Think Pinterest is just for recipes and wedding inspiration? Think again. With 72.5 million users and counting, the platform has grown into a marketing powerhouse that can't be ignored.
According to Pinterest, 93% of users shopped online in the past six months- making this an extremely targeted user base for e-commerce based retailers. A look at a study by Shopify showed that people referred to products by Pinterest are 10% more likely to make a purchase than users of other social media sites, and spend twice as much as those referred by Facebook. This is a huge differentiator from Instagram, for example, which is only now slowly beginning to roll out direct shopping from the app.(Source: SproutSocial)
Let's start with a key topic: Demographics. Pinterest is notoriously known for attracting a female dominated user base- according to comScore, 71% of Pinterest's users are women- but this is rapidly changing. In 2014 the number of men using Pinterest doubled, and more men in the U.S. use the platform every month than read Sports Illustrated and GQ combined. This provides huge potential for retailers and brand's alike to reach a large number of potential customers without utilizing paid advertisement.
Ultimately, people's main motivation to pin is to take something for themselves, a future purchase an inspiration or something to keep note of. But it's important to note that anything a person re-pins spreads to their own followers, who are looking to discover things from people with similar interests. This makes the platform highly sharable, maximizing on reach with minimal effort from brands.
Read on for information and insights to maximize your ROI, whether you're a Pinterest veteran or new to the platform.
A complete profile makes your page easily searchable by customers, ensuring your content is seen. When creating your "about" section, keep in mind key words and describers customers may utilize when searching for your business. Make sure to add your store's location, website and other social media handles as well to maximize cross promotion.
Gaining a following for your Pinterest page is vital to maximizing reach- as we mentioned, re-pinned posts mean more eyes on your product. With that in mind, utilize your other social media and communication platforms to promote your Pinterest page. Have a Facebook page? Let your fans know you're active on Pinterest and encourage them to follow you there. Make sure you're posting different content on each channel so followers and fans aren't seeing the same images in two places.
The best pins utilize a brief keyword description and a high quality image that links to your website or a page to purchase. Make sure each pin is optimized.
In a recent study, Curlate found after analyzing over 50,000 pins, that those without faces do best on Pinterest. While this is not the case for Instagram or Facebook, the theory holds true for Pinterst in particular. The same study also found that images with medium light are repinned 20 times more than images that are too dark, so pay attention to the photography and quality you're utilizing on the page.
Keep in mind that this platform, unlike Facebook & Instagram, is based in a search-to-discover model. Consider using some of the words below that were highlighted in Tech University study when they are relevant.
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