interest has skyrocketed to one of the most used social media sites in the world, with an average of 1.63 million visitors a day and an extremely high retention rate (users spend an an average of 16 minutes browsing at a time, which is higher than Facebook and Twitter’s averages combined). Pinterest users also represent a seller’s paradise; almost 30% of members come from household incomes above $100,000 per year, and buyers that have been referred to a product through Pinterest at 10% more likely to buy products than when they arrive from other social networks, and will spend an average of 10% more.
Now before you pounce on the opportunity to push your business on Pinterest, understand this; unlike Facebook or Twitter, understand that Pinterest is a more specialized community than other social media sites, and requires a more thoughtful approach.
Firstly, you must embrace the demographic. As many of you probably already know, Pinterest users are mostly women (68.2%), to be precise, and there is a predominance of DIY crafts, home and garden, fashion, inspirational quotes, recipes and other topics of greater interest to women. That being said, there a lot of other more gender neutral themes that flourish, including technology and gadgets, music, travel nostalgia, art, architecture, workout apparel and more. Pinterest is about creating visual scrapbooks, sharing beautiful pictures or spreading ideas conveyed through images that move people.
That being said, certain businesses have flourished in the Pinterest community, such as Whole Foods, ModCloth, West Elm, and other companies that provide physical products that can be captured in an aesthetically appealing way. Have a look at their pages and see the categories and styles they go for; appealing, intimate and colorful images, that will catch people’s eye and encourage repins. The “pinning” aspect of Pinterest is indisputably an incredible channel for viral marketing because an image can be repinned 100 times but clicking it will still take the viewer to the original source (the webpage the product or image is linked to). The key is to share things that actually have viral potential.
Remember that Pinterest does not look kindly on direct marketing and sales. Not only that, the Pinterest users won’t not have interest in repinning advertisements or product pushes. They are interested in beauty, ideas, whimsy and inspiration. You don’t need a pretty or girly product to share ideas on Pinterest, just be open-minded about how you engage users; develop creative pinboards that explore design ideas, color coordinated themes, gift ideas (some of which may be related to your product or service) etc. If you don’t sell a product, share images and stories of people your service has touched, or design ideas from your website. Just remember keep it personal .
The Pinterest market is especially favorable for smaller businesses, who can add a personal, local or crafty element to their pins that will be more likely to resonate with users. Building followers comes organically, from posting great images and engaging others in the community; follow people, repin and comment on their images. Create group pinboards to share ideas and images with other users who are interested in a similar field.
Just remember, Pinterest is a place for people to aggregate, scrapbook and share their hopes and dreams. In order to encourage users to respond to, click or repin your images, they will need to connect with them visually and personally.
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