How to use Pinterest Marketing for your Online Shop
Online shopping has skyrocketed and due to fewer people shopping in person at brick and mortar stores, many small shops are shifting to more of an online presence to sell their products. In this blog post, I am going to give you tips to use Pinterest Marketing to increase your online shop’s audience and help you generate more sales via passive traffic from Pinterest. Pinterest Marketing will help you introduce your shop and products to a brand new audience and will help you sell more.
We all watch our numbers and how many people are visiting our websites. Let’s be honest, while numbers can sometimes be just a vanity measure, they are actually something to watch. It is important to get that traffic to your website. Without traffic to your shop, who will buy your products? So it’s important to use strategy when marketing your online shop and Pinterest is a great addition to your strategy when it comes to getting the word out and driving that all important traffic AKA shoppers to your store.
A few basics about Pinterest and Pinterest Users
Pinterest is a Search Engine after all! Pinterest users are searching for inspiration and solutions to problems like what to wear, what to gift and to find that special something.
Most Pinterest users do a simple search, a random search, not necessarily for a specific brand but for an idea or a type of item, and they are looking for where to get that item.
Pinterest users are in the discovery phase of their journey. They are looking and learning and deciding what they want to buy. Hey...help them decide! Pinterest users will see your products, save them for later and/or click to visit your shop now.
When a Pinterest user saves your pin, they are actually helping it to be shared with anyone seeing their feed and with their followers. You are increasing your audience even more.
Pinterest is adding new features for shoppers all the time. For example the shop button on your home page allows viewers to see products for sale. The visual search feature will allow viewers to match products to images they like. It’s really incredible and you want your products there for those matches.
Be there, on Pinterest, and show up in their search with your amazing, unique products and shop so they can find you!
How to get started on Pinterest
(or how to update what you have)
First and very important is to set up your Pinterest Business Account! You can either create a new Business Account or convert your personal account. You want to use a business account for your shop because Pinterest Business Accounts have features like analytics, rich pins and promoted pins which are invaluable for your Pinterest Marketing efforts. You don’t want to miss out!
Make sure you have claimed your website, connected your social accounts AND applied for Rich Pins. Rich Pins help to keep your product listings up to date on Pinterest by pulling current stock, pricing and other important data from your website.
Do your Keyword/SEO research! What keywords do you want to rank or be found for in search for. What words will your customers use to find you online and on Pinterest. Consider your products, consider your style and focus. Think of how you describe your business. These are your keywords. Do your research to find the best words for you and then use them in your Pinterest Profile, Board Names and Descriptions and in your product descriptions and title on your shop. And, use them on your Pins, in Pin Tiles and Descriptions. Use your keywords anywhere you have an opportunity on your website, like in blog posts, image descriptions, SEO settings. You will find that when you use Keywords, you will be found much more easily in search on Pinterest and Google. It is a critical part of growing your audience (which will lead to more customer and more sales).
Set up your Pinterest Boards. Think of Pinterest Boards as folders to organize your pins. Start with around 10 Boards - 8 business niche related boards (one should be your brand/shop board) and 2 or so can be personal boards. It’s ok to have a couple personal hobby or interest boards. Visitors want to get to know you so these boards give them a little insight into who you are and what you are about. If you have converted a personal account to a business account, you can make some of your personal boards secret. That way you can keep your boards/pins and continue to pin to them, but they will be hidden to others.
Organize your Boards. Be sure to include boards related to your shop. While you should definitely have a shop or brand board for all of your shop’s pins, you may also want to create different boards for categories of products you offer. For example if you are a home decor shop, maybe an accessories board, and a furniture board, a living room board and a bedroom board. If you sell jewelry, try a board for earrings and another for necklaces. This will help shoppers who visit your page find exactly what they are looking for.
Start Creating Pin Graphics. It is important to follow a few best practices when you create pins. These include pin orientation, aspect ratio, text overlay, call to action and styles. If you want some details about this, check out my How to Create Scroll Stopping Pins Blog post. When you are creating your shop’s pins, be sure to include a variety, include multiple views for your products and show your products in lifestyle photos. Viewers what to imagine what your product will look like in their life.
Get Pinning - When you start Pinning, you should be pinning 80% other people’s content and 20% your own. As you create more pins for your content, you can increase the amount you are pinning for your shop. Remember to use your keywords in your pin title and description as well as your text overlay!
I’ve said it many times…Pinterest is a long game! Give it time. Be patient. When you set your account and website up for Pinterest Success, you will see massive passive traffic from Pinterest to your online Shop. And think about it…if you hadn’t decided to start or add an online shop to your business, these new customers may never have found you! Be patient, Pinterest takes a little while to start really working for you. But it is WORTH THE WAIT! Imagine more new visitors to your shop and increased sales coming from your new Pinterest traffic.
I believe that consumers want to shop small. I see more and more of this. They want to support small businesses, entrepreneurs, makers and creatives. Like You! Pinterest Marketing gives you the opportunity to share your small shop with a brand new audience. So don’t wait any longer to get started!
This is the perfect time for you to start sharing your products and your online store. Your next customers are very likely already on Pinterest searching for something you have to offer. Show up in the many, many searches people are doing for items just like yours. Don’t miss out on the power of Pinterest and the possibilities it offers your online shop!