Pinterest Story Pins have finally arrived and we’re definitely here for it. Story Pins are a whole new way to engage your audience other than the comments feature. Like Instagram Reels, Story Pins are animated photos or videos that give users helpful information, while entertaining them in ways they didn’t even know they could be entertained on Pinterest.
So what are Pinterest Story Pins and how can they help your business?
Let’s take a look.
What are Story Pins?
Story Pins are a cool, new way to get your audience engaged on Pinterest. Similar to the Stories features on other top social media sites like Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories, Pinterest Story Pins allow creators to present a series of images or videos that can be tapped through.
Story Pins are great for recipes, brand stories, product details, travel guides, and recommendations.
They’re also great for boosting engagement on Pinterest because they allow viewers to react to your Story Pin quickly with reactions like “Thanks,” “Love,” “Wow,” and “Great Idea!”
How to Create a Story Pin
Before you create great Pinterest Story Pins, it helps to know exactly how you’ll do it.
Step 1 – Log into your Pinterest business account and click Create Story Pin.
Step 2 – Click the downwards arrow and choose up to 20 images or videos (or drag and drop them).
Step 3 – Design your pages using the tools on the right side of the screen. Choose a layout for your page and decide what color background you want. To adjust your image or video, click Image or Video and adjust or resize to your preference.
Step 4 – Click the plus sign icon on the top left-hand side to add more images or videos. If you want to change the font, background, or layout of multiple pages at once, hold down the shift key and select the pages you want to edit.
Step 5 – Click Next and choose a theme from the dropdown menu. Then, add the details to your Pin.
Step 6 – Fill out all of the information for your Pin, including the Story Pin title, which board you want to Pin it to, and which 10 tag topics you want to add to your Story Pin to reach people searching for similar ideas.
Step 7 – Click Publish and you’re done!
Related Reading : The Ultimate Pinterest Image Size Chart
Why Use Story Pins for Business?
Businesses can benefit from using Story Pins to help make their content more discoverable on Pinterest. Story Pins can be seen by your followers at the top of their feed, giving you a great spot right at the top of the Pinterest app. It also helps businesses be discovered by people who aren’t already following them.
Thanks to the Discover Creators icon in the Story Pin section, users can find new and inspirational content, which might include you and all that you offer on Pinterest and beyond.
When people hear information, they’re only likely to remember about 10 percent of that information three days later. However, when paired with a relevant image, people retained 65 percent of the information three days later.
So if you want people to remember what you’ve said, pair it with visual images or videos!
Tops for Creating Great Pinterest Story Pins
1. Tell a Compelling Story
If you want to be successful with Pinterest Story Pins, make sure your Story Pins tell a compelling story. Whether it’s a brand story or a case study of clients using your product or service, make sure it captures the attention of your target audience and gets them to act on your Story Pin. Plan out your Story Pins with a beginning, middle, and end.
2. Upload High-Quality, Eye-Catching Images and Videos
Visual content is an incredibly effective way to reach your target audience on social media platforms like Pinterest. In fact, between 40 and 80 percent of businesses will rely heavily on visuals as part of their marketing strategies in 2021. That means, in order to compete, you’ll need to create high-quality, eye-catching images and videos in your Story Pins. Otherwise, you might not get the results you’re looking for.
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3. Tag Your Story Pins
Pinners are 70 percent more likely to engage with product tags in scenes. So if you want people to find your Story Pins based on the topic, you’ll need to tag your Story Pins with topics to help categorize them. Doing this will help make your Story Pins more discoverable on the platform. Use the description box to provide even more context and information about the Story Pin. If your Story Pin is a recipe, you could use tags like “recipes,” “recipe ideas.” And you might use hashtags like #eatingwell, #onmyplate, or #foodforfoodies.
4. Create a Understated Call to Action
A call-to-action is something that prompts someone to take action, whether it be a click, a like, or a comment. Usually, the CTA would sound something like “Buy Now,” “Call Now,” or “Learn More.”
The CTA for your Story Pin should be subtle because you’re looking for engagement at this point, not necessarily the sale. So you don’t want it to be something that prompts the user to follow, re-pin, or share a URL to a helpful tool or resource.
5. Don’t Forget About SEO
Hashtags used to be one of the most important aspects of creating great Pins because they helped users find relevant content, but in 2020 that all changed.
Using relevant hashtags isn’t as important because their effectiveness is limited to a short, initial burst of extra exposure. So don’t spend a ton of time worrying about Pinterest hashtags. Instead, you want to brush up on your Pinterest SEO skills!
Focus on including your main topic in your Pin Title, and choosing relevant tags (up to 10) that match your content subject. You’ll also want to assign your Story Pin to a relevant Pinterest Board!
6. Make it Human
Story Pins are a great way to let people get to know the creator behind the content. Show your followers and other users that they can relate to you and your brand. You could show your humanity by narrating your idea or showing your face.
Doing this can help Pinterest users connect with you in a truly authentic way. So find ways to connect with your audience in a way that shows your humanity.
You could try sharing your fails as well as your wins. Or you could show your audience some of the top struggles facing business owners and creators (like you).
Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and really show people that you’re just like them.
7. Check for Quality
Story Pins are meant to feel more authentic, which means quality is key. That means you need to check your borders to ensure the edges of the screen aren’t covered. Is the lighting the best it can be?
Remember, natural light can do wonders for a photo or video. Think about whether the videos and images in your Story Pin fit well together style-wise? If not, consider using filters or switching the style up a bit so that everything meshes well.
Make sure the images and video are high-resolution and that the focus isn’t blurry (it should be crisp, clear).
Types of Story Pins to Create
There are a few types of Story Pins you can create to help boost engagement and reach:
- Listicle Story Pin (i.e., 7 Places to Find WFH Opportunities, etc.)
- The How-To Story Pin (i.e., How to Start a Business From Home in 2021)
- A Day-in-The-Life Story Pin (i.e., A Day in the Life of an Instagram Influencer)
- The Mental Health Story Pin (i.e., mental health reminders for remote workers or essential mindset tips to help you work from home successfully)
- Behind the Scenes Story Pin (i.e., A Look at How Your Product is Made from Start to Finish)
- The Answer Your Own Question Story Pin (Ask a question, like “Can I really design the life I’ve always dreamed of?” and then answer it with your content)
Examples of Great Pinterest Story Pins
Wanna know what a great Story Pin looks like? Take a look at three top examples from business accounts using Story Pins like pros.
The recipe Story Pin from Scott Can Eat makes great use of video to engage Pinners, by giving them something beautiful and colorful to look at, as well as providing on-screen instructions. Bonus points: It’s super easy to make – and tasty, too!
WendysWorld_XOX created a tutorial that shows users how they can achieve an editorial makeup look with an ombre lip. She uses high-resolution video to showcase the steps, and includes an understated CTA to get viewers to follow her.
Finally, Glamour UK uses an easy-to-read listicle format to engage users and teach them about financial literacy. This Story Pin uses a combination of animations, images, and words to convey the point!
Conclusion: Creating Great Pinterest Story Pins
Creating great Pinterest Story Pins may take some time and trial and error while you test different images, captions, and videos. But the process can go a lot more smoothly if you have tools to help you create and manage your Story Pins effectively.
Tailwind Create can help you create amazing, eye-catching Story Pins that get people engaged and help you become more discoverable to both your followers and other Pinterest users! Plus, you can create stunning graphics for your other social media platforms while you’re at it – with one click of a button!
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