Pinterest: The New Way We Window Shop

pinterest

Are you using Pinterest as part of your social media strategy?

“If not, it’s still a huge opportunity for brand awareness and sales. The best part is, Pinterest has proven to be the most cost-effective for several industries,” writes Leo Widrich in Socialmouths.

According to Widrich, if your business has a strong visual component and appeals primarily to a female audience, Pinterest may be a good channel for you. This quote from Tailwind’s Danny Maloney helps explain why:

“Unlike Twitter and Facebook which connect users based on who they know, Pinterest connects people based on their common passion. This indicates users are able to view content which is more likely to be of interest to them, and are more likely to lead to purchase downstream.”

In other words, they are actively looking at and searching for things they like/need/want/will buy. This is certainly ripe ground for a business that has good visual appeal.

Widrich offers some good advice to companies looking to develop a Pinterest marketing strategy, like keeping your boards clean and organized to highlight your products and profile your brand.

“When you are using Pinterest for your business, it is important to use proper classification to make it simple and easier for the users to browse your boards. The best way is to create multiple boards to segregate the content by category so that relevant content can be kept together,” he writes.

“Your products need logical grouping. Most importantly, consider how your customers may search for the products and services you offer. For instance, you may have independent boards for dresses, trousers, pants, tops, shoes, handbags, and also a board for complete outfits.”

Inspiring users to create wish lists is another good strategy that can lead to sales, and this is how many companies are creating an atmosphere conducive to window shopping.

“Pinterest people often create ‘wishlist boards’ for vacations or special events like birthdays, baby showers or weddings, to help their friends and family with gift ideas,” Widrich explains. “Motivating online customers to add product wishlists can increase sales. In fact, pinning is considered a secondary goal for people who are browsing but are not ready to hit the ‘Buy’ button.”

And of course, just like in any other social network, your content must be shareable, inspiring and compelling in some way. (While Widrich advocates using giveaways and contests as a way to boost engagement, we might suggest just focus on creating really good content that stands on its own merits.)

The post is worth a read if you are just getting started on Pinterest, but it’s not magic. Like any social network, it’s important to engage with the users that find you. So be sure you have a human element in your campaign to keep those conversations going. Window shoppers can sometimes be your best customers!