By Tommy Wigley, Strategy Director at Digital Natives
Pinterest isn’t just one of the world’s leading platforms for sharing ideas and finding inspiration. With over 459 million monthly active users calling the social media giant home, Pinterest also provides businesses with huge potential to grow their brand.
In fact, over one million businesses are already using Pinterest to market their products, reach their target customers, and successfully boost their sales, and there’s no reason why you too can’t achieve the same success.
We’ve created this helpful guide featuring insider tips and strategies for growing your business with Pinterest. We share five tried-and-tested social commerce strategies for Pinterest, as well as how you can use the platform to engage your customers and clients.
So, why should you use the photo-sharing platform to boost your business? We’ll let the statistics speak for themselves:
- 84% of weekly users use Pinterest to help decide what to buy
- 55% of Pinners are specifically looking for products
- 83% of weekly users have made a purchase based on content they see from brands on Pinterest
- 40% of users have a household income of more than $100k per year, giving them substantial spending power
(Source: HootSuite)
Using Pinterest to increase turnover
Stepping up your Pinterest presence is a no brainer and wanting to reap the sale-boosting benefits of Pinterest, just makes sense. But as many brands are still in the early stages of their social commerce journeys, it’s hard to know where to start.
1. Add a ‘Pin It’ button to your product pages
When a user is browsing the products on your website, they might not be ready to commit to the purchase just yet. Invite them to Pin your product images to their own Pinterest folder to come back to later, which increases your exposure to a larger audience that might not have found you otherwise.
2. Add ‘Shop the Look’ Pins
‘Shop the Look’ Pins are a great example of how Pinterest is adapting its platform for social commerce. Instead of visiting multiple websites to compare products and prices, users can shop in one place, therefore boosting the customer experience and speeding up the buying process.
3. Vary the type of images you share
Pinterest is a visual search engine and products have a better chance of attracting attention when they’re different from the images surrounding them, so try a combination of product images, videos, and lifestyle pictures to ensure you’ve got all bases covered.
4. Share content that goes beyond the scope of your products
Be sure to share content that supports or shows the value you and your products offer. Create additional boards that address topics that appeal to your target audience, whether it’s DIY projects, winter outfit ideas, or healthy recipes, for example.
5. Write SEO optimised descriptions
Another important part of your social commerce strategy should be using SEO strategies with your Pins. Find out what keywords your audience searches for by using a keyword research tool, then create a keyword strategy for Pinterest that includes the types of Pins you’ll share and which keywords you’ll use with each.
Proven and Practical Strategies for Engaging Customers and Clients
Now that you’ve learned five key social commerce tips for Pinterest, it’s time to focus our attention on the strategies recommended to engage potential customers and clients on the platform.
- Start a Group Board
Group boards allow Pinterest users to collaborate and contribute ideas about a specific topic. It’s a great way to invite your audience to engage with your brand about a shared passion.
- Comment on Pins
Just as with other social media platforms, comments allow you to engage with your audience on a deeper level than Likes or re-Pins allow.
- Follow others
Following other relevant Pinterest users is another effective method of engaging customers and clients. This shows a genuine interest in who they are and the content they share.
- Create an influencer campaign
Embrace influencer outreach as part of your Pinterest social commerce strategy to demonstrate the real-life application and value of your product, as well as leverage the social proof an influential personality provides.
So, what’s next for social commerce on Pinterest?
With its Pinterest Shopping features and huge potential for boosting your business’ engagement, fan base and sales, Pinterest is a platform you’ll want to be taking advantage of.
Businesses can also look forward to a bunch of new and improved features from the platform, including better catalogue management tools, an enhanced conversion analysis dashboard for advertisers, and automated bidding and budgeting solutions.
