Pinterest Marketing 101 for Small Businesses and Indie Authors. Free, Evergreen Advertising!

Pinterest is Great for Promoting Books, Especially Picture Books!

Pinterest isn’t just for wedding planning and recipes. It is one of the most powerful, underused tools for small businesses, authors, artists, and service providers who rely on visuals. Whether you’re selling children’s books, promoting your photography, or offering unique products, Pinterest can work for you.

Pinterest is a Search Engine, Not a Social Feed

Unlike Instagram or Facebook, Pinterest doesn’t depend on followers or timing. It acts like a visual search engine. This means that your content is discoverable based on keywords, not social engagement. Your Instagram or Facebook post is dead within days or weeks. A well-optimized pin can show up in results for months, sometimes years, after it’s posted. Pinterest advertising delivers long-term SEO results!

This gives you long-term, passive traffic from a one-time effort. Pinterest rewards evergreen content, especially if it solves a problem, inspires, or educates. For anyone trying to grow an online presence without spending every day creating content, Pinterest is a dream. If you’re looking for free evergreen digital marketing strategies, Pinterest should be one of the first tools you learn.

Pinterest is a Perfect Match for Visual Content

If your product or service looks good in a photo or can be transformed into a graphic, it belongs on Pinterest. Pinterest works best for businesses that can showcase their offerings in a visual way. Beautiful, inspiring, or helpful pins thrive. Here are just a few examples:

Authors and illustrators (especially children’s books and cookbooks)

Photographers (wedding, newborn, brand, product, lifestyle)

Designers (interior, fashion, graphic, web)

Artists and crafters (painters, knitters, jewelry makers)

Event planners (weddings, birthdays, corporate events)

Print-on-demand shops (shirts, mugs, posters, journals)

Therapists or coaches with downloadable resources

Bloggers with how-to posts, gift guides, or curated roundups

Content creators with free guides, templates, or checklists

E-commerce sellers with visually unique products

Bakers and food stylists showcasing cakes or recipes

Personal stylists and makeup artists with transformation photos

Why Pinterest is Perfect for Small Businesses

Small businesses need ways to get discovered without relying on expensive ads or social media algorithms. Pinterest offers exactly that. It’s free to use and doesn’t require daily posting or a huge following to work.

On Pinterest, you create pins (images) that link directly to your website, product listings, or blog. If someone is searching for what you offer, your pin can show up in their feed for months. This means each pin you create is a small piece of long-term marketing.

Let’s say you run a candle shop. A pin titled “Best Relaxing Candles for Stress Relief” can live on Pinterest forever and attract people who are actively looking for relaxation gifts. The same goes for a mug shop, a digital download store, or a handmade jewelry brand.

Pinterest marketing for small business is ideal because it requires minimal time but yields steady traffic. Combine beautiful images with practical search terms, and you’ve got one of the best free evergreen digital marketing strategies available today.

If you want to build traffic and sales slowly and steadily without burning out, Pinterest should be part of your strategy. Pinterest marketing for small business is especially effective for self-publishing authors who need long-tail traffic without constantly advertising.

Pinterest is a Goldmine for Authors and Book Sellers

If you write or publish books of any kind, whether fiction, poetry, or memoir, Pinterest can be a surprisingly effective discovery tool. It’s a platform where readers, educators, bloggers, librarians, and working professionals actively search for book recommendations, themed reading lists, and niche content. Whether you’re an indie romance author, a sci-fi writer, a poet, or a children’s book creator, Pinterest offers a way to reach an engaged audience looking for exactly what you write.

Some of the exact search terms your pins could show up for include:

“Romance books with strong female leads”

“Fantasy books for teens”

“Best memoirs by indie authors”

“Books by Black authors for young adults”

“Thrillers with unreliable narrators”

“Short story collections to read in one sitting”

These are the kind of keywords and phrases people type in when they’re actively looking for specific types of books. When you post a pin with your book cover and a pull quote, you meet people right where they’re searching.

Your pins can link directly to Amazon, your website, or a blog post. Pinterest is especially effective when paired with strong keywords and a beautiful image. If you’ve been wondering how to promote books on Pinterest, start by turning your book cover, illustrations, and favorite review quote into three separate pins and link them all to your sales page.

One pin can quietly drive traffic for months with no extra work. This is one of the easiest ways to passively build visibility for your books.

Authors asking how to promote books on Pinterest should remember that the audience is there and actively searching. They just need to see what you offer. If you’re a self-published author, this is one of the few platforms where you can still get organic reach from visual content without needing to constantly produce new material.

How to Market on Pinterest

Create a business account. This gives you analytics and the ability to run promoted pins if you ever want to.

Use keywords. Treat it like Google. Write strong pin titles and descriptions with the terms your audience is actually searching for.

Design great visuals. Use Canva or Photoshop to create tall pins (1000x1500 is a good size). Include a title text on the image.

Link back to your site. Every pin should send people to a landing page, product, blog, or your book listing.

Be consistent. You don’t have to pin daily, but uploading a few high-quality pins each week can build momentum over time.

Create boards that align with your brand. For example, a children’s author might create boards for SEL books, bedtime stories, or grief resources.

Add text overlays and CTA. A pin that says “Read More” or “See Inside the Book” gets more clicks.

Use seasonal and trending topics. Pins about holiday gifts, back-to-school resources, or summer reading lists get major traction.

Pinterest also favors fresh content. Repurpose your existing graphics and rotate your content with different titles or layouts. You can use scheduling tools like Tailwind, but it’s not required to succeed.

Pinterest is one of the best-kept secrets in marketing, especially for authors and visual businesses.

It allows you to reach people who are already searching for what you offer without fighting algorithms or paying for every click. For photographers, authors, artists, and other creatives searching for free evergreen digital marketing strategies, Pinterest provides both reach and longevity.

Mastering Pinterest marketing for small business doesn’t require a huge investment, just some strategic visuals and keyword planning. If you’re looking for how to promote books on Pinterest or how to build a visual brand that lasts, start pinning today.

Pinterest is free, damn near eternal, and designed for discovery!

If you want consistent results from your online marketing, focus on platforms that reward evergreen content. Pinterest is hands down one of the most effective free evergreen digital marketing strategies you can use!

Ready to start using Pinterest to grow your brand, boost your book sales, or drive traffic to your shop? Start with just one pin today. Create a simple graphic, use clear keywords, and link to your best content.

Already pinning away? Share a Pinterest marketing tip that’s worked for you in the comments. Still on the fence? Bookmark this article and come back to it when you’re ready. Your content deserves to be found.