Using Pinterest as a Sales-Generating Platform for Businesses

Pinterest doesn’t immediately come to mind when it comes to sales, but it should.

To many, Pinterest is the go-to platform for building dream boards and looking for inspiration. It’s like a new way of flipping through magazines. The platform, however, makes the process of tagging or bookmarking the ideas you’re interested in whether it be fashion, home decor, cooking, photography, or whatnot a lot simpler. It also makes it so much easier to share with other people. This whole thing makes it a goldmine of opportunities.

Did you know that Pinterest now drives more sales than Facebook or Instagram? According to a 2019 survey, “47% of social media users saw Pinterest as the platform for discovering and shopping for products—more than three times higher than those who cited Facebook or Instagram.”

According to Pinterest, 90% of weekly Pinners use Pinterest to help them decide what to purchase. A good 78% actually want to see content from brands on the platform because they’re useful. On top of that, according to Expanded Ramblings, the platform now has 322 million monthly users from less than 140 million users in 2016. This makes it one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world.

Unlike other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest puts more focus on the user. It provides customized content related to its users and their aspirations rather than focusing on others. This plus its unique mix of beautiful images and personalized recommendations largely influences the user’s purchasing decision. From a simple place of discovery, these have made Pinterest into a powerful platform that helps users discover new brands and products and make confident purchasing decisions.

Pinterest is clearly not to be ignored. With all that, you should no longer leave it on the sidelines of your marketing strategy. So, here are some ways to use the platform and grow your sales.

How To Use Pinterest To Increase Sales Step 1: Optimize

Using Pinterest to leverage sales comes in many familiar ways that you would have probably used in other social media platforms. There are also some unique ones. What you need to do remember though is to understand how Pinterest works and how it could connect to your overall marketing strategy.

1. Create Mobile-Friendly Content

A whopping 85% of users use Pinterest on their phones making mobile-friendly content a high priority. It’s important that your content appeals to them but it’s also important that they can see it properly on their feeds. When you’re linking back to your own content or to your website, make sure that it’s mobile-friendly as well.

2. Set Up Shop

One of the best things about Pinterest is that a catalog of your products can be easily made available to its users. Pinterest allows every business profile to create a “shop” tab. Just like it sounds, it’s where users or interested customers can see all the products your brand is selling. You can also use this tab to share pins that link directly to your sales pages.

3. Brand Your Pins

Much like in any other platform, branding your content makes it easier for you to stand out but more so on Pinterest. According to them, 97% of the top searches on the platform are unbranded. This is a golden opportunity for you to stand out and gain fast brand recognition throughout the platform. An easy way to do this is to add a small logo in any corner of your pin.

4. Create a Similar Look and Feel

Clicking on a beautiful image on Pinterest and ending up somewhere that looks or feels nothing like it is nothing short of disappointing and confusing. It’s basically clickbait. That’s why as a marketer, it’s important that you apply consistency. If you used a quality photo for Pinterest, make sure that your website uses quality images too. It doesn’t have to be the same images but make sure that they’re on the same level of quality and feel. Simply put, don’t dupe people. According to an analysis from Pinterest, pins that have similar imagery with their landing pages tended to have higher online sales lift.

How To Use Pinterest To Increase Sales Step 2: Grow

1. Time Your Campaigns

Timing is always key. Luckily, Pinterest has plenty of free resources you can use to time your campaigns. For instance, they have “seasonal insights,” a report that shows you user activity around dozens of specific moments throughout the year. It can show you when users are starting to pin for the holidays or the summer. They also have monthly trends reports that show you the specific trends of the month.

2. Pinterest SEO

Wherever you go, SEO will be vital to get your brand in front of your customers. So, make sure to check the usual basics like optimizing your company name, including brand keywords in your about page, and including links back to your website. After that, make sure that you’re also optimizing your SEO for Pinterest. First off, make good use of your pin descriptions. Pinterest allows up to 500 characters. Don’t forget to use hashtags as well. Then, use pinboard names that reflect your keywords. This will make it easier for users to find and to discover your brand.

3. Rich Pins

Rich pins make marketing on Pinterest a whole lot easier. Basically, these allow you to include a lot more details about your pins and it is automatically updated. Some information you can provide using these rich pins are product prices, availability, ingredients, and movie reviews. The three types of rich pins currently are product pins, recipe pins, and movie pins. This feature is relatively new and you’ll have to apply to Pinterest for them. You would also need to code your website with the required meta tags.

4. Cross-Promoting

No matter what social media platform you’re on, cross-promoting is always a great idea. With Pinterest, you can do that through the “Pin It” button or the Pinterest Tab. The pin it button allows users to easily share your products. You can use it to link back to your website too. This makes it easier for your products to be seen by other interested customers and it can increase referral traffic to your website as well. The best part is it won’t cost you anything. The Pinterest Tab, on the other hand, allows you to show your Pinterest tabs on Facebook or your website. This generates more views on your products and encourages customers to follow you on Pinterest as well.

5. Contests and Coupons

Everybody loves a good deal and a good contest once in a while. Combine these with the visual nature of Pinterest and you have yourself some great sales. It’s also a great way to connect with your customers, generate pins, likes, and comments. With the excitement and a great reward, in the end, consumers will likely associate your brand with positive events. They can end up marketing your brand to their own audiences on Pinterest or other social media platforms. You can host these on your website to drive traffic or you can host these directly on Pinterest.