How to Promote Your Album on Pinterest

Whether you’re a DJ, a rapper, a singer-songwriter, or a band member, signing up with Pinterest is an easy way to share your music with the world and potentially reach a larger audience. It’s also free to use, so there’s no reason not to give it a try. You’ll have the best results if you use the site strategically, which is why we’ve compiled this quick list of easy tips for musicians on Pinterest. When you’re done reading, make sure to check out our

How to Prepare Your Demo

, too.

Why Musicians Should Be Using Pinterest

Since its launch in March 2010, microblogging platform Pinterest has grown to about 70 million users worldwide. Similar to its competitor Tumblr, which we covered in our article about using Tumblr to promote your music, Pinterest is mainly formatted for users to share images and videos. Since the site is geared toward multimedia instead of text, it’s ideal for musicians to share content.

So, how does it work? Let’s start with some basic terminology. You know how Twitter uses Tweets? Pinterest calls its posts “Pins.” Pins go up on your “board,” which is “where you save and organize your Pins.” Individual users can have multiple boards, which can include group boards, secret boards (private boards), and/or place boards (boards which track location). You can also theme your boards with specific types of content.

To make a Pinterest account, all you have to do is visit Pinterest and click the red “sign up” button. Type in your email and password, and you’re good to start pinning.

That sounds easy enough – but why bother in the first place? There are plenty of reasons.

• Pinterest’s format makes it ideal for musicians, because the site’s emphasis on video links means you’re in the perfect place to start sharing music videos, jam sessions, equipment reviews, vlogs, and anything else you want the world to see.
• Pinterest pages are automatically public. That’s good news for musicians, because public pages obviously get more shares, views, and traffic than sites which are private or blocked by security settings.
• Pinterest is extremely organized, allowing users to tag, categorize, and filter their interests. That means you don’t lose any links or files in an endlessly refreshing feed, like you might with Facebook or Twitter.
• While it may not be a traditional social media platform in the same style as Twitter or Facebook, Pinterest users can share and “re-pin” Pins, creating a personalized experience for users. Through this social aspect of Pinterest, you can find other musicians and connect with fans of your music.
• Pinterest’s demographic isn’t what you think. As of 2014, Pew Research Center was reporting that 28% of users were aged 30 to 49, 27% were aged 50 to 64, and 17% were 65 or older. Since most of the other social media heavyweights are frequented mainly by teens and millennials, using Pinterest gives you the chance to connect with an older fan-base and diversify your audience. (As an added bonus, older adults typically have more cash to spend on downloads, merchandise, and concert tickets than their younger counterparts.)

5 Tips for Sharing Your Album and Connecting with Fans

We’ve covered the why; now let’s get into the how. By following these five simple tips, you can make Pinterest work harder for you and your band.

• Make sure you stay active once you create a profile. You don’t want to spam other users with excessive Pins, but if your Pins are sparse and irregular, people might start to think you’re inactive and aren’t making music anymore. As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to:
  • Shuffle up the time of day you post. That will increase your odds of hitting a mix of different demographics.
  • Pin somewhere between five and 30 times a day. According to the marketing experts at Bufferspot, that’s the sweet spot for Pin frequency.
• Random browsing can be fun, but you should also use the search tool to find users whose interests overlap with yours. Similar users are more likely to enjoy and re-pin your content. They might even share it on their Twitter or Facebook.
• Like most social media sites, Pinterest features hashtags. Use them. If you don’t, people will have a much harder time finding you in the sea of content Pinterest churns out each day.
• Don’t leave any fields blank. Upload a photo and fill out your “about” section, and make sure to use images and keywords that paint a clear and accurate picture of your content. After all, who’s more likely to follow you: the person who sees a bunch of random terms, or the person who sees a cohesive music-themed board complete with a band picture? Never neglect opportunities, no matter how minor, to fortify your brand.
  • If you’re in a band, make sure each individual member is set up with their own personal profile.
• Connect your Pinterest to your Facebook account and Twitter account.
  • For related tips, you might be interested in reading our articles about using Facebook to promote your music and using Twitter to promote your music.
• Download the mobile app so you can post on the go.
• If you don’t have a website already, you should make one as soon as possible. If you do, make sure it contains a link to follow you on Pinterest.
• Consider joining Pinterest’s waitlist for Promoted Pins. (Unfortunately, Promoted Pins are currently open only to select businesses). As Pinterest explains, “There’s no minimum cost. The amount you pay varies on your targeting audience and bid, and depending on your goals, you only pay when someone clicks or engages with your ad.”

Social media is a great place for beginning musicians to start, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Call Planetary Group at (323) 952-5050 to learn more about our promotion and publicity services for musicians. We handle online publicity, radio promotion, promotion for international artists, and more.