Is Pinterest the right platform to use for local business?
For some local businesses, I would say it’s just not the type of Business that do well on Pinterest for example Dentists and Doctors. I would recommend a platform like Yelp or Google for those as they may rather want to be on a platform where the Search is intentional rather than relying on Pinterest to attract their clients.

Business owners interested in Pinterest usually fall into three categories :

1. Business just starting out 

2. Those who are eager to grow and always trying to make sure they stay one step ahead of their competition.

3. Those who are ready to hire a professional social media manager to manage their Pinterest account.


Local businesses usually have a hard time figuring out how exactly to get results on Pinterest. When I say local business I am really referring to brick and mortar Hair Salons, Beauty Salons or even Day Spas. So, in other words, those who have a physical retail outlet and they don't sell products online.

The most important thing to remember about Pinterest is that it's a Lead Generation Platform. If you are looking for exposure & getting people to notice you, Pinterest is definitely the platform for you. The trick is to create well converting Lead Generation content and get potential clients in your funnel so that you can do the warming up of those leads.  
This will take your visitor from being just an online Pinterest observer into a person in your mailing list. Someone you can connect with and obviously later convert into a sale.

You want to make sure you do your Pinterest keyword research very well.  So what you want to see is really what people are searching for already and you want to be targeting those keywords.

Some examples of local companies that will do very well on Pinterest would be Landscaping companies. They could create so many amazing Pins of local Gardens that they have worked on, give people ideas of what they could do in their gardens and in the process, attract a new client!.

Let me give you a few examples of how to benefit from Pinterest as a local business:

1. Your profile needs to communicate your branding and it needs to be optimized for location. For example Acworth, Georgia Landscaping Services. - The most important thing here is you have Acworth, Georgia in the location. You can also place your location in the location settings and I would highly recommend that.

2. Take the time to take good photographs and demonstrate the services within landscaping that you offer. The names of your boards on Pinterest, need to also include the names of the location that you’re targeting. By remaining consistent between your boards and profile, you have a much better chance of targeting local people, in a local area.

3. Which brings me onto photography. You're really going to have to up your photography game.  Pinterest wants good quality photos and size does matter! A 2:3 ratio is best practice and think vertical. A 300 x 600 would definitely work but 
I tend to use 720 wide x 1080 high.

4. You really want to be demonstrating to your potential client where they are now, to where you can take them and what you can do for them. Let your Pinterest profile be the showcase of what you can offer your clients.

5. Always have a Call to Action in your Pins. Make it clear to viewers that if they wish to work with you, they need to complete your lead generation form and make contact with you.


Let's go onto Keyword Research
You want to do your homework on what potential clients are already searching for on Pinterest. The easiest way to do this is by using the Search function and pay attention to the suggestions that Pinterest gives you. You then want to target those popular keywords on your Profile and Pins.

Always remember to use the Destination URL! 
This is very important to lead your viewer to your website. I would almost say that if you’re not going to make use of this, why have a Pinterest Profile?

Another good tip is also to not just set and forget… You need to see what works and you need to measure performance. See what others are doing and see what works for them - you can do the same things.

In conclusion, these are the basics for getting somewhere on Pinterest as a Local Business.
Get the basics down on build on it. Don’t forget that you are on Pinterest and it is a place to get inspired! Let others inspire your ideas as to what to post.