Why You Should Add Your Product Catalog to Pinterest
In the ever-changing landscape of e-commerce, staying ahead of the curve is essential for success. If you're not already leveraging the power of Pinterest for your online business, you're missing out on an incredible opportunity. In this blog, I'll dive into why I encourage e-commerce brands to add their product catalog to Pinterest and how doing so can be a game-changer for your business.
Let’s start with the numbers. In a recent presentation from Pinterest, CEO Bill Ready stated that businesses who had their product catalog on Pinterest saw an increase of 30% in attributed checkouts from Pinterest! The nature of Pinterest and how users behave on Pinterest (search and discovery) makes it easier to drive people to purchase than on other social media platforms.
For more on the Pinterest user’s path to purchase, CLICK HERE. Learn how users log on to search and discover an item, how they save it for consideration and then buy to solve their problem.
What is Pinterest and Why It Matters for E-Commerce
Pinterest as a Search and Discovery Platform
Pinterest isn't just another social media platform; it's a powerful search and discovery platform. Unlike traditional social networks, where content often fades into obscurity over time, Pinterest pins have a long shelf life and continue to be discovered by users over time. In many cases, pins get even better with time. As they are engaged with my users with saves and clicks, they tend to get even better distribution on the platform.
Pinterest's Growing User Base and Influence
With over 460 million monthly active users every month (and counting), Pinterest has become a significant player online. Its user base includes a large number of shoppers actively seeking inspiration and products. Users go to Pinterest to discover information and products to solve a problem or enhance a project. They search to make decisions and then progress to making a purchase after considering their options.
How Pinterest Differs from Other Social Platforms
Pinterest stands apart from other social media platforms. It's more about discovering ideas, products, and solutions rather than connecting with friends and sharing personal updates. This fundamental difference makes it an ideal platform for showcasing e-commerce products.
Benefits of Adding Your Product Catalog to Pinterest
Increased Brand Visibility
Pinterest has the potential to expose your brand to a large audience. Its visual nature and focus on aesthetics make it an ideal platform for showcasing your products in an engaging and appealing way. When pins and accounts are optimized well, those products have an even greater chance of showing up in search, even when you are a smaller brand.
Drive Traffic to Your Website
Pinterest serves as a significant source of referral traffic for businesses from creatives to bloggers to e-commerce websites. Users actively click through pins to explore products further, making it a valuable source of potential customers. Pinterest also continues to add features in search that will allow your products to show up for users such as “more like this” when viewing an interesting pin.
Boost Sales and Conversions with Your Product Catalog Pins
Pinterest isn't just about attracting traffic; it's also about driving conversions. As I said above, Pinterest reports an increase of 30% in conversions attributed to Pinterest when brands add their product catalog to the platform. Features like Rich Pins and Buyable Pins make it easier for users to make purchases by clicking from Pinterest to your website for shopping. Pinterest's goal is to make every pin shoppable, which is a game-changer for e-commerce.
Tap into a Highly Engaged Audience
Pinterest users are highly engaged and actively seeking inspiration and products. Visual content captures their attention more effectively, making Pinterest an ideal platform to engage potential customers. Imagine not only having your custom-created optimized pins but also a product pin created via your product catalog.
📌 Save this Pin for Later!
How to Add Your Product Catalog to Pinterest
Before getting started, you need to follow Pinterest’s guidelines for adding your catalog. First, consider the following:
Are Catalogs for You?
Catalogs is a feed ingestion tool designed for e-commerce businesses that sell products on their websites. In order to add your catalog to Pinterest, you must have the following set up first:
A Pinterest Business Account
A Claimed Website (you must have your own website. Catalogs cannot be ingested from 3rd party sites like Etsy, eBay, etc.)
Very Important…Your website must meet Pinterest’s Merchant Guidelines.
I find the following are the most critical features (I recommend adding these in your website footer):
a clear and easy-to-find shipping policy
a clear and easy-to-find refund policy
contact details
A data source (product catalog) or a file that contains a list of your products and their corresponding details (inventory, pricing, images, etc.).
Data source hosting or a way for Pinterest to ingest the data source of your products that you can send to Pinterest daily. This is your website (platforms vary on how this works).
How To Add a Product Catalog to Pinterest
There are several ways to upload your Product Catalog to Pinterest. If your website is on Shopify or WooCommerce, there is an easy-to-use integration between Pinterest and either of these platforms. For Shopify, you will install the Pinterest App for Shopify. For WooCommerce you will install the Woo plugin on your shop site.
If your site is on another platform, Squarespace for example, you can manually upload your catalog. You will create a spreadsheet that will be housed on the backend of your website. You can start this process via the Catalogs section in the Pinterest Menu. This process is a little more labor intensive and requires you to actually update the catalog if you have changes in inventory or pricing, but I still encourage you to get your catalog loaded. It is great to have those pins available for searchers.
Pinterest Help also suggests several other integrations should you like to investigate the different methods for uploading your catalog.
Product Pins
Once your product catalog is uploaded to Pinterest, product pins (full of rich data about your products) will be created from the information on the catalog. This catalog will be uploaded every day so that information stays accurate. In addition to product pins from the catalog, you can and should create other optimized product pins. You can read more about that HERE. In this blog, I have outlined some tips for creating great product pins for your business.
Conclusion
Pinterest is a great platform for e-commerce brands looking to expand their online presence, boost traffic, increase conversions, and engage with a highly active audience (who are searching for products, tips, and solutions for projects). By adding your product catalog to Pinterest, you can show up for those searchers. Don't wait! Start exploring Pinterest's potential for your e-commerce business today. Set up your Pinterest Business account, upload your catalog, and start creating compelling Product Pins.
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