How Book Lovers can use Pinterest to grow their Reading List

why book lovers should all be using pinterest; a tool not just for book bloggers. Via @tbookjunkie

Pinterest is a fantastic way for bookworms to grow a virtual ‘to be read’ pile. I know many of us use Goodreads as the main source of tracking our books, but with Pinterest not only are you able to find new books by specific genre or location, but the images are also aesthetically pleasing.

What is Pinterest?

Before we look at how to use it, let me briefly explain what Pinterest is.

Pinterest is basically a search engine just like Google, but it’s primary function is to share graphics and eye-catching images. It is probably fair to say that it is more visually pleasing than any other search engine you will use. 

The idea behind the platform is to search for things that you are interested in. For example, I don’t just search for books, I also use Pinterest to find new places I want to visit and recipes I wish to try. The initial picture is there to entice you but many have a link attached that will take you through to an article relating to the topic you wish to find out more about. If you find the information worth-while you can then save the pin for future reference.

How to use Pinterest

#1 Create a Profile for Yourself

Before you can start saving pins, you will need to create a profile of your own. There are two types of account to choose from – Personal or Business.

Both accounts are virtually the same, the only difference being that the Business account comes with Business Hub which is ideal if you want to know how your own information is being shared.

Pinterest Business Hub is a great way to find out details of your audience and what they like.

Pinterest Business Hub

It will give you information about things like impressions, how many people are saving your images, and clicks to help you determine which of you Pin designs are doing the best.

You can also learn more about your audience with ‘Audience Insights’  which will help you to better tailor your pins and content to suit your followers.

For example, if you are a book blogger, you can see how your book reviews are performing. Are people reading them? Are the images appealing? Do you need to do something differently?

If however, this is purely for personal research purposes, a personal account really does provide you with everything you will need.

#2 Follow Likeminded People

This could be your favourite publishers or book bloggers. Simply go to the search bar at the top right-hand side and type in a name or a topic. For example, you could type in the phrase ‘book bloggers’ and change the drop down option to ‘people’ and you will find pages of suggestions to browse through.

If you are unsure of people you wish to search for you could simply start a search for ‘books’ or a specific genre, but be warned you may find yourself inundated with pins to look through.

Simply click on any of the suggestions that appeal and you will be taken through to their profile and be able to see all their boards. It is here that you have the option to follow them (similar to a ‘like’ on a Facebook page, or a ‘follow’ on Instagram).

#3 Grow Your Community

Just like any other social media platform, for those of us using this as a blogging tool, we also need to grow our audience.

Group boards are a great way to collaborate with people who have similar interests and will get your content seen by more people.

If you are just starting out and in need of some group love, Pin Groupie is a great tool to help you find relevant group boards.  Just type a topic into the search engine and once you find a board you like, see whether they are accepting new contributors. For this you may need to contact the group admin.

#4 Create Eye-catching Pins

For those using Pinterest as a source of information alone you may find you only wish to save pins created by others but for those looking to generate interaction with others, you will need to design content for yourself.

Remember while a book cover alone may be interesting, Pins with a call to action or a catchy title will attract more viewers.

Starting out with a simple editing tool like Canva can help with this. This programme allows you to create images for any number of social media platforms that will stand out from the crowd. I would also suggest finding further sources of imagery, other than the stock images provided on Canva, to make your content unique. 

Use clipart and images other than stock images like these from font bundles to improve your pinterest graphics

Art work available at Font Bundles

It is the high quality pins that appeal to people so they need to be attractive, after all this is a visual social media platform like Instagram, so you need a unique USP if not you will just be swallowed up with the masses.

Fonts by Font bundles are a great way to improve your visuals on Pinterest

Use different font bundles to make your work stand out (Fonts by Font Bundles)

On top of photos that I have taken and edited myself, I also tend to use different fonts to the standard fonts offered in Canva.  Font Bundles for example offers a beautiful range of both free and paid for options that can be used to jazz up an image you create. Check out their script fonts here to see how they can really add something special to your art work.

Art bundles from font bundles can make your pins on pinterest stand out

Fonts by Font Bundles

#5 Be Consistent

Just with anything else, if you want to grow an audience on this platform you need to make sure that you are consistent with your approach.

Interaction is key. Simply pinning your own work is not going to entice people to follow and share your articles therefore, in order to become more visual on Pinterest you need to treat this platform the same way you do other social media sites.

  1. Visit daily and like and comment on other people’s work
  2. Share pins (both yours and others) at multi times each day
  3. Use keywords in both in your pin title and description to alert others searching for similar topics to your work (also note that vertical pins seem to perform better than horizontal ones)
  4. Make sure your images look appealing and professional (check out the competition, what is working for them? What are you repining? Does you work compete with this?)
Use fonts to help you stand out from the crowd

Use fonts to help you stand out (Image from Font Bundles)

Final Thoughts about Pinterest

Personally, I find Pinterest a pleasure and not a chore. It is the one social media platform I visit where people do interact and share ideas. It is also one of the few outlets where I actually click through to read articles attached to the visual itself.

So often on other platforms I find myself liking a photo or a comment that someone has posted but I then move on, never clicking onto that individual’s website, and I know I am not alone in this (you only have to look at the results shared on Google Analytics to know that Pinterest is a far more effect platform for bloggers in general than any other social sharing site).

This article however wasn’t aimed at bloggers specifically but at book lovers in general. For those of us who are looking for new reading material this is the perfect place to come and search for it. The interface is easy to navigate, searches offer a wide range of suggestions and the book lists I have noted since I started using Pinterest have grown exponentially.

Bookworms, if you have not yet looked at Pinterest, please give it a go. I know your bank balance won’t thank me, but you will discover many more like-minded individuals all of whom have a love of reading.

Are you on Pinterest? If so, leave a link to your page below and let’s connect.

Thank you to Font Bundles for sponsoring this article. I have been paid for my time but all views and opinions mentioned in this piece are my own.

Did you enjoy this article? Then PIN it for later…

Why all book lovers should be using pinterest not just those with a book blog. Via @tbookjunkie

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