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Marketing Your Farm on Pinterest

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This information was originally published in a newsletter to our farm and ranch members in June, 2012. Some of the mechanics of Pinterest have changed since we first wrote this —  you don’t have to wait for an invitation to join, for example, and they no longer have “likes” for pins — but what is most useful here are the numbers.


You may have heard about, or even experienced for yourself, the enormous procrastination potential of Pinterest. So many beautiful, interesting, inspiring, odd, and useful photographs in one place, neatly arranged and (usually) linking back to interesting, inspiring, odd, and useful sources. I often find myself awake past bedtime, bookmarking recipes and admiring the work of artists I’ve just discovered through the site.But can Pinterest be more than a way to procrastinate when you have a small businesses? Say… a farm, ranch, or vineyard stay? We think it has some promise as an additional way to market agritourism and farm stay vacations, and here’s why:

  • 68.2% of Pinterest users are female
  • 49.5% of Pinterest users are in the 25-44 age range
  • 50% of Pinterest users have children
  • 28.1% of Pinterest users have an annual household income of $100,000+
  • Travel is one of the top 10 categories on Pinterest (at #9)
  • Pinterest had 11,716,000 unique visitors in January, 2012

(Sources: Modea, Mashable)

According to a Shareaholic study, Pinterest drove 3.6% of total referral traffic in January, 2012 — that’s more than Google Plus, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined.

Anecdotally, when I look at Facebook analytics for Farm Stay U.S., I find that 78% of our fans are female, and 44% of them are between the ages of 25-44. Similar!

GUESS WHO MAKES TRAVEL DECISIONS?

The Gutsy Traveler online travel magazine reports that 80% of all travel decisions are made by women, regardless of who they travel with, who pays for the trip, or where they go. Additionally, 75% of those who take cultural, adventure, or nature trips are women, and 87% of women say they go for the beautiful scenery. This means photos are going to sell. (Sources: The Gutsy Traveler; MMGY Global)

What do we do with this information?
If you want to have a presence on Pinterest, first, request an invitation to join. Brand your own farm or ranch stay yourself, and control some of the content that is pinned.

  • Pin content from your own website, particularly if there is a great image attached.
  • Pin content from places other than your own site. It’s important that you not be entirely about self-promotion.
  • Be sure your pins and re-pins lead to real content, not spam or junk links. Not doing so could get you flagged.
  • Follow Farm Stay U.S. (and we will reciprocate!)

As with all social media, the key is to be sociable. Re-pin and ‘like’ what others have pinned; comment when you feel comfortable. Have fun with it and show the fun times on your farm or ranch stay, and word will begin to spread.

Pinning Etiquette

– Pin clear, pleasing photographs

– Link to original sources of the images, i.e., the original creator of the image you are pinning, rather than image search results or re-blogging websites that give no credit to the original creator

– Link to informative, useful, or interesting content

– Have a mix of sources, even if you stick to a theme; don’t just self promote

– Engage with the people you follow; re-pin, like, and comment

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