Pinterest Business Accounts & Why You Need One

If you are a blogger, Etsy seller, or otherwise making a profit online, you're probably using Pinterest to publicize your blog, brand, or business.  Are you still using your personal Pinterest account to promote?  If so, you may want to switch to a business account.  Here's why:

Differences between personal and business accounts
Currently business and personal accounts on Pinterest look the same and have many of the same features, but business accounts have access to a few special features like:

• Analytics - Pinterest analytics can help you see what your most popular pins are, how often they're pinned, and how many viewers see your pins.  This information can be very useful when planning your marketing strategy.

• Rich Pins - Pinterest Rich Pins include extra information about the pin and therefore provide more information to pinners.  Rich pins can also include your brand's logo.  

• Insider access to future tools and features - Pinterest is always working on new features.  If you have a business account, you'll have insider access to new features available exclusively for business accounts.  Most recently, users with business accounts received information about and access to promoted pins.

These three business features can help in your marketing and promotion on Pinterest!

Why you might need a business account
If business accounts don't look any different from personal accounts, why even bother getting one?

• It's required - If you drive traffic from Pinterest to a website that earns income in any way, you should be using a business account.  According to Pinterest's terms of services "If you want to use our products for commercial purposes you must create a business account and agree to our terms of service."  You can read more about Pinterest's terms of service and business terms of service here.

• Verify your website & get more traffic - When you verify your website on Pinterest, your entire URL is displayed on your profile so people can easily click through from your Pinterest profile to your website.   It's easy to do!  Just go here for the directions to verify your website on Pinterest.

• Hold contests - With a business account, you are allowed to host contests.  You can read the guidelines for Pinterest contests here.

•  Get access to special features like analytics, rich pins, and promotional tools that can help in your marketing and promotion on Pinterest.

How to get a business account
It's easy to start a new business account on Pinterest.   You can even convert an existing personal to a business account in four easy steps.  Here are the instructions for setting up a business account on Pinterest.

Find much more useful Pinterest tips and info here!