How to use Pinterest for Etsy Shop Owners
This site contains affiliate links for products and services we recommend. Read my disclaimer for more information. If you make a purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a small commission (for which I am very grateful).
I love Pinterest. Not just for finding ideas for my next passion project but also for finding potential buyers for my business.
Like millions of users, I have been using Pinterest for more than a decade to find inspiration or to siphon traffic to my blog.
This visual search engine, is the perfect place to interact with like-minded people. It is an excellent opportunity for Etsy business owners to discover new shoppers through creative content.
Photo by Etsy©
The more people discover your Pins, the more likely they are to pin them on their boards or land on your Etsy shop (Don’t worry, I’ll tell you how to link your Etsy shop to Pinterest!). A win-win situation!
For Etsy shop owners out there, or those interested in starting an online business, who don’t know how to use Pinterest for Etsy, this guide is for you!
🚀 BONUS FREE RESOURCE: Save even more time by grabbing FREE access to my 3-step formula for creating pin descriptions in under 3 minutes.
This guide will tell you how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to Etsy. We’ll go through every step of using Pinterest to sell printables, knitted gloves, clay trinkets, or whatever you sell on Etsy.
Why you should promote your Etsy on Pinterest
Before we start the “how to use Pinterest for Etsy” part of this blog post, I know your mind is buzzing with the why of using Pinterest for Etsy business.
As someone who has spent more than a decade on Pinterest finding clients for her online business and now is teaching others to do the same, I can guarantee that if you get your Etsy on Pinterest, your revenue will double.
⮕ Sign up for my How to use Pinterest for beginners course
Heck, it will sky-rocket if you follow the steps on how to use Pinterest for Etsy.
Let’s start from here.
You started an online business on Etsy selling mittens for cats and dogs or colourful pottery for the kitchen and personal use.
Or, you have been using Pinterest to sell printables of your watercolour paintings on Etsy.
Some time down the road, you realised you’re not hitting the numbers you expected to, or it’s been six months since you started and haven’t reached breakeven yet.
You’re struggling to find traffic for your Etsy shop.
You want to know why?
Because you are not targeting the right clients. Whatever you sell on Etsy, there is a high chance someone is looking for that thing on Pinterest.
Why?
Pinterest is for inspiration and ideas when you are upholstering grandma’s furniture, or trying to make your rental feel home-y.
Pinterest users are likelier to click on something they see on their feed and make a purchase than users of any other platform.
It is why you must know how to use Pinterest for Etsy to capture your target audience’s interests.
With more than 400 million monthly users, your small business has so much potential to target its audience.
If you’re still not convinced, here are some Pinterest statistics to convince you to read this “how to use Pinterest for Etsy” article till the end if you’re serious about scaling your business!
Around 85% of weekly Pinterest users buy items based on brands’ Pins
By 2025, shopping on social media platforms is expected to reach an overall revenue of $1.2 trillion. (It was at $492 billion in 2021, definitely worth considering!)
- 62% of social commerce is driven by consumers belonging to the Gen Z and Millennial groups
Some popular items frequently bought online are clothes, home décor goods, and consumer electronics.
The beauty and personal care industry is also expected to benefit from social commerce thanks to influencer marketing and social media trends.
If you’re still not convinced… here’s why you need to understand how to use Pinterest for Etsy:
- Pinterest is a free platform – you don’t need to “pay” to create nice Pins and boards that direct traffic to your Etsy business
- More than 430 million people use Pinterest every month
- 76.7% of the users are female, and the remaining male (bonus if your business for females)
- 29% of the users are within 25-34 years of age, followed by 18-24 and folks from the 35+ age group
- 85% of Pinterest users hop on to Pinterest before making a purchase or starting new craft projects
Apart from displaying beautifully captured images and graphics to entice your target audience to make a purchase, there is much more than you can do for your Etsy business by linking it with Pinterest.
Pinterest is a Godsend for Etsy business owners. If you’re even remotely interested in scaling your business but want to know how to use Pinterest for Etsy, read till the end!
⮕ Sign up for my How to use Pinterest for beginners course
How does Pinterest and Etsy work together?
If you’ve read this far, you know there is some magic power that Pinterest holds for Etsy business owners.
Maybe you’re still scratching your head and thinking “okay, maybe it works, but how to use Pinterest for Etsy” or more specifically, “how do the two work together”.
First of all, let me clarify: Pinterest and Etsy are in no way affiliated (at least not right now), so you have some freedom in deciding how to make either of the two platforms work for your business.
There’s also a lot of free personal and business information available on both platforms. Like I have curated this blog post to help you understand how to use Pinterest for Etsy!
Unlike other social media platforms that facilitate online businesses, you don’t need to strenuously learn the two platforms and the strategies behind their marketing and business tools.
They are both user-friendly and easy to understand. There is a slight learning curve, but nothing too complex.
With Pinterest, you also have a better view of what your competitors are doing. Knowing their brand marketing strategies can help you revise your own.
Thousands of bloggers use Pinterest to direct traffic to their blogs or online courses. That’s not undermining me from using the platform to support my blog.
Instead, I can come up with better and more unique ideas to get advantage of Pinterest for my blog or business. That’s how to use Pinterest for Etsy!
Same goes for Etsy shop owners. There are thousands of Etsy businesses with an online presence on Pinterest.
Almost all of them are creating engaging content like how to use XYZ product, what benefits XYZ product can bring into your life or other content ideas for generating value for their customer.
More than 86.2% of Pinterest users use other social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. You can siphon off your Pinterest traffic to whatever helps your Etsy business grow!
As the word says that running a successful Etsy business is 20% your hardwork and 80% marketing and promoting.
Now it’s on you to decide how to use Pinterest for Etsy, knowing your target audience is hanging out there.
📑 PINTEREST TEMPLATES: Save time with pin creation and grab these plug-and-play Canva templates.
Pinterest vs Instagram – Why Pinterest is better
While we’re on the topic of understanding how to use Pinterest for Etsy, I am sure your mind is racing with thoughts like “why not Instagram, or Facebook, where almost a billion people hang out?”.
The simple answer is that Pinterest is first a visual search engine and then a social media platform. The rest are just social media platforms slowly venturing into the e-commerce arena.
Although I have written a more in-depth blog on why I prefer to use Pinterest vs Instagram on any day for my business, here’s a summary of that:
- Instagram is a video- and photo-sharing platform for helping people connect, with less focus on influencing buying decisions
- Instagram has a personal aspect to it – to bring everyone together. Imagine if your friend uploaded a picture from their birthday party on Pinterest? Hmm, nothing wrong with that, but that is not how to use Pinterest for Etsy.
- Pinterest is for folks serious about making a decision or implementing an idea. So, naturally, there is more potential for your business on Pinterest than on Instagram.
- A virtual diary of all your ideas, vision boards, inspirations and a wishlist of things you want to buy
- Pinterest has more audience from a relatively higher income bracket – folks who are more likely to make purchase decisions. 91% of Instagram users said they use the platform merely to follow trendy topics, not to make buying decisions!
- Both platforms have roughly the same content types – video, photos and graphic content. Though slight differences can make or break the deal for an Etsy business. Unlike Instagram, Pinterest has link-sharing features for most of its content types. You can always add a short keyword-optimised description and link the Pin to your Etsy store.
- Pinterest has better marketing tools and features than Instagram. Pinterest SEO is a buzzword of its kind, while Instagram users rely on strategizing hashtags for finding their audience.
- Instagram only allows you to add product tags, like product name and price. Pinterest, on the other hand, lets you create Product Pins that can include a short description, stock information, price, and a direct link to the Etsy shop
Pinterest has a far better ROI than Instagram for Etsy business owners.
Though both platforms are the same in terms of the content format, subtle differences like link-sharing features and marketing tools clear the air as to which platform is better.
Of course, as an Etsy business owner, you’re more interested in getting traction from clients who would buy, rather than an audience that loves the aesthetic but isn’t keen on purchasing.
How to link Etsy to Pinterest?
I hope you are slowly beginning to understand how to use Pinterest for Etsy. And now, you are interested in knowing how to link your Etsy shop to Pinterest.
Pinterest Business Account
To begin linking your Etsy to Pinterest, ensure you have a Pinterest Business Account. You probably already have a Pinterest account but that’s a personal one.
And it’s probably filled with random boards about your interests like fashion, food or cute cat pictures. You might even have a large following.
But don’t mix your personal Pinterest with your Business Pinterest Account.
Why? Because maybe you sell polymer clay jewelry on Etsy. Does it have anything to do with the “cute cat pix” board on your Pinterest profile? No…
Most likely the audience on your personal Pinterest account won’t fit the demographic for your Etsy shop.
You would be doing yourself and your business a disservice by hooking up the two together. Therefore, be smart and create a Pinterest Business account.
For that, you will have to create an account from scratch. Log out from the personal one and sign up for a new one.
Once you have created an account, it’s time to start optimizing your profile to make it ready for getting traction!
Header on Pinterest Profile
For your Pinterest Business account, it is self-explanatory that the account title or “header” should be your business name.
The key to learning to use Pinterest for Etsy is to make your Pinterest presence as informative for your target audience as possible.
That means, the business name should be the one on the header, not your name.
After you have added the name, you would notice there is an option for writing a short description—the bio of your Pinterest account.
Add as many relevant keywords as possible, but don’t overdo it. The key to understanding how to use Pinterest for Etsy is to optimize your profile according to Pinterest SEO.
Keywords are the main thing on Pinterest, unlike Instagram, where hashtags are the king!
Your profile’s bio should be natural and focused, but shouldn’t seem forceful or dry. Maybe add a bit of humour as you describe your business or what you do on Etsy.
Ah! Yes. Most importantly, to understand how to use Pinterest for Etsy, ensure the Pinterest account displays that you have an Etsy store.
You can add your Etsy shop’s link in bio, as there is an option for adding one link.
Later on, when you have gained enough traction on your Pinterest profile, you can even offer freebies to capture customers and direct them for additional merchandise on your Etsy shop.
Lastly, upload your brand’s logo or a relevant picture. It’s better to use the same one as on Etsy. It would make your brand look more cohesive and organized.
Previously, Pinterest allowed users to “claim” their social media accounts on the platform.
It meant when a user shared content from your claimed social media accounts, like Facebook, YouTube or Etsy, to Pinterest, your Pinterest profile’s information displayed right next to it.
It was undoubtedly an easier way of users locating your profile and would have helped with your business, but unfortunately it’s no longer available.
📌JOIN US: When you’re ready to start scaling your online business using Pinterest, join us inside of Passive Profit with Pinterest.
Top tips for Etsy Sellers on Pinterest
We have reached the most awaited part of this “how to use Pinterest for Etsy” article. It’s the how part of the ‘how’ that we will be discussing now.
I am sure by now you have an idea of how to use Pinterest for Etsy.
You have to create engaging and visually compelling content that your target audience would not only want to save to their board or like, but persuade them to check out your profile and land on your Etsy store.
Seems like a lot for one sentence? Okay, let’s break it down.
Post consistently
Pinterest is a platform surfed by a 400 million+ audience that’s consuming all sorts of content.
To ensure your audience likes what you’re putting out, you need to analyze what kind of content your audience wants.
Pinterest SEO can be helpful in this regard. If you have a jewelry business, look up the word “jewelry” in the search box and see the relevant keywords next to it.
“Jewelry for office wear”, “how to style jewelry” etc. are some hypothetical examples of the type of search result you might come across.
These long keyword phrases are your guidepost for deciding how to use Pinterest for Etsy.
These will help you understand what your target audience is looking for, what they deem valuable and what form of content they engage most.
One way you can begin using Pinterest for Etsy is to create unique content around those keywords.
If your target audience is looking for jewelry that seems appropriate for office wear, you can create a post on “x ways to style our double-layered gold necklace for office wear”.
Even better if you create video-form content, because videos appear first in search results on Pinterest.
I’m sure this blog has given you some perspective on how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to Etsy, but how do we maintain that traffic? Through posting consistently.
Consistency is key when it comes to content creation and digital marketing.
You neither want to overdo anything nor take it so lightly that you get almost zero traction.
Find a middle ground
Ideally, you should post between two to five times a day. It can be anything from informational graphics on your brand’s mission to an instructional video on how to use a product that you are selling.
It would be best if you did not spam your audience’s feed to the point that they feel better off unfollowing your profile.
We don’t want that. That’s now how to use Pinterest for Etsy.
Use a Scheduler
To make sure you post consistently and at the time when your audience is most active, use a scheduling app or service.
There are plenty of options like Tailwind that let you schedule your posts days, weeks or even months in advance so that you don’t forget to post!
⮕ Sign up to Tailwind & get $30 off your subscription
You have to brainstorm ideas, create content, and then schedule them. Of course, make sure to engage with your audience on your profile, answer any queries, or reply to comments.
It will add a humanistic element to your brand and help your audience gain some trust.
Interact with people in your niche
If you’re learning how to use Pinterest for Etsy, it is crucial to understand that Pinterest may be a visual search engine, it relies on interactions among its users.
If you’re in the home décor niche, it’s a great idea to interact with creators or Pinterest users in clothing, or jewelry niche as the three niches are likely to have similar audiences.
Use all of Pinterest formats
As mentioned earlier, Pinterest has a range of content formats. To know how to use Pinterest for Etsy, you must take advantage of content creation.
It’s not something that Etsy has and it’s the only thing that can keep your audience engaged and wanting to check out your profile for more.
There are plenty of formats like standard Pins, video Pins, idea Pins etc. You can also create boards according to your product offerings or themes related to your business.
Pins are a great way of narrating your brand’s story, and some customers will feel more connected and drawn to your business if they feel you share the same values.
Idea Pins are a great way of introducing bite-sized information in that regard.
For effectively learning how to use Pinterest for Etsy, you must synchronize your Etsy and Pinterest presence.
Create product guides and how-to content for your Pinterest. Add call-to-action (CTA) in Pin or board descriptions.
Use Pinterest Keywords and not Etsy Keywords
Learning how to use Pinterest for Etsy involves understanding Pinterest SEO as well. As mentioned before, Pinterest relies on keywords, unlike hashtags for Instagram.
To ensure your content reaches its audience, you must get into your customer’s head (no, not literally!).
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think what they would want to know if they looked up XYZ keyword.
There are plenty of resources to help you out in this regard. My Pinterest Keyword Vault is one such resource.
💸 #1 PINTEREST TOOL: Get access to the Pinterest Keyword Vault with thousands of keywords covering hundreds of niches.
With more than 7000+ keywords covering a broad range of categories, your business will likely find its place on Pinterest!
Along with teaching you how to use Pinterest for Etsy, I have also created these resources for you to get your help you scale your Etsy on Pinterest!
Final Verdict
This blog post has covered all you need to know about using Pinterest for Etsy.
Pinterest is perfect for Etsy shop owners struggling to find traffic for their store.
I have used Pinterest to garner attention on my blog posts for more than a decade and now was the time I taught business owners like you how to use Pinterest for Etsy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can! In fact, Pinterest can be a very powerful tool for taking your Etsy business to the next level and achieving success!
The best way to do this is to create pins that specifically link to items that you sell on your Etsy business. Make pins that are eye-catching and SEO rich to reach the right audience for your products.
Other articles you will love: