5 Things Businesses Need To Know Before Joining Pinterest
Pinterest is an amazing platform for brands who want to gain exposure. It’s the world's 3rd largest search engine after Google and YouTube, it’s growing at a rapid pace, and its userbase statistics are nothing short of impressive.
For businesses, the platform is a goldmine because Pinterest users are looking to buy.
83% of weekly users have made purchases based on brands they saw on Pinterest.
72% of Pinners use Pinterest to decide what to buy offline.
Retail brands can see 2x higher returns on Pinterest than other digital channels.
Studies show that buyers on Pinterest have 40% larger online shopping carts.
Promoted Pins drive 5x more in-store sales per impression vs. other online advertising
Also important to know, 97% of the most popular searches are unbranded. That gives small-medium enterprises an opportunity to be at a level playing field with the big-guns in terms of digital impressions. So, for example, a boutique furniture company can appear ahead of IKEA when a user searches "patio furniture ideas".
For businesses who want to be as effective as possible with their digital marketing spend, you should know that Promoted Pins stay on the platform for life, saved and re-shared between other users, snowballing every season. What happens to your Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns once they’re done?
Even organically speaking, Pinterest brings in more free traffic than any social media site and represents 5% of all internet referral traffic.
Long story short, your brand needs to be on Pinterest. If it isn’t already (why not?) there are some things you should know...
As a Pinterest Marketer, I meet business people who are unfamiliar with some important aspects about the platform. They hear a lot about Pinterest (often from their moms or wives). But from a business perspective, there are some things that you need to know before tapping into the profitable market potential of Pinterest.
1 - Be in it for the log game
Pinterest can be described as a slow-burn. Building a bonfire takes a little kindling, some branches, and then it slowly ignites. But once the bonfire is lit, it practically burns on its own with minimal effort and then throwing on logs to keep it going is easy.
That’s one of the secrets to Pinterest. If you have a solid marketing strategy and your business profile is properly set up, you can post fresh new content regularly and watch your traffic and conversions grow organically.
I’ve spoken to start-ups who are Pin-terested (!) in joining the platform. However, many have a short mindset. They want to gain rapid exposure and see immediate results because they don’t know how long their brand will be around.
Experienced Pinterest Marketers are vested in your business to give you long term value and a positive ROI. If you think your brand will not exist in 6 months, you shouldn't spend your resources on Pinterest.
2 - Pinterest is not a social media site
Pinterest isn't a social media site and it shouldn't be treated as such. Users of social media sites scroll through home feeds of updates from friends and personalities they follow. Pinterest, on the other hand, is a visual search engine (the world's largest, in fact). It's a platform for productivity planners to seek and discover ideas and inspiration for literally anything - from healthy snack recipes to buying your first home.
This unique function gives marketers a tremendous opportunity. Putting your products on the forefoot when Pinners are actively seeking answers to their problem of which your product or service is the solution. How amazing is that?
It even outperforms social media sites in terms of traffic volume of purchase-seekers. According to their own S-1 filing, more people use Pinterest to find or shop for products in the US than on social networks.
Pinterest is in a category on it's own and it's a powerful source for commerce.
3 - It’s constantly evolving
Pinterest continuously goes through changes and they're sporadic. Tactical decisions such as their desirability to use hashtags, their pin image specifications, and their use of video have all been adapted over recent times. Most importantly, Pinterest alters their search algorithm once in while to prioritize specific kinds of pins. How they choose to best serve its users can change and brands on Pinterest need to adapt.
4 - Followers aren’t as important as you think
Even though Pinterest profiles display a follower count, the metric doesn’t have the same importance as on social media sites. In fact, it isn't even a measurement in audience analytics provided to business accounts.
What matters most to Pinterest is user engagement, i.e. the number of closeups, link clicks and saves of your pin. Having 10k engaged followers is more effective than 10M+ passive users. An authentic audience is key.
To succeed, a brand must post relevant articles, product pins, and informative videos so that its target audience will save and display them on their boards. If you consistently post content that matches their interests and provides value, you’ll have a higher chance of impressions and engagements from the audience you want to reach.
5 - You need a dedicated, specialized Pinterest Marketer.
I had a professor at McGill University School of Continuing Studies in Entrepreneurship who would give memorable one-liners like “the second mouse gets the cheese” or “stay out of court, it’s the playground of the rich”. One of the pieces of advice he gave to us entrepreneurs-in-training was for companies to “Farm it out”.
Managing Pinterest on your own or delegating it to your social media team is likely not the best use of your resources. True Pinterest Management involves keeping an ear to the ground of its evolving algorithms, consistent postings of the right content at the appropriate time of year, and regularly analyzing your audience to adjust your tactical decisions and strategies. It’s not posting updates and promos like with social media sites… remember, Pinterest is NOT a social media site!
It takes someone fully dedicated to your Pinterest presence that will help your brand flourish. So, farm it out!
What now?
Have you been holding out on marketing your brand on Pinterest? Is it because it’s unfamiliar territory to you? If you want your business to grow further, achieve incredible returns while doing it, and leap onto the powerhouse that is Pinterest, go with a KingPin. Contact Alex Kopytov at KingPin Services - your Pinterest Professionals. at alex@kingpinservices.com