How to guide: Using Pinterest as a journalist

5 tips for using Pinterest to share news.

Katie Brooks
Sep 2, 2018 · 3 min read
The Price of Fashion Pinterest

It’s no surprise to hear that social media is a popular choice for news organisations wanting to get their stories out to the world but have you ever thought to use Pinterest?

For Buzzfeed, it’s the second-biggest referral platform after Facebook and Andy Dangerfield, HuffPost UK’s Executive Editor for Distribution, says it’s where they find a lot of their younger audience.

1. Think about what articles will work

Not every article will work on Pinterest and that’s ok! If you take a look at some of the most popular categories you’ll notice they tend to fall into lifestyle and entertainment. That doesn’t mean all your articles need to be ‘fluffy’ though — HuffPost UK also shares stories on mental health, cancer and ‘long reads for the weekend’.

HuffPost UK Pinterest board

2. Create boards around the topic

Take awards season as an example — BAFTAs, BRITs, Oscars etc — you can share the stories you’ve written but also create related boards.

You can create a fashion board which looks at the different outfits on the red carpet — the dresses, the suits, the hair styles, the couples (who doesn’t like looking at pictures of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for hours on end?!).

Or how about a board for places to visit near awards ceremonies? They’re not all in the USA, some of them are in London and there are plenty of pin-able tourist spots and hidden treasures.

Buzzfeed Pinterest pin

3. Choose shareable images

Pinterest, like Instagram, is all about visuals. Great images will entice the reader to click through to your website and to share your pin to their own boards.

You can use portrait, landscape and square images to your heart’s content and infographics work really well too! — Don’t forget copyright rules apply.

I posted this Infographic alongside some listicle images and it got a LOT more impressions than the listicles!

4. Don’t forget SEO

Pinterest is considered to be more like a search engine than a social media platform so good Search Engine Optimisation is essential if you want to be seen. Usual SEO techniques apply but here’s a few more Pinterest SEO tips:

  • Check your pins can be found — click on your account settings and make sure that ‘search privacy’ is set to allow public search engines to find you.
  • Use relevant key words to describe your post.
  • Include hashtags if you can’t find a way to use the key words in your description — don’t feel like you need to hashtag spam though!

5. Engage your audience

Just like other social platforms, interacting with your audience is a must if you want to maximise your engagement. So follow popular boards, share other people’s pins (where relevant) and respond to comments!

You should also make it easier for your audience to pin content from your site. Pinterest have their own widget builder that you can use to integrate a ‘Save’ button into your content.

Pinterest widget builder

Remember — Pinterest is just one other way to get your content out to your audience, so don’t let your other platforms fall by the wayside whilst you focus on boards!

Split your time and make sure all your platforms get the love and attention they need.

Katie Brooks

Written by

24. Journalist. @MyBCU MA student. @StaffsUni BA grad. Globetrotter. Views my own.

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