You’ve probably heard of Pinterest. You may even use it for private purposes yourself. However, did you know that it can be used to promote business, in particular, e.g. an e-shop? We check whether such activities can turn out to be profitable and how to conduct them. If you’re curious about the benefits Pinterest can bring to your business, be sure to read.
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a website that was created out of the need to apply the idea of a cork board in a virtual space. Its name is a combination of two words: “pin” and “interest”. It was supposed to be a catalog of visual inspirations, a place where you can collect ideas and images encountered on the web and group them on virtual “boards” according to the selected topic. The platform contains certain elements of a social networking site. For example, you can follow other users’ activities and view their public boards.
Despite its long activity (Pinterest was established in 2010) and visible growth (in May 2020 it was used by over 367 million users), the website did not change its basic profile. Over the years, only more features have been added to make it easier to gather inspiration and share it with others. In 2018, it was possible to sharing and storing video clips of any length. Today, Pinterest is also referred to as a visual search engine. It enables, among others search your database based on photos or their fragments, as well as existing “pins”, i.e. inspirations saved by users (images, articles, posts, videos, etc.).
Promotion on Pinterest – get to know your audience
Before you learn how and why to promote your business on Pinterest, it is worth taking a look at the demographics of website users, as well as their habits and preferences. Sources say that the website mainly targets women. According to data from July 2020, as many as 76% of its users were ladies. In addition, the website itself reports that in the United States, Pinterest is used by as many as 8 out of 10 women aged 18 to 64 who have children. The median age for all users is 40 years, but most active users are younger.
The website carefully analyzes the content provided by users and on this basis prepares annual trend reports and other publications aimed at, among others help brands promote more effectively. He also orders research to understand the behavior of “pinners”. The data obtained in this way shows that:
– 85% of portal users say that they use it first when they want to start a new project,
– 98% admit that they tried the ideas found on the website,
89% agree that they use the website as an inspiration for their purchases, and 90% agree that it helps them decide what to buy,
– 70% discover new products thanks to Pinterest, and 72% say that the website inspires them to buy, even if they do not have them planned,
– 66% of users bought a product after viewing a brand’s pins.
In addition, as many as 9 out of 10 users associate Pinterest with a positive message. Most users enter the portal to take a break, seek inspiration for positive changes and get in good mood.
Pinterest in business promotion – is it profitable?
Pinterest is definitely an interesting place on the web. Its users are creative, motivated and actively looking for ways to improve their lives or try out new things. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect clientele for your business? In addition, the website is a great place to maintain relationships, and according to modern marketing principles, they are the most important for increasing sales. It is a great tool for implementing long-term strategies and building a community around the brand. Especially that the average “lifetime” of posts on the site is calculated in months. This is because it is used to make plans, often far-reaching. Meanwhile, other social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, focus more on “here and now” or even on the past. This makes the posts placed in them quickly forgotten.
According to the statistics given above, the platform should be of particular interest to companies that target young women, and in particular mothers. However, there are also ways to get great results with products and services that have a different target audience. Much depends on the adopted communication strategy.
Drive traffic to your website with Pinterest actions
The research cited above shows, among other things, that Pinterest is the most effective in directing Internet traffic to store pages from all social platforms – about 33% more effective than Facebook and as much as 200% more effective than Twitter. The additional traffic to your site means more customers who may want to use the services. All this means that it is increasingly used for promotion. American brands are in the lead in this respect, but they are not only large corporations. Smaller businessmen are also eager to use the website. There is also nothing to prevent companies from using its potential! There are many indications that it may simply pay off.
Pinterest for business – how to start?
What does it take to start promoting on Pinterest? The first step is to create an account. It is worth noting that the portal allows you to create two types of accounts: personal or business. Business users have access to much more tools that enable effective promotion – incl. statistics, analyzes, methods to promote posts. They can also make it easier for other users to get to their website via a direct link. Therefore, it is the only right choice for anyone who wants to advertise their business. The website regulations say that an account created for commercial purposes should be marked as business. You can also convert your personal account into it – just look at the settings.
After signing up for your account, you can start adding pins immediately. However, it is worthwhile to think carefully about your strategy first and analyze the target group and its activities on the website. It’s also good to spend some time observing the website and its customs – especially if you haven’t had any contact with it before. Don’t forget that your Pinterest account can be linked to other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube. This will make it easier to build consistent communication and help you reach more people with your posts. It is also worth remembering that the website allows you to publish not only photos, but also infographics or video files. In turn, this will help you diversify your content and create more diverse boards that can grab the attention of many people.
How do I connect my Pinterest account to an online store?
If you run an online
store, company website, or even a blog, it is worth remembering about an
additional step that will help you “start” your business on the
portal faster. This is linking your Pinterest account to
the website. This can be done in two ways:
– adding a “follow us on Pinterest” button to a website
or blog;
– adding the “Pin it” plugin to product pages in the
store – thanks to this, people visiting it will be able to easily add products
of interest to them to their boards.
It is a good idea to use both methods and install the “Pin it” plugin in your web browser. Thanks to it, you will be able to quickly create pins from visual content on the web.
Promotion on Pinterest – what to remember?
Once you have your goal, initial strategy, and timing of your posts, you can start building your boards. Website users are usually actively looking for new ideas, so as long as you are able to offer them something interesting, you should not complain about the lack of interest. There are also a few rules to keep in mind.
Make sure that:
– treat the company Pinterest as a business card – carefully
select the pins placed on the boards and take care of a consistent, specific
message;
– the
published content was of high quality – it is mainly about technical
quality, i.e. photos, graphics and films in high definition and presenting a
professional appearance;
– do not
forget about branding – it is worth placing your logo wherever possible
(but not in an intrusive way);
– post not
only photos, but also important information – if you publish pins with your
products, always include the most important information about them in the
description (including the price!) or use a paid tool that will add this type
of information for you;
– use
keywords – more and more users treat the website as a search engine, so
their proper selection is very important;
– do not
avoid contact with other users – it is worth responding to comments and
reacting to other user activities, e.g. pinning your pin or following the
account;
– do not
spam – too intensive activity and pushy promotion of your products will not
be appreciated;
– create
your own unique style – a consistent message with an idea is something that
Pinterest users love and that will definitely make a good impression;
– publish
various, interesting content – the photos of the products themselves can be
unnoticed, so remember to create a story around them with inspirational pins
that will help website users identify with the brand.
Also, do not forget about using the tools that are available to business account holders. The statistics and analytical tools available on the portal can help you a lot in increasing the effectiveness of your activities.
How to read Pinterest statistics?
Pinterest statistics are available at this address. For business account holders, they are a great source of information to help you improve your brand message. It’s good to know how to interpret them in order to use them to your advantage. Here are four basic measures to help you manage your account more effectively.
Range
Reach metrics tell you how many
people see your posts – daily and monthly. In this
section, you can obtain data on the views of pins published by your account.
This allows you to recognize which content is the most popular
and drive traffic to your profile.
Pins from your website
Business account users who link to their website
can also check how many pins have been created from it. This
data allows you to see how many people liked your products so much that they
wanted to save them on their boards. You can also check
which of these pins are doing best, for example in terms of impressions or
engagement. The same data is available for the pins
created by you. This provides you with loads of important
information to help you create new content.
Save from your side
Savings, also known as surges, allow you to get
more views. It’s a good idea to check if subscriptions
are coming from your site and consider what you can do to get more of them.
Clicks
This is a very important statistic
that tells you how many people came to your site through Pinterest posts.
This is usually the main goal of companies operating on this
platform. It is worth taking a look at which pins are the
most popular and use them as a determinant for creating new ones.
Is Pinterest for you?
Pinterest can be a great platform to promote your online content and your business and offerings. It is not a complicated service, and at the same time provides many useful solutions for business. In addition to statistics, for example, paid ads that can bring excellent results, as well as the so-called. extended pins for the publication of more extensive content. All this means that the possibilities of using the website are very wide.
