Using Pinterest for Your Business
Social media can be effective in driving sales and traffic. It is not just one for increasing engagement and for building brands, as there can be a lot of uses for different social media platforms.
One fun social media platform that businesses can tap is Pinterest. Though it is not a large social platform like Facebook, it has potential in penetrating a certain type of demographic.
Pinterest statistics
There are over 175 million active Pinterest users around the world. Seventy percent of them are female while 30 percent is male. The largest age group on Pinterest is those from 18 to 29 years of age. Majority of the Pinterest users are also active on Instagram.
Twenty-six percent of all US internet users also use Pinterest. The top topics users pin are of art and hobbies, flowers and food and drinks, home and garden, and health and beauty. Those businesses who are in these industries can greatly find Pinterest advantageous.
How it works
Although Pinterest is now starting to evolve to an eCommerce platform with buyable pins, it is still a social media platform, to begin with. One has to connect with different users and create value.
Pinterest is a network where users look for inspiration or ideas. Aside from that, users can visually share interests, whether an image or video, to their own board (or collection). Users can also browse through the different ideas that others have pinned or shared.
The social network has an extremely visual orientation and focuses on lifestyle. Its goal is to connect people through whatever it is that they find interesting.
How to use Pinterest for your business
It is an effective platform for influencing purchasing decisions. Only Facebook outranks Pinterest when it comes to persuading purchases. Statistics show that 93 percent of active Pinterest users plan purchases through the platform. Through Pinterest, you can put forward your services and products to a new audience.
Knowing the potential Pinterest can offer your business, here are some tips to help you make the most out of the platform:
Add pin button to your website. Doing so encourages your site visitors to take action. You can add a Pinterest save button on your site so anyone can pin your content to Pinterest even if they don’t have the Pinterest browser extension. This makes pinning easier for your customers. In addition to that, this makes promotion quite easier on your end as well as customers can do that for you.
Have good content. Cover topics around your expertise and what your audience cares about. A good mix of these two will lead you towards the perfect content for your Pinterest account. If you sell outdoor gears, it’s not enough to post the items you sell. You also need to add topics about hiking or tips for outdoor adventure, this helps establish your authority while also posting about things that your audience are interested in.
Focus on visual and keywords. Pinterest is a visual platform. Make sure that you use images that are of high quality. Use photos that are clear and in focus. If you sell products, don’t just pin the actual product. Opt for lifestyle photos instead. Pinterest noted that lifestyle images outperform product shots. Adding text to images gives people an idea what the link is about. In addition to that, make use of the description field. Include important keywords and explain what the content is about if they click the link.
Be consistent. This is the most important key of all. Being consistent with your pinning will help you get the most results. It is recommended to pin daily and in the evenings for US-based businesses. If you’ll be posting a lot of new content, make sure that you divide them between the days of the week instead of posting them in one day.