13 Hacks for Creating Pinterest Images that Get More Clicks

When many of us think of creating  Pinterest images we think, “Ooh, the platform loaded with images for moms, soon-to-be brides, and our overachiever friends who host unbelievable holiday parties.”While these demographics are definitely using Pinterest—and loving it—some new groups of Pinners are emerging.

Today’s standout users include Millennials (no surprise there), Gen Z, and men. Yes, men. While women make up more than 60% of Pinners globally, the male demographic grow 48% year over year.

The dudes have watched the ladies pull up Pinterest often enough that they’ve gotten sucked in. They now use it regularly for home improvement ideas, baking, remodeling, fashion, and design inspiration.

Here’s another fun fact: 40% of dads in the U.S. use the channel for research, shopping, and planning for daddyhood. How sweet is that?

Millennials use the platform to make the most of their time at home and for work, family, and play.

Gen Z Pinners—the fastest-growing lot—are searching for home décor ideas, study tips, fashion, social issues, life skills, and future-planning tips.

Pinterest is a fun, creative, and inspiring platform. Unlike other social media channels that are so often buried in news, controversy, arguments, comparison, and (let’s be honest) STRESS, Pinterest generates a more relaxed and exciting atmosphere.

You can spend quality time dreaming, planning, and making things you love —without your Great Aunt Betty getting up in your grill.

Why Creating Pinterest Images are an Essential Part of Your Social Media Strategy

With 537 million people using Pinterest worldwide, you—as a solopreneur, blogger, or small business owner—have an amazing opportunity. By tapping into the traffic and engagement potential Pinterest offers, you can grow your business, boost your reputation, and build a loyal community of followers online.

‍Pinterest is a fantastic platform for B2C and B2B businesses. Consumers are actively searching for particular ideas, solutions, and topics. 90% of weekly Pinners use the platform for purchasing inspiration. 85% have pulled the trigger and bought something based on Pins they’ve seen from brands they follow.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to look at our beginner’s guide to Pinterest. It’ll walk you through the must-know basics of starting your Pinterest journey on the right foot. Then come back here to dive into the more nitty-gritty ways to make your Pins outshine your competition.

We know we alluded to Pinterest as the “nice, friendly” platform. But come on. If you want to be seen and stand out from the millions of other businesses using the tool, you need some strategy and skill. And on such a visual platform, a massive piece of the pie is knowing how to create impressive Pinterest images.Who knows? If you play your cards right, one of your Pins might even go viral someday.

How to Create Pinterest Images to Boost Engagement

Here are 13 top hacks for creating brilliant images for Pinterest that will get maximum visibility and engagement. It’s time to get your Pinning game on and show the world what your business is made of!

1. Brand Your Pinterest Images

If you don’t brand your images, how can Pinners tell they belong to you? They won’t associate your fabulous Pins with your business, and that just won’t do.

By branding your images with your company colors, logo or watermark, fonts, and graphic style, you can create a cohesive look and feel. Also, include your website URL so viewers can learn more about your business easily.

Your brand should relay your mission and values. Your images should emphasize your brand’s personality. As you implement these tips, you’ll begin increasing brand awareness so that people associate your content with your company. Then you’ll naturally draw in the right crowd for your products or services.

2. Optimize Pins for Search

Like your website, you need to optimize each Pin for search. Search engine optimization (SEO) doesn’t just apply to Google, you know. If you optimize your posts, someone looking for search results like yours will have a lot better chance of finding you.Here are a few essential steps to optimizing your images and photos for search on Pinterest.

• Name files correctly: Include a keyword in the name. If you own a hair salon, your image file might look something like this: short-blonde-salon-hairstyle.jpg.
• Take the time to add a description: Don’t skip this step! Accurate and well-written descriptions make your business look authoritative and professional. To optimize for SEO, add a keyword or two and maybe include your brand name. Place the most essential part at the beginning—in the first 50-60 characters. Make sure it’s accurate and descriptive. Frame it in a way that raises curiosity to get more clicks!
• Don’t forget the title: Every Pin title should include a relevant keyword naturally (not stuffed).
• Add a URL: Lead people straight to your website or blog.
• Your board names matter, too: Add focus keywords to your Pinboards, as well as descriptions that tell users what they’ll find when they click to view your images.

3. Add a Call-to-Action

To lead your Pinners from Pinterest to your website or somewhere else, tell them straight up what to do next. Include a strategic call-to-action in your image description or on the image itself. When you do, you’ll successfully guide searchers along their buyer’s journey. Remember to keep it short, sweet, and actionable.

4. Make Pinterest a Part of Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

If Pinterest isn’t already an integrative part of your social media marketing plan and content strategy, it’s high time to adopt it! Pinterest can help you raise brand awareness, build a loyal following and community, and drive tons of traffic to your website and business.

Decide what types of content you want to share to support your overarching marketing plan. Common types of marketing images that perform well on Pinterest include:

• Product Pins
• Blog post images
• Lead magnets (incentivize users to click by offering something to them in return)
• Infographics

You can also promote your Pinterest account on other social platforms to get the word out about your awesome graphics and content. Facebook is an excellent place to share your news. Tell your audience you’re on Pinterest and what types of stuff you Pin regularly. Invite them to repin and reshare your content to expand your audience.

5. Keep Design in Mind the Whole Time

Many Pinterest users have an eye for what looks good. Pinterest’s audience is full of creatives, designers, innovators, and dreamers. To grab their attention and draw them in, make sure your Pins are well-designed.

If you don’t want to hire a professional designer for help, you can follow these best practices for creating images that shine.

Make the text on your images easy to read

‍The text should be straightforward and easy to grasp. It should appeal to and attract your target audience.

Your font choices should be on brand and easy to read. You may want to skip the decorative typefaces and go with simple sans serif fonts. Only add text to images if it adds value.

‍Use professional stock photos

‍If you don’t have your own Pinterest photos and don’t want to hire a professional photographer to take pictures for you, take advantage of websites like Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels. They each offer beautiful, professionally photographed and designed stock images and graphics free for personal and commercial use.

‍Use design tools to create Pinterest Pins

‍Various online design platforms like Mojo, Canva, and Visme help non-designers create quality branded images. Choose from a variety of modern templates and visuals, edit pictures, or add frames and text. Then all you have left to do is show off your new showstoppers to the world.

For photo editing, you can use Photoshop or Lightroom (there’s a free version). If you don’t know how to use these tools, hop on LinkedIn Learning for software training and expert tips

‍Make your images the correct sizes

‍Your Pinterest images should have a 2:3 aspect ratio. Vertical is better than horizontal, and larger images—around 1000 x 1500 pixels—are best. Your profile picture should be 160 x 160 pixels, and your cover photo should be at least 800 x 450 pixels with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

For video Pins, post vertical videos with a 9:16 aspect ratio. Your video should be no larger than 2 GB.

6. Design Some Pins with Multiple Images

If you have multiple images, your Pins may appeal to a more diverse audience. For example, let’s pretend you own an online boutique and design your own t-shirts. You create one Pin with a single image: a women’s t-shirt with a simple design.

You want to appeal to both men and women, but only a small group of women are clicking to buy.

You put on your thinking cap and try a new strategy. You create a Pin with multiple images containing the same t-shirt but in three different colors and men’s and women’s sizes. This time, you get more women and some men clicking and making purchases on your website—all because your second Pin appealed to a broader audience.

7. Create Step-by-Step Guides

Pinners love step-by-step video or photo guides. Whether you’re sharing how to tear down a wall to open up your living space or how to braid your bridesmaids’ hair for your wedding, Pinterest is your go-to channel.

Guides are a great way to get more clicks. To persuade people to click on your images, simply show them the end result. Frame it in a way like “Anybody can do this. Here’s how!”

This technique works like clockwork for recipes, hairdos, home improvement ideas, and arts and crafts.

8. Join Groups and Community Boards

Once you’ve designed your Pinterest images, you need people to see and share them. One effective way to get more eyeballs on your Pins is to join group boards.

Joining relevant group boards will increase your exposure. Members of the board will see your pins, and their audiences will see them too!Start by searching for Pinners within your niche. Then see if they have any boards that are relevant to you. You may need to contact the board’s owner before they invite you to join. But once you do, you can Pin to your heart’s content!

In fact, the more active you are—pinning your content and sharing content for others—the greater chance you’ll have of getting noticed and building a larger audience.

9. Speak Directly to Your Audience

Be careful with your wording. Pinterest is a major marketing platform, after all. Intentionally use language that attracts your target audience and captures their attention quickly. Write like you’re speaking one-on-one with your ideal customer. Be friendly, personable, and attentive.

Speaking and writing in a casual tone humanizes your brand. You’ll create connections with Pinners if you can talk to them in their language and on their level. They’ll feel like you understand them, and they’ll more likely remember you later on when they need something you offer.

10. “Tease” Your Followers with Your Messaging

Sharing every ingredient of your secret sauce may get your images plenty of reshares (or repins), but they won’t as often persuade people to click and head to your website. A smart way to draw in bigger crowds is to tease them with a taste of your offer—just enough to make them want more.

You can do this by breaking down large pieces of content into bite-sized pieces. For example, if you write a blog post called “Top 5 Holiday Gifts to Win Back Your Beau,” you could share one gift at a time. To see the full article, users will have to visit your website. That’s all there is to it.

11. Apply for Rich Pins

There are three types of Rich Pins: Product, Recipe, and Article. They’re free and available to everyone who uses Pinterest, but you need to apply to use them.After you apply, Pinterest will process your application within 24 hours. Once you’re approved, your Pins will sync information from your website.Your Rich Pins will contain extra information to help them stand out from other Pins in Pinterest feeds. Some Rich Pins will show your website favicon, bold titles, meta descriptions, product pricing, and more.

12. Position Yourself as a Thought Leader

Suppose you’re a thought leader in your business, and you already have a podcast, a blog, infographics, case studies, email newsletters, or ebooks on your website or other platforms. Why not share your knowledge on Pinterest as well?

Break down your content to create enticing Pins. You can feature your thought leadership in digestible pieces on the visual platform and include a link so your followers can click to learn more. This strategy is a highly effective way to drive more traffic back to your website.

13. Create Buyable Pins

Product pins (or Buyable Pins) are just what they sound like: Pins people can click to make a direct purchase. If you have something your followers want or need, turn it into a Buyable Pin. Your audience will see a small white dot indicating that your item is for sale. When they click, Pinterest will direct them straight to the product so they can purchase it immediately.

Pinterest Categories Assistance

MeetEdgar is now an official Pinterest Marketing Partner. That means we’ve been certified and approved by Pinterest to help other businesses create beautiful, optimized Pins, scale ads, and measure performance.

Using Pinterest the right way can empower your business to grow organically. Edgar is our official social media automation and scheduling tool for professionals, designed to make your life so much easier.

If you're looking for more inspiration for Pinterest Pins, check out our Pinterest Strategy Guide!