I don’t know if you’ve ever really taken a look around but it seems like the internet is dominated by social media sites. I’m not just talking about the big ones like Facebook or Instagram either, there’s literally tons of social media sites you’ve probably never heard of (most of them are pretty unique and awesome in their own way so don’t stop yourself from doing some research). The point being though, with so many social media sites out there, how do you know when a site is the right place to advertise unless it’s one of the big name ones out there?
I imagine you’ve probably heard at least a few statistics on the big names and how they bring in billions of users every month. If you haven’t, check out our previous articles on marketing on the biggest social media platforms: YouTube, Google, Facebook, Instagram. All these platforms bring in billions of potentially new clients every day but the question is which one do you go with? As you might’ve guessed, the bigger name ones are normally a great choice but one that is commonly forgotten about is Pinterest. Despite it not having as big a name as the other social networks on here, it still presents one of the best opportunities on the internet to market your services or products. In fact, Pinterest is the fifth most used social media network on the internet with about 700 million visitors a month and being that it is based on visuals it is also when one of the most highly engaging networks out there.
Organic & Paid
What makes Pinterest so unique and appealing?
Use Facebook Videos for Engagement
Did you know that Pinterest is one of the largest visual search engines on the internet?
The basic concept behind Pinterest is that you can upload pictures or links from all over the internet. They even have a handy little plugin for Chrome that will allow you to capture the information for any site you visit if you so choose and all you have to do is select a picture to post it with (you can also add a description if need be). It’s a great way to get a visual representation for things you might be looking for like looking for new recipes or new clothes. The best part is is that users can customize their pins and arrange them into boards, which other people can save/share. This is really a unique aspect of just Pinterest; no other social media site has this kind of sharing ability. You are able to still like posts/pictures but with the added bonus of being able to save them so other people can browse your content, then share it as well.
So why does this matter to your business?
Organic
If you’ve spent time on the internet anytime recently you might have noticed that there is a lot of visual content on the internet. It’s never just a written post anymore, it always has to be accompanied by a picture of something whether it be of a product or a person, there’s always something there. As it turns out, people are very visually driven. They like to see what they’re going to buy or who they’re potentially going to be working with. Presenting pictures with a post can help establish initial feelings of trust or entice a consumer in a way that will go a long way with helping them make their decision in eventually buying your product or service.
The thing is though, you can’t just post picture after picture and expect people to just buy whatever you’re selling, it takes a little more finesse than that. It seems like most people go on the internet expecting everyone to accept their friend requests with no questions, then just simply like their posts. While pictures tend to garner more attention than regular posts you can’t just expect results by just having a presence on Pinterest.
I’m not going to deny that it’s going to take a lot of friend requests to get where you want to go, which means it’s going to take a lot of work to start getting leads organically. That is just the nature of organic marketing but luckily with Pinterest you can create eye-catching pictures to help move your process along faster. To build up your following it takes a couple of steps and a lot of time.
- Once you’ve made your profile you’re going to start by looking up pins that are in your industry. This is an important part about being apart of the Pinterest community because to not be a spammy profile you’re going to have to contribute to the community and that means building boards. So start off by finding pins that a lot of people are liking and putting them onto custom boards to establish your profile (this is something you’re going to want to do on a regular basis).
- After you’ve setup somewhere around 10 boards with at least 20 pins on each, you’re now going to look up pins within your industry again but this time look at the comments of those pins because chances are that the people commenting on these pins are interested in it. You’re going to follow all these people that commented these pins and eventually you’ll get a follow back due to the industry type pins you have on your boards or at least hopefully they will follow you back. This part is more of a never-ending part being that you’re always going to want more followers and will require you to continually do this on a daily/weekly basis, whatever you have time for.
- As you continue to add more pins/boards and followers, you’re going to occasionally add in your own images linking to your pages but only in the appropriate places though. Make sure you’re adding them to boards that make sense that way people are inclined to share them with their followers and so on and so on.
Like all organic marketing, it’s going to take long-term dedication to get to a place where you’re really going to be successful. Definitely don’t expect quick success this way but the advantage of taking the time to create a great organic marketing strategy via Pinterest is that you’re going to gain a following that is legitimately interested in what you’re selling instead of potential losing clicks to people that just aren’t that interested.
Paid
If you’ve done any sort of paid marketing on any channel you’re probably familiar with the tribulations of paying for advertising. It can get costly, quick. That’s why it’s always best to hedge your bet as much as you possibly can to get the most out of your money. This means knowing where you’re advertising at and what distinct advantages that specific platform brings to you as a business. Here’s a few facts to help you make the decision of whether or not you should use Pinterest for your business:
40% of Users Have a Household Income of $100,000 +
This is proof that there is a lot of buying power in Pinterest, meaning your business has a ton of opportunity to gain new clients that can afford to try out new services or products.
93% of Active Users Said They Use Pinterest to Plan Or Research For Purchases
With the help of some educational graphics you can find yourself in the middle of a lot of buyers that are ready to go. With such amazing buying power, all you have to do is frame your products or service in a way that shows people that buying from you is the smart decision.
50% of Users Bought a Product After Seeing a Promoted Pin
That’s definitely a step up from most other social networks that probably boast maybe a 10% conversion rate if your lucky. That means that people are coming to Pinterest to find stuff to buy (if that wasn’t obvious from the first two facts) but in the case of your business you can specifically target those that are coming to Pinterest for your product/service.
70% of Users Search and Save Pins
As you can tell from this stat, people are VERY active on Pinterest which puts advertising on the platform in your favor. At least you know that on some level you will probably get some sort of interaction and conversion with whatever you’re selling.
The best thing to take away from all this is that people are very active on Pinterest and while they don’t have the most users every month, they do boast one of the highest rates of interaction on all social media sites. This will definitely be of use to any business as long as you’re willing to put in the time to make sure you find the right audience on there.