Did you know that Pinterest is projected to have between 50 and 70 million users by next year according to eMarketer research? Would you like to hear from some of them?
Let’s assume you answered “yes, please” to that rhetorical question. If not, it might help to know that Pinterest, despite a much smaller user base than Facebook’s, is second only to FB in driving all Web traffic, at 7.10%. In fact, it drives more traffic than Google+, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Twitter combined—yikes!
Out of those 50-70 million, more are receptive to advertising messages than users of other sites. This may be a natural outcome when users are pinning and searching for products, images, recipes, and sources, and they are doing so in a targeted way. You can’t argue with the results, which indicate that average orders on Pinterest are double the size of those on Facebook, and more than orders from Amazon.
If you’re not already using Pinterest to help drive sales, or you’re not sure how it can work for your business, here are some ways to make your social media presence more “Pinteresting” to the kinds of users you seek.
Where to Pin
• Gain more followers by posting more original pins (as opposed to repins, which make up 80% of pins). By the way, images with prices get 36% more repins.
• The more committed your audience, the more likely they are to follow you, returning frequently and repinning at a higher rate.
• Post on other community or group boards. You’ll get lots of new ideas from them and you’ll be seen by many new potential customers. Hint: look for boards with a high number of followers, and a focus that fits your narrow niche market as closely as possible—and go after multiple niche markets by posting on lots of boards with different topics.
Identifying Pinterest Users
There are lots of ways to slice and dice the market, but strikingly, over 70 percent of Pinterest’s users are female. They react to what they see on Pinterest based largely on feelings rather than thinking, when compared with more cognitive and content-based sites like Facebook and Twitter. According to BufferApp, your pins are all about sharing preferences and tastes, so reactions are fast and visceral.
It’s no wonder that Pinterest blows away other sites when it comes to click-throughs, generating more direct responses through to your site than any other social media platform, including Facebook.
Let’s Get Visual
Where you pin and who you target are important factors, but equally vital is creating the right kind of pin to attract interest from those niche followers. Here are essentials for making sure all your pins become “click-bait,” as suggested in bufferapp.com:
Visual Format matters—get 60% more repins when you use images that are:
- taller or longer than they are wide
- have high color contrast, with medium lightness
- use several dominant colors
- show contrasting rough textures
Content matters—generate higher repins with:
- food and drink; not surprisingly, both men and women respond most frequently to these categories
- one or more of the most frequently repinned words when used in photo badges, including: DIY, cute, cup, dress, heart symbol, idea, and recipe
- add a price to your pin to see more of those larger average orders
Finally, a few more can’t-miss tips to make the most of your Pinterest activity:
- Be sure to integrate Pinterest with all your social media accounts by setting your profile accordingly.
- Strategically add pins during the hours that generate the most traffic, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST, or 8:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. EST.
- Pin words or add a caption to the image to start the conversation and encourage a reply or comment.
- Pin a GIF—a moving image that attracts the eye, with a clever content angle.
If you found this post helpful, check back soon for future posts on tips on how to use social media help businesses grow sales.