Project Holiday: Create Pins and boards for the season

Originally published on Pinterest for Business on November 12, 2014 By Kevin Knight.

It’s the right time to create Pins and boards for the holidays. Businesses that take advantage of seasonal interests, including products, DIY projects, travel and recipes, can inspire people while they’re in a holiday mindset, ready to take action.
And there’s lots to indicate that many people are already in the holiday mindset. So far, there are more than 604 million holiday Pins and 244 million gift-related Pins on Pinterest. Overall, more than 65 million people are following boards with holiday or gift Pins—a significant chunk of Pinterest’s community.
With so much activity, it might be hard to know where to start Pinning. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
It’s not just about shopping. While Pinterest serves as a solid wishlist for millions of people, don’t forget that the holidays aren’t just about sales and crowded aisles. Think about the other things that make up this time of year—travel, food, catching up on reading and your favorite shows, and lots (and lots) of family time.
This opens up possibilities for all kinds of businesses. Publishers can curate lists of longreads or under-the-radar stories from the year. Travel and hospitality companies can add Pins around winter escapes and family-friendly activities. Entertainment and media brands can add must-watch clips from fall TV shows or funny memes. Winter break can be a time for people to take on those someday projects around the house.
Gift guides are valuable, but don’t limit yourself.
Create new boards but don’t forget about adding to old ones. Because people use Pinterest’s Guided Search to look for holiday recipes, projects and gifts, it’s important for your Pin and board descriptions to include those words so that they’re more discoverable.
But don’t forget about your boards that already have followers. A winter sweater can go in a special seasonal board but don’t forget to add it to your existing women’s fashion board, too. A Christmas cookie works in your Christmas recipes boards and your board of desserts. Pin holiday items to multiple boards, and you’ll appear in the home feed of every Pinner who follows one of those boards.
Mix inspirational with actionable. As always, it’s best to make sure your boards contain a mix of inspirational imagery and actionable content. Winter can be a time of reflection and planning for the new year, which means it’s also a moment to capture the attention of people looking for new projects and things to try. Seattle-based designer Moorea Seal has several gift guides and a winter wonderland board worth checking out.
—Kevin Knight, currently Pinning to Wish list