Pinterest, the visual social media platform that you might have thought was just for dream vacations, brides, and ideas on how to decorate your home, isn’t that way anymore. It’s a growing platform to gain new business, create a sales funnel, and grow your email list.

With over 250,000 users every month, Pinterest has a loyal audience, primarily women, but men account for 50{1ebec527b4ba00bba44d6d71828072e701044d28b52bd1ec6430b2d22282f44a} of the new signups. Users scroll their mobile phones, day and night, looking for helpful and inspiring ideas.

What that means for your business is this: if you’re creating and sharing tips and information – to solve a customer’s problem, answer questions, or offer quick and easy solutions, Pinterest may work for your brand – and be quite profitable.

If you understand how Pinterest works and how to work it, you can create “free products” that can drive traffic to your blog, website, and landing pages – and create a buyer’s path, for them to learn more.

Emily Syring, shares how to build an email list in a recent Social Media Examiner article. Here’s a brief recap:

5 Tips to Build Your Email List with Pinterest

1. Create a lead magnet, which you’ll exchange for your reader’s email address. This should promote your expertise and give your audience a simple solution to their problem. It can be an e-book, video, check list, or free trial. Make sure it provides value. You’re building trust.
2. Connect your ‘freebie’ to a landing page via your email marketing program (Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, Mailer Lite, etc.) where people can opt-in. Be sure to add relevant keywords and your opt-in offer to your Pinterest Profile.
3. Think of Pinterest as one giant search engine, and your profile as a business card. Consider creating a new business account, and leave your personal one, for personal use. You’ll have different goals and objectives, and it will be easier to track.
4. Share your lead magnet/freebie/opt-in on other Pinterest boards that have the same audience and niche. See the example below, and how the URL is placed.

(Credit: Social Media Examiner)

5. The next step is to create 7 – 10 boards with keyword rich copy and add your lead magnet/opt-in to each board description. Everything you write should be in a conversational tone.

Graphics are important to create attention grabbing visuals for your opt-in, and Canva is always a hands-down, favorite free design tool. You’ll want to be sure that your pins look appealing, and that viewers have a clear idea of what they’ll get, when they click (and hopefully share).

(Credit: Canva.com)

Check out the rest of the article on Social Media Examiner to find out about text overlays in your pin designs, how to create the best headlines to spark an emotion, and experiment with your copy and images to see what grab’s your audience’s interest.

Ultimately, you’re using Pinterest to build brand awareness, but you’re also building your list too.