Before starting a Pinterest campaign, it is vital to understand that Instagram and Facebook strategies don’t apply to this platform, and if you have never encountered a Pinterest store, you will need to learn the basics of Pinterest product promotion. While users on these other networks are looking for new and exciting content, Pinterest users are geared towards action or purchase.
Here are a few expert ideas on how to implement your Pinterest marketing strategy.
First, Understand the Pinterest Platform
Although endowed with a vast e-commerce potential, Pinterest is still mainly a social network. Thus, to create a successful Pinterest strategy for e-commerce, you need to reach out to your potential clients and people who might have an interest in your products. The main benefits you can gain from Pinterest include:
• Engaging your potential customers and target audience
• Increased product visibility
• Enhanced referral traffic
• Using your Pinterest audience base to build your e-commerce business
• Receiving direct feedback from your clients regarding your products
However, don’t expect to make direct sales. Although Pinterest will send you referral traffic and act as an advocate for your products, you can’t make direct sales on the platform.
The Top 10 Keys to Succeeding in your Pinterest Strategy
When creating your Pinterest strategy, it’s important to remember your audience and product. Creating your pinned content from your site is an easy first step- but there are 10 main ways you can optimize your Pinterest account for it to have the biggest impact.
1. Promote Pinning on Your Site
Before you promote your products on the Pinterest platform, advocate for it on your e-commerce website. This means including the “Pin” button on all pages of your products and encouraging everyone who visits your site to follow you on Pinterest. To do this, use social media sharing widgets such as DiggDigg or AddThis to add the necessary social media sharing buttons. You can also attract visitors to your Pinterest page by announcing various special offers and competitions for Pinterest users on your site.
2. Use Rich Pins
Simply put, Rich Pins are pins that contain additional information right inside the pin. This can provide your clients with benefits such as stock availability and real-time pricing. Rich Pins can significantly improve the click-through rate and the discoverability of pins since it makes them eligible for Pinterest’s curated feeds. Another benefit of Rich Pins is price notification. If the price of your product drops, the customers who repinned the product’s image will receive an email notification of the price reduction from Pinterest, prompting them to buy the product.
3. Set Up a Pinterest Business Page
If you intend to use Pinterest to market your products, create a Pinterest business page instead of using a personal profile. The business profiles are specifically designed for companies that wish to interact with their clients. To obtain a verified business page, just confirm your website address. Doing this adds credibility to your profile and also makes you eligible for extra features that personal profiles can’t access.
4. Use an Attractive Profile Image
Select a profile image such as a logo that will help your clients to recognize your business easily. For best results, scale the profile image to 160×165 pixels. Also, include a short description of your company that will be visible to other Pinterest users.
5. Draw and Engage Your Followers
To succeed in any social network endeavor, you must first attract followers and then keep them engaged. Similarly, to attract fans and create a successful Pinterest strategy for marketing your products, find and shortlist active Pinterest users that pin similar products.
Then, proactively engage with their followers by answering any questions they have asked and respond to their comments about different images. Again, whenever users like or repin your images, just send them a brief “Thank You” message.
6. Use Large and High-Quality Images
Pinterest is a visual platform and users click only on high-quality images. Thus, ensure your pins and product images are of very high quality. Research indicates that larger and taller images receive greater engagement than smaller ones. Images that have a height of 1128 and a width of 738 pixels have the best appearance.
7. Exercise Intelligent Content Curation
To develop a thriving Pinterest strategy, you need to be a proactive content curator. Don’t just concentrate on sharing your own product images. Instead, pin images supplied by other users with similar interests as well.
However, do this intelligently. Avoid pinning images from your competitors. Instead, pin pictures of goods or products that complement your products. For instance, if you sell sportswear, sports gear, or equipment, you can pin pictures of famous sports personalities or tournaments being played in different geographical regions. Pinning pictures from other users helps you create new relationships and adds variety to your Pinterest profile.
8. Optimize for Keywords
Among the first things you need to do is to rename your boards and add specific, customized tags in their descriptions and the ensuing pins. Many people leave their Pinterest boards and descriptions unoptimized. Such individuals miss out on a great opportunity to drive traffic using the “search” function. Don’t let that be your case.
A search function is an ultimate tool for discovery, and if you use keywords to optimize your pins, descriptions, and board names, you enhance your chances of being featured in the search results.
9. Enhance Your Pins and Boards
To simplify the task of your followers exploring your products, categorize your images in different boards. Create separate boards for different categories of products and add images from your website. Then, set up boards that contain pictures that show your products being used in real life. You can also set up boards containing different facts and statistics about your products. Be creative because the possibilities are countless. Just ensure that your profile is well-organized and easy to explore.
10. Add Clear and Concise Calls-to-Action (CTA)
According to research, pins that have clear CTAs in their image content or description fetch 80 percent more engagement. And, since your primary aim in Pinterest is to generate traffic for your e-commerce website, always include clear and concise CTAs in your image descriptions.
A call-to-action is a statement or sign urging the visitor to take a specific action such as “Register Now,” “Download Now”, or “Click Here.” To make your CTA more compelling, use statements or questions that prompt a response from your users.
The number of Pinterest searches is growing daily thus creating new opportunities for getting clicks, and if you dedicate a few minutes of your time every day to apply these techniques to develop an effective Pinterest strategy for e-commerce, you will experience a remarkable increase in your traffic and product sales.
What’s your best tip for nailing your Pinterest strategy? Tell us below or tweet us!