Pinterest is an incredibly valuable social platform, particularly for retailers in the fashion and homeware industries. As such, it is becoming increasingly used to generate brand awareness, drive website traffic and boost online sales.

The problem, however, is that in order to be successful in using this channel to achieve eCommerce success, you must have a big Pinterest following who will engage with your business.

So, how do you get followers on Pinterest? Below, we have compiled some tips and best practices on how you can naturally obtain more Pinterest followers.

Add the Pinterest Follow Button.

One of the most effective ways to generate a greater Pinterest following is by promoting your page across your website, emails and blog, using the Pinterest follow button. Just as you would promote Facebook or Twitter, consider placing this button in several prominent places on your site, such as the header, footer, sidebar and so on. Ultimately, you need to make it easy for people to find it and follow you.

Allow potential followers to find your pins.

Increase your chances of being found by allowing search engines to crawl your content, in turn helping you to achieve visibility in image searches. For this to work, make sure you check your Business Account Basics and make sure the Search Privacy button is marked as No.  

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It’s also a good idea to fill out your Pinterest profile with a company description, your website and a logo, in order to add credibility to your page.

Optimize product pins for SEO.

Another way to enhance your Pinterest presence and generate more Pinterest followers, is by optimizing your pins for SEO. A couple of ways to achieve this is by using high-quality images, and using descriptive language that capitalizes on the keywords that your audience are searching for. This can be achieved through effective keyword research.

Make sure you’re re-pinning content.

As a Pinterest user, you should be curating a lot of content, which ultimately means re-pinning. In addition to showing potential followers that you’re not just out for yourself, you will also connect with other people with similar interests, who may well return the favor and follow you.

You can easily see which boards get the most interaction, which can help you enhance the success of your own pins going forward.

You should also consider mentioning others when you share their pins, as this can help gain their attention and increase the likelihood of them following you.

Comment on other popular pins.

By commenting on pins within the ‘Popular’ section on Pinterest, you stand to further increase your exposure on the platform. It is, however, crucial that you avoid being ‘spammy’, and instead write a relevant comment. You should also try and limit these comments to 2-3 times per day, as Pinterest will in fact also consider this as spam, which can result in your account being suspended.

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Host a contest.

If you have a good following on your other social media channels, consider hosting a contest where you encourage people to follow your brand on Pinterest, in order to be in with a chance of winning a prize.

As an example, you may choose to giveaway a voucher for your store or a specific product.

Do keep in mind that Pinterest have certain rules for using their brand assets, so make sure you address their guidelines prior to running a contest.