Pinterest is a unique platform within itself – it’s not like Facebook or Instagram and it can’t be treated as such if you want to see a positive performance. Similar to Facebook, it is free to sign up for a business account and to start posting about your brand, but that’s where the majority of the similarities end. The way the platform is built and used is what makes Pinterest so unique in how it can be a small business’ secret weapon for success. Here’s why your business needs to be using Pinterest and how to do so.
Influence Your Customers
The thing that makes Pinterest so unique is how the Pinners, or Pinterest users, are engaging and using the platform. Pinterest is considered a visual search engine because Pinners are looking for new ideas that will help them create the life that they love. With 97% of the searches being unbranded, Pinners aren’t looking for specific brands and are ultimately open to trying out new products and ideas. In fact, 85% of weekly Pinterest users reported they have made a purchase based on brands they saw on the platform.
All of these numbers tell us that Pinners are able to be influenced in their decision making and that’s exactly what you should try to do by putting either your organic or paid pins in front of the users. You will be able to show the Pinners that you have exactly what they are looking for before they need to go to a big brand-name retailer. With all of these Pinners, you will be able to influence not only new customers but also returning customers to purchase your products.
Build Your Profile
In order to start putting Pinterest to work, you will need to create a free personal account before converting it to a business account. This entire process is free, as you don’t start spending money until you are ready to start advertising. Building up your profile is probably one of the most important parts of Pinterest because this is how you are going to start getting your products in front of Pinners.
The next thing you’ll want to do is create boards that you will pin to. For businesses, it’s important to not only pin your own products but also to find other pins that people are saving and pin them to one of your boards. This will start to show the lifestyle of your brand and get your pins out to more Pinners.
Content for Pinterest
Once your profile is set up, you will want to create your content, known as pins. Building good content for Pinterest is going to be one of the most important things that you can do, so take the time to do it right. We mentioned before that Pinterest is a visual search engine, so the pins that get built are going to be what makes the Pinners take action and save your pin. There are three things that Pinterest strongly recommends when creating your pins. The first is to use compelling imagery. This can be either eye-catching lifestyle images or product images. The second is to have your logo on the pins because this will show Pinners that you are a real brand and start building more brand awareness and loyalty. The final recommendation is to have a call to action on your pin. Ultimately, this will show that they can take action on this pin, whether that means they can purchase your product, sign up for a newsletter, or even find out more information about something.
Pinterest Ads
Over the last several years, Pinterest has been perfecting their ad platform and if you have the budget to put behind a Pinterest campaign, we would definitely recommend it. While we say this, do be sure to be clear with your goals before going into any ads because without clear goals you won’t know if your campaigns are performing to your standards.
Because Pinterest is getting in front of people so early on in their buying process, there is going to be a longer consideration period, which means you aren’t going to be seeing results overnight – probably not even in the first week. You have to go through about a 2-4 week learning period, depending on the strategy you choose to go with. If you are willing to have the patience to make it through this learning period, that is when the real magic can happen and good returns will start coming in.
Use the Pinterest Pixel/Tag
If you decide to move forward with Pinterest ads and truly want to see success, you need to add their Pixel Tag. Depending on what your site is built on, the steps to add the tag to your website will change, but you won’t be disappointed. The Pixel Tag will not only give Pinterest more information to optimize with and help your campaigns do better, but it will give you access to some of their more performance-based strategies like conversion style campaigns, shopping campaigns, or even retargeting efforts. After 24-48 hours for everything to initialize, you will be able to have more information on who exactly is purchasing your products through Pinterest or even going back to retarget those who have abandoned their carts. There are a vast amount of strategies that adding the Pixel Tag will add to your arsenal that you won’t be able to have without it.
Pinterest has the ability to not only push your brand awareness but also your potential return to the next level if it is used correctly. It can definitely seem intimidating at first, but with enough perseverance it can be incredibly rewarding as so many other businesses have found it to be. If you would like to add Pinterest to your social media marketing strategy and would like some guidance to help you find success, contact Kite Media and we would be happy to help however we can!