Who are millennials and why should you want to reach them?

Millennials are the age group born between 1982 and 2004. Some even consider those born as early as 1980 to be in this generation. That means “millennials” aren’t all a bunch of Snapchatting teenagers. Some of the generation is nearing forty. Many of them are homeowners, parents and a huge part of the consumer population (75 million of them are spending $65 billion each year, in fact).

Millennials are also seeking distance from their devices. According to Pinterest, 67% of this age group says they spend “too much time being connected.” So what better product to offer them than a book that promises a break from the scroll.

Finally, even if you don’t think your readers are in this age range, is it possible that your readers have children in this age range? Or if you write YA or children’s books then their kids or nieces and nephews might be the target. Either way, millennials may not be the ones reading your books, but if they are gifting items to the generation that is your audience, then you still want to find these shoppers on Pinterest.

How to Feature Your Book On Pinterest

If you’re convinced now that your readers might be accessible via Pinterest, the question becomes, how do I reach them?

Share Your Own Content

Hopefully, you’re already considering the benefits of blogging and talking about your subject matter/genre on your own website. Assuming you are, then Pinterest is a great place to share that content and get found. Some types of content you can produce include:

Book reviews within your genre
Character interviews
Roundups of TV and movies related to your genre
Freebies (like short stories or worksheets)

Seek out other authors on the platform and try to pinpoint what it is they are doing that’s working. Remember, Pinterest is a very visual search engine so your images relating to the content need to be attractive and on brand.

Share Images

At a minimum, if you don’t have a blog or content strategy at the moment, you’ll want to make sure there are photos relating to your book on the platform.

Make sure your title is searchable on Pinterest. You can share the image multiple times and you can link to your website or a seller or a book review.

Established book reviewers and content sites may have already done the work for you, but if you haven’t gotten much coverage yet, you can create any of these types of content yourself.

Digital Cover Image

Styled Shots

Author Photos

Roundups and Comparable Titles

Book Quotes

You can also feature your books in shareable memes. Pull out lines that have global appeal, genre relevance or speak directly to your book’s theme.

These types of images can be highly designed or beautifully simple.

Share Your Images from Instagram

If you’re already creating great visual content for Instagram, you can double down by sharing on Pinterest as well. Not only will this fill out your Pinterest profile, but it could help your Pinterest followers find you on other platforms.

Share Other People’s Content About Your Book

And finally, not all the content you share has to lead back to your properties. In some cases, you may share a Kirkus review or an interview with a blogger or a roundup on a major outlet.

Not all outlets share their content on Pinterest though. And even if they do, make sure you also share (or at a bare minimum, pin something they’ve shared about you).

The beauty of Pinterest is that you can do a lot of sharing without overwhelming your followers. Take advantage of the opportunity to reach readers in the wide variety of ways this platform offers.