Tips for turning Pinterest visitors into real leads:

•  Add new pins to Pinterest right from your own website or blog.  This assures that your  link is embedded in the pin, so that when people repin they can click through to your website.

•  Watermark your pins with the name of your business or website so that shared images can always be traced back to you.

•  Remember to use local phrases and wedding-related keywords in the names of your boards and pin descriptions.  This will help your images to come up in search results when brides or grooms are looking for this information.

•  Add a clickable link and call to action in your description of each pin.  For example, “Click here to find the perfect wedding dress for your body” or “Read this article to learn the 5 Secrets of Gorgeous Wedding Photos.”

The more compelling your action is, the more likely they are to click, so make it a good offer!

•  Add the “pin it” button to your website and blog to make it easy for people to pin your images.

•  Verify your website in your Pinterest Account Settings so that people can click right through to your website from your account description.

•  Search Pinterest for the term “wedding” followed by the name of your local area.  Follow the active pinners who come up.  Comment and repin their images to build relationships and get them to do the same for you.

•  Create pins that share tips for brides and grooms that include text on the image.  When combined with a call to action, this can really drive website visitors to your site.

•  Notice which of your images get repinned.  Learn from your most popular pins so that you can make more like them to increase your reach.

•  Create the most popular type of pins: infographics, how to advice and tips, tutorials and videos.

I don’t recommend jumping on the band wagon of every new social media site that comes along.  But if you’re a wedding pro who already thrives in social media, and you have plenty of images, videos or tips to share, Pinterest is definitely worth exploring as a marketing tool.

CLICK HERE to learn more about how to use Pinterest for your wedding business.

Photo Credit