Marketing on Pinterest – If you feel you have aced a social stage, for example Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn, it might be a simple trap to influence yourself to trust that you’ve conquered them all. And then Pinterest came along and broke up those plans. Pinterest comes across as different and confusing, however, it is a popular and valuable channel for e-commerce businesses.
Below we will talk about a few basic fundamentals for marketing on Pinterest, including explain how to create a profile, pins as well as ways to advertise/market on the platform, but also measuring your results.
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a social media platform that allows users (“pinners”) to save pins of their choice that contain links, descriptions, and images onto different boards for later use. Pinterest also makes it possible for users to keep their boards secret/hidden.
You are able to create pins by uploading images and links, come across pins that you want to see in your feed or discovering pins you are looking for by using the search feature on Pinterest. The latter two are great opportunities to market to future customers.
Why consider marketing on Pinterest?
At this moment, Pinterest currently has more than 200 million active users. Even though this number does not compare to those of Facebook or Twitter for example, it is still substantial.
Pinterest can be a marketing powerhouse for online stores. Users buy products they come across on Pinterest organically at a much higher rate than the average social platform, and that’s partially because Pinterest users are proactively searching for things rather than just reactively scrolling through a feed.
What types of businesses should use Pinterest?
Many businesses have the potential to get meaningful results from Pinterest, especially online stores selling physical goods that can be photographed. Business-to-consumer (B2C) companies in general have a much easier time on Pinterest than business-to-business (B2B) companies, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for the latter to get traction on the platform.
Let’s take a closer look at who typically uses Pinterest today. Look at this info provided by Pinterest on who is more likely to use the platform:
- 60% of Pinterest households have children five years old or younger
- 50% of Millennials use Pinterest monthly
- 66% of women between the ages of 25-54 are signed up on Pinterest
- 40% have household incomes of more than 100k annually
Set your Pinterest profile up for success
- The first step to marketing on Pinterest is setting up an effective profile.
- Your profile lays the foundation for the rest of your marketing, and you’ll save a lot of time getting it right now versus trying to “fix” everything later.
- Make sure you set up a business profile for your store instead of a personal one. If you already have personal profile and have followers and content saved to it, you can convert it to a business profile.
What content should I share on Pinterest?
There are various types of content that perform well on Pinterest, so we’ll look at the different formats and how best to use them. Note that all pins must link to another site and include a visual component, and all links should point to the most relevant page.
1. Product Pins
Product pins contain pictures or videos of specific products, which then take users directly to the site to purchase.
2. Blog posts and content
Blog posts have the potential to do very well on Pinterest. You’ll want to keep best practices in mind for your main image, which includes using text on the image itself (tools like Canva can help) and writing a description that explains why the article is worth readers’ time.
3. Infographics
As infographics are inherently visual, they fit right in on Pinterest. Make sure your infographic meets the standards that work best on the platform, or it could show up as too small to read.
4. Videos
Videos are becoming more popular on Pinterest, and you can import videos directly from YouTube if you’ve already built up a channel there. Tutorials and DIY videos generally perform well on Pinterest as interacting with your users are crucial to keep them interested in your brand.
How to get your Pins noticed
The best way to get your pins notice, is to create it in a way that it catches the eye of your viewers. A few points to consider when creating your pins are:
- Colors
- Simple Designs
- The types of content
- Size and dimensions
Promoted Pins: Understanding the basics
Promoted Pins are Pinterest’s system for advertising. They run in an auction-style where advertisers bid to have ads shown to their target audience. With Promoted Pins, you can pay to have your pins show up in users’ feeds when they’re browsing, or in their search results. Promoted Pins can include images or videos and look like regular pins with a small “Promoted” tag on the bottom.
With Promoted Pins, you can optimize for different types of goals. Your objectives will determine the user actions you pay for, including:
- Website traffic, where you pay for clicks.
- Brand awareness, where you pay per 1,000 impressions.
- App installs, where you pay for clicks to the download page.
- Brand awareness through video, where you’re charged per 1,000 impressions. One important note: these videos will auto-play in the user’s feed.
Make the most of Pinterest
Pinterest is unlike any of the other social media platforms, because users are equally motivated to save items for themselves as they are to share them with others.
It has exceptional selling power, particularly for e-commerce. To succeed on Pinterest, have a deep understanding of the customers you’re trying to reach, stay consistent with your pins, profile, and boards, and keep up to date on best practices and changes occurring to the platform. We can help you create content for your brand awareness on Pinterest, contact us today to start pinning!
