How to Promote an Online Course on Pinterest in 2023

When most people think on Pinterest, they think of recipes, outfit ideas and aesthetics.

But what about using Pinterest as a marketing platform to promote your online course?

And is Pinterest still a valuable platform in 2023?

In today's article, we will focus on how to promote a course on Pinterest, and how online course creators can use this social media platform to grow their audience and collect new leads for their programs.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a social media platform that focuses on visuals and image sharing.

This platform allows users to discover and save ideas for various interests and hobbies, such as recipes, home decor, fashion, and more, by creating virtual pinboards of images and links.

It provides a space for people to explore and share inspiration for their projects and interests through visual content.

Studies show that in 2023, 465 Million people use Pinterest per month!

In 2020, Pinterest saw a significant increase in its user base, mainly due to the pandemic. With people spending more time at home, they needed a distraction to fill the lockdown time, and Pinterest offered great inspiration for starting a new hobby or home decor project.

But statistics show that Pinterest can be more than a way to kill a couple of hours of scrolling through inspiring visuals: it can be a powerful marketing ally for businesses, solopreneurs, and course creators alike!

So, let's see how you can leverage Pinterest marketing strategies to promote your online business the right way (in 2023).

Who Should Promote Their Course on Pinterest?

As with any other marketing channel, Pinterest marketing favors specific niches over others.

That doesn't mean that if your business focuses on one of the niches that are not popular on Pinterest, you should not give it a try at all. However, certain types of businesses are more fitted to the Pinterest landscape and audience compared to others.

Let's see what niches do best on Pinterest, and who should decide to promote their course on this platform.

#1: Women-Tailored Businesses

Most Pinterest users are female: studies conducted in early 2023 showed that 76% of Pinterest's user base was women, while only around 17% of their users were male.

This means that if your business is targeted to a female audience, promoting on Pinterest can be a good idea.

Women who use Pinterest also tend to form a strong bond with the platform, making it a great way to grow a loyal audience.

#2: Beauty Online Courses or Products

Looking at the Pinterest top trends in late 2023 in the United States, the clear winners are beauty-related topics, including nails, hairstyles and outfit trends.

This means that if you teach an online course about these topics, you probably will do well promoting on Pinterest. "Nails" in particular, is the top search trend in 2023, with countless term variations that you can try to leverage.

#2: Cooking and Recipes Courses

Another popular trend that seems to never die on Pinterest is recipes, dinner ideas and cooking tips - now standing in second place after "nails."

If you offer online cooking courses, Pinterest marketing can help you reach your ideal audience and increase sales, as Pinterest users are always looking for fresh recipe ideas.

#3: Digital Art

Digital art is growing in popularity everywhere, Pinterest included. Some of the top search trends for 2023 are "wallpaper background" and "wallpapers", and as we get closer to Halloween, "spooky wallpaper".

If you are selling digital art, such as wallpaper or patterns, you should try a Pinterest marketing strategy.

Plus, with the advent of AI, creating digital art has never been so accessible. Pinterest, being famous for its aesthetic and visual appeal, is the perfect channel to share your stunning AI digital products.

If you want to learn more about how to create art and digital downloads with AI, check out these articles from our blog:

• 7 AI-Generated Digital Products You Can Start Selling Online Today
• 4 AI Side Hustles You Can Start To Earn Extra Cash Online With AI

#4: Seasonal Topics Courses

Pinterest is big for holiday planning, and studies show that Pinterest users start to gather inspiration for their Christmas decor up to 5 months in advance... yes, in July.

So, it is not a big surprise that seasonal trends are a popular search on this social media platform.

This means that if you sell seasonal courses or you offer services or products that are linked to a certain time of the year, Pinterest could be a great place to promote your business - and you could start months in advance.

#5: Self-Care Courses

Self-care is a growing online course topic and Pinterest trend.

Pinterest users are using the platform to research self-care tips, mental health habits, practical guides and self-care-related products to add to their daily routines.

So why not promote your self-care online course on Pinterest?

#6: Home Decor Businesses

Another topic that is growing in popularity on Pinterest is home decor and aesthetics. Pinterest users love to find new home decor inspiration on the platform, research trends, color palettes and interior design tips from Pinterest influencers.

If you are an expert in home decor or interior design and you can teach others how to reimagine their homes, Pinterest could be a great marketing channel to promote your online course.

Why You Should Promote Your Online Course on Pinterest?

If your online course falls into the categories above, then you should definitively give Pinterest marketing a try.

Here are some benefits of promoting an online course on Pinterest:

You Get to Showcase the Course Benefits

As you know, Pinterest is a highly visual platform, making it an ideal place to showcase course content with eye-catching graphics, infographics, and engaging images.

It is also a great place to offer sneak peeks to your ideal customers about the results of your online course in a simple and effective way.

For example, if your course is about cooking, you can easily show pictures of the delicious dishes that your students will learn in the course.

Generate Traffic to Your Course and Website

Pinterest can drive significant traffic to course websites or landing pages through pins and links.

When users find valuable course content on Pinterest, they are more likely to click through to learn more.

Course creators can also use Pinterest to collect leads by offering free resources related to their courses in exchange for email sign-ups, helping to build a qualified list of potential students.

You Can Reach Your Target Audience

Pinterest allows course creators to reach a niche and highly targeted audience by using relevant keywords, descriptions, and hashtags.

This can result in attracting users genuinely interested in the course topic.

Evergreen Content (Posts Have Longer Lifetime)

Pinterest content has a longer lifespan compared to other social media platforms. Pins can continue to drive traffic and engagement for months or even years after being posted.

Studies show that posts on Pinterest tend to have an average lifespan of three months but can sometimes last even longer.

This is much longer compared to other social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram - not to mention TikTok.

A post on Facebook has a lifespan of five hours. For Instagram is 48 hours. And TikTok only a few minutes...

You Can Easily Repurpose Content For Pinterest

Promoting on Pinterest doesn't have to be hard.

If you use other marketing channels (if you are a course creator, you probably do), you can easily repurpose existing course content, such as blog posts, videos, and infographics, into Pinterest-friendly visuals, extending the reach of valuable educational content.

Using Pinterest alongside other marketing channels is a way to diversify your marketing strategy and widen the reach of your course promotion efforts.

Nurture a Loyal Audience and Community

Creators can use Pinterest to tell a visual story about their courses, sharing testimonials, success stories, and behind-the-scenes content, which can help build trust and interest among potential students.

This can help you foster a sense of community by creating group boards or collaborative boards related to their course topics, encouraging engagement and discussion among users.

Improve Your SEO

Last but not least, sharing on Pinterest is a way to increase the number of backlinks to your site and online course page.

This is a great way to do search engine optimization and improve your domain authority in the eyes of Google.

How to Promote an Online Course on Pinterest

So now that you know about the best types of courses to promote on Pinterest, and the benefits of doing so, let's see how you can actually get started with your Pinterest marketing.

Step #1: Create a Pinterest Account and Optimize It

To get started on Pinterest as a business, first, create a Pinterest Business account. This enables you to access useful features like analytics and Pinterest advertising, which can help you better understand your audience and improve your marketing.

However, having a Pinterest business account is not a necessity to promote your online courses.

You can still use a normal account, but you will lack important Pinterest analytics about your reach and campaigns.

Next, ensure you complete your profile with accurate details such as your business name, website, and a brief description of what you offer. You can include relevant keywords in the text to enhance discoverability.

Choose a high-quality and professional profile picture that represents your brand or business, whether it's a logo, headshot, or an image that aligns with your online course theme.

Step #2: Create Boards and Pins

Pinterest works with boards and pins.

A Pinterest board is a digital collection or grouping of related pins (images or videos) centered around a specific theme, topic, or interest. Users can create boards to organize and curate content, such as recipes, travel ideas, or educational resources.

A Pinterest pin is a visual bookmark or image/video link that users save and share on the Pinterest platform. It typically includes an image or video, a brief description, and a destination link to a webpage or source with more information.

Pinterest suggests utilizing a 2:3 aspect ratio for your pins, with a minimum width of 600 pixels.

By adhering to these dimensions, you can ensure that your images will be displayed accurately on the platform and will stand out more prominently in users' feeds.

The next step is to start creating pins to share on the platform and organize them into boards.

Make sure that the visuals you post on Pinetrest align with your online courses and resonate with your desired audience.

You could share educational infographics, visual summaries of your course content, helpful tips, inspiring quotes, and compelling images that illustrate the advantages of your online courses.

By concentrating on the creation of well-organized boards and visually captivating pins, optimizing your content for search engines, and maintaining a consistent and active presence, you can effectively drive traffic to your online courses and expand your audience.

To maximize traffic to your course website using Pinterest, the key is crafting visually appealing, engaging, and informative pins that highlight your online course's value and benefits.

Be sure to incorporate a clear call-to-action and include a link to your course website or sales page in the pin description.

Step #3: Engage With the Pinterest Community

Once you start to create content for your Pinterest, it is time to start engaging with the Pinterest community and start building new connections.

Engaging with the Pinterest community is vital for course creators because it fosters a sense of authenticity and trust.

It demonstrates your genuine interest in your niche and potential students, making you more relatable and approachable.

By interacting with others, you can also expand your reach, attract more like-minded individuals to your courses, and gain valuable insights into your target audience's interests and preferences.

Conclusion

In this article, we've explored the potential of using Pinterest as a marketing platform to promote your online course in 2023.

Pinterest, with its focus on visuals and image sharing, has a massive user base and offers unique advantages for specific niches such as beauty, cooking, digital art, seasonal topics, self-care, and home decor.

By leveraging Pinterest's visual appeal, traffic generation capabilities, targeted audience reach, evergreen content, and SEO benefits, online course creators can effectively promote their courses.

To get started, you should create a Pinterest account, optimize it, create compelling boards and pins, and engage with the Pinterest community.

The success of your online course depends not only on your marketing strategy, but also on the value that your course provides to its students.

You can increase the value of your course by choosing the right online course platform to host your program: an online course platform that focuses on how well your students learn and offers you all the features you need to succeed and scale your business.

Looking for a great online course platform like this?

Sign up for Heights Platform, the all-in-one online course creation software, to kick-start your course creation and promotion efforts with AI-powered tools. Create your free account today!