Is Pinterest the Missing Piece of your Ecommerce Puzzle?

Pinterest may not initially jump out to you as a solid ecommerce traffic driver, but it really can help you sell more stuff. So, if you don't already have an account then you need to go and set one up right now.

How come?

Well apart from the fact that it's one of the fastest growing social channels in the world with 70 million active users, it actually drives 37% more Ecommerce traffic than Facebook. And why would you want to miss out on more sales?

Still not convinced?

Keep reading to see how beneficial Pinterest can be for your online store...

We probably don't have to tell you that visual content has taken over our social feeds, but we're going to anyway. Did you know that a post including an image generates 94% more views than one that doesn’t?

If we're going to get into the science behind it all then it's actually down to how quickly our brain processes stuff.

According to this study, we process images 60,000 times faster than text, so it makes sense that we prefer visual content because it's just plain easier for us to understand.

So that's why Pinterest offers so much value to your online store, because it's all about being visually creative. And because you're selling a physical product, you have an even better chance of increasing brand awareness and pushing conversions.

Yep it's true - 38% of users have made a direct purchase because they saw it on Pinterest!

So how do I use it?

Pinterest is pretty easy to use but if you aren’t quite sure, here are some top tips to help you use it to its potential..

Pin-it

Pinterest is all about pinning stuff that you like to your pinboard. Once you get started you'll be able to download a 'pin-it' button that will sit on your web browser. So when you see content that you like, you can press it and it will capture that content to your Pinterest.

As an Ecommerce pro, your pin-it button will help to quickly grab the products from your online store and feed them back to your Pinterest page.

Create a board

When it comes to creating a board, a great place to start is to come up with a different theme and upload products that relate to that theme.

Gap is a great example of Pinterest done well. They get really creative with their themes and include stuff like new styles, winter wardrobe, and style icons. 

Your feed shouldn’t be just be focused on selling your products either. Check out this pinboard by Sony Electronics below. The theme is 'Game Day Party Prep' and their board is filled with everything you'll need to watch the game.

With a mix of beer, football pizza and a Sony TV – it makes for a great pinboard to follow.

Top tip: Remember to use your board to tell the story of your brand. Post a combination of products and other images related to your chosen theme, to encourage people to follow your board.

Engage

As with any social platform you need to build a following, and to do that, you're gonna have to get stuck in and engage with your fans!

When it comes to engagement there are a few tricks that you can pull out the bag.

Firstly you've got the standard 'Like' button – which comes in the shape of a heart. Double tap it and you'll notify that person that you think their pin is cool. Next, you can comment on pins and give people feedback that way.

You can also follow pinboards and people, send your friends a pin if you think they'd like it, or share it on your Facebook page.

But, if you really want to build a following then you need to be re-pinning other stuff. Make sure you search for pins that are relevant to your online store, so you can build a targeted following.

Check out this pinboard by Pantone Color. They celebrated their 50th anniversary by re-pinning various color-inspired pins from their followers, and it really helped to build a successful campaign. 

Encourage the sale

There's no use in creating pins if you don't encourage people to buy, well at least a little bit anyway.

We're not saying turn it into a corporate selling machine, but you need to provide a bit of information so that your followers can make informed decisions about whether or not they want to buy.

If you're including a pin with a product then make sure you add the price as this can help boost the chance of it being liked by 36%. Don't forget to include a call-to-action on your pin as this can also help increase the chance of people clicking through to your store.

Check out this post from Etsy. It features a short description, the price, and a link back to the website. As you can see, it's got a ton of likes and re-pins, which will really help encourage users to click on and buy it.  

Ready, set, go... get started!

So hopefully we've given you plenty of reasons to get your store up and running on Pinterest. This platform is an awesome tool to effectively tell your story, so make sure you think about the right theme and tie it into your promotions to bring further exposure to your store.

Let us know how you get on in the comments below and if you fancy following us on Pinterest then you can find us here!

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