If you’re still on the fence about why should be using Pinterest to promote your online store, by the time you finish reading this post you won’t me. Plus, I’ve also got a free Pinterest marketing checklist for you so let’s dive in.
If you run an eCommerce business, and you’ve spent even just an hour on this simple but very clever platform, you’ll easy see why this is platform you can’t afford to ignore.
The fact is, Pinterest is not a social media platform, but a visual search engine, and as you sell physical products, I’m gonna tell you you’re really missing out.
If by some chance you’re still on the fence about whether Pinterest is an effective marketing channel for your online boutique business, keep reading to discover four compelling reasons why it just might be the missing link in your marketing mix.
For those of you who don’t yet know the full power of Pinterest, I don’t want you to worry about remembering everything you’re about to read. I’ve created a free Pinterest checklist for online store owners that I think you’re really gonna love, and it will help you whip your profile into shape quickly.
How Pinterest can help you grow your eCommerce store
-
Stop getting lost in all the ‘noise’
Pinterest is the king of content categories, and that’s because the platform was specifically designed to organise. All of the images or “pins” that you post are organised onto different boards that match a particular theme.
Instead of scrolling through a sea of archives and month-old posts, whenever Pinterest users want to find something all they have to do is search for a key-phrase, and all the boards that contain that key-phrase are shown to them.
Looking for inspiration for a wedding dress? No need to sift through cake flavours, flower arrangements or any of the other posts that you might expect to find on say, a wedding planner’s Facebook page. Just search “wedding dresses” and get thousands of ideas in seconds.
Most social media platforms don’t have features that come anywhere close to the level of organisational efficiency that makes Pinterest so useful.
And although many brands spend a lot of time and money creating content and products that are relevant to their target buyer. The problem is, a lot of this content gets lost – diluted and overlooked because of tons of other content that simply is not relevant.
What then happens is, your users become fed-up with receiving information they don’t care about, and they may decide to hide, or even (heaven forbid!) dislike or unfollow your business page.
Buyers want to find what they’re looking for, and they want to find it quickly and easily. Creating well categorised, thematic and beautiful boards for your brand is essential for success on Pinterest. But they make it so easy to do…it’s a no brainer!
-
Pinterest gives your content a longer lifespan
Creating an effective social media campaign is not as easy as some would make it sound. The trick is to plan, experiment, and revise, then plan, experiment and revise some more.
That’s why in terms of your content, it’s crucial your online boutique concentrates on getting as much bang for your buck as possible.
As I mentioned earlier, different social networks have different cultures and personalities.
Because people interact differently on each platform, it makes sense that your branded content will reach people at different stages in their buyer cycle, and for different lengths of time. The interesting thing for eCommerce business owners is, Pinterest is noted to retain user interest and engagement for considerably longer than other major social networks.
Now, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that if you’re trying to sell a product. That’s a good thing.
Twitter, is a real-time social media commentator and only has a content lifespan of between 5-25 minutes. Facebook’s is more like 80 minutes. People like to page cruise and talk smack, – but in actuality they’re not quick to buy much.
Whereas, with Pinterest – the place where people can totally immerse themselves in categorised boards/products of their liking – your content tends to remain active for up to a week. And if presented the right way, that can only lead to more sales.
-
You can level the playing field
There’s no kidding customers when it comes to social media.
While a big multi-national can spend a ton of time and money constructing the perfect multi-million dollar billboard or TV ad that might get customers thinking about them in a positive way for weeks, or even months on end…with social media marketing that just isn’t the case.
You can’t use tricks or gimmicks. You can’t just tell customers what you think they want to hear – although you can try. All it takes is a single inappropriate comment, an overlooked complaint, or an insensitive post, and your business could be facing marketing mayhem!
Now, while this is true of all social media, the discussion becomes all the more interesting on Pinterest.
Because Pinterest is a visual platform, your business needs to know how to effectively portray your brand message through graphics and images. And this means your level of customer understanding and real time connection, needs to run all the more deeply.
Now, this may seem a little intimidating, but it’s a positive thing as businesses are being forced to live their brand promises; something that sleep-starved and cash-strapped startups tend to do by default.
Pinterest followers only stick around where a brands message and output is authentic and consistent. No matter how big you are, on Pinterest, you’re going to have to play by the same set of rules .
4. Enjoy a higher return on investment
The ROI of social media marketing for your e-commerce business can be measured in many different ways – brand awareness, content engagement, or click-through rate.
But essentially it all boils down to one thing…”have these activities helped to make money for my business?”.
No matter what sort of products you sell, what other goal or aspirations your business may have, the fact remains if you’re not making money your business won’t survive. I know, not exactly new news, but it had to be said.
That being said, it might interest you to know that Pinterest appeals to an older and more mature online user, and studies indicate that these users are likely to spend TWICE as much money from their Pinterest activity than they would on other popular social networks.
By now I’m hoping that you need no further convincing. eCommerce businesses, big and small, are already on Pinterest marketing up a storm. They’re making connections, building brand awareness, and the consistent ones are seeing it pay off in money in the bank.
Now just incase you didn’t catch all of those reasons why your eCommerce business needs a presence on Pinterest, here they are again:
-
Stop getting lost in the noise
-
Enjoy a longer content lifespan
-
Finally Level the playing field
-
Experience A higher potential return on investment
If you’re already a power Pinterest user and have identified some other benefits, it would be awesome if you would share them with us in the comments below. Lastly, if you’ve found this article valuable, I’d love it if you shared it with others.
Image Sources: All Getty royalty free images
